Women’s Equality Day is a day to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote in the United States. Led by Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), Congress passed the joint resolution in 1971, designating August 26 as Women's Equality Day.

Over the next month, we will take a look at the women’s suffrage movement, from Seneca Falls to the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

THE BEGINNING. 1848, Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha C. Wright, Mary Ann McClintock and Jane Hunt called for the first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, to discuss “the social, civil, and religious condition and rights” of women in America. After two days, 300 people, including 40 men, made a public commitment to work together to improve women’s quality of life.

The Declaration of Sentiments, written by Stanton, would define the meeting. Taking the Declaration of Independence as her guide, Stanton submitted that "all men and women had been created equal" and went on to list eighteen "injuries and usurpations."

Thus began the women’s suffrage movement, ending with the passage of the 19th Amendment. Stay tuned to our blog this month as we take a look back at the leading ladies of this revolution.

Want to read more about the Seneca Falls Convention and the Declaration of Sentiments? Here is a great resource, http://www.usconstitution.net/sentiments.html. Test your knowledge of Women’s Equality Day, http://www.nwhp.org/resourcecenter/equalityday_quiz.html.