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It all began with a tea party on July 13, 1848, according to the National
Women's History Project. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an upstate New York
housewife, was invited to tea with four women friends. Stanton poured
out her discontent with the limitations placed on her own situation under
America's democracy. The rest, as they say, is history. The first Women's
Rights Convention took place at the Wesleyan Chapel, Seneca Falls, N.Y.,
July 19-20, 1848.
Congress expanded the entire month of March to be Women's History Month in 1987, and celebrations commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Women's Rights Movement are planned throughout the country (check your on-line campus calendar for planned activities).
The NWHP was founded in 1980 to provide education and informational services toward recognizing and celebrating women's diverse lives and historic contributions to society. And the organization's outreach is growing internationally. Students at Nauczycielskie Kolegium in Zamosc, Poland, are learning about U.S. women's history through a poster exhibit; at the Ziridis School in Athens, Greece, students are writing essays on the positive impact of a particular man or woman on the movement for women's rights worldwide, and at Base Camp Eagle in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, programs are planned for all employees.
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