Forward Into Light (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this trailside historical marker:

"Forward Into Light," Toward Equality, 1920 - Present
"…woman is man's equal…"
From the Resolutions adopted at the Seneca Falls convention, July 1848

Suffragists' Stunning Victory Inspired New Generations
After winning suffrage, the National Woman's Party pursued passage of the Equal Rights Amendment introduced in 1923. Legal equality between men and women was the vision of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention. The Equal Rights Amendment would fulfill that vision. Nearly 50 years later, Congress finally passed the ERA in 1972, but opponents added a time limit for ratification. The amendment failed to win ratification in the required 38 states before the deadline in 1982, but ratification efforts have continued.

From the 1920s, the NWP also worked for federal laws to win expanded legal rights for women. When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was proposed, the NWP's Alice Paul and others successfully urged the bill's author to include discrimination based on sex. Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act required equal employment opportunity, and Title 9 required equal educational opportunity at institutions that receive federal funds.

Leaders Championed Women's Rights Internationally
Carrie Chapman Catt worked on peace initiatives and international women's suffrage, and Alice Paul ensured that women's equal rights were incorporated into the founding documents of the United Nations. As US delegate to the UN, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt played a primary role in having the UN adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which included women's rights.

The Challenge Remains
Despite being excluded from positions of power and denied the right to vote, suffragists created a peaceful political revolution within a constitutional framework and legalized voting rights for more than half of the population. For 72 years, suffragists from many different backgrounds struggled despite ridicule and risks to their lives and reputations to achieve the final triumph.

Women's equal rights envisioned at the 1848 Seneca Falls convention are not yet guaranteed by the US Constitution. This means that the courts do not apply the "strict scrutiny" standard for discrimination against women that the Constitution provides for race and religion.

The 19th Amendment
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The ratification of the 19th Amendment changed the course of American history and was a remarkable achievement by the women and men honored in this memorial. This was the greatest expansion of democracy in a single day for our nation. Suffragists helped empower women from all backgrounds to have an active role in the political process and to participate more broadly in civic life.

Suffragists' fight for the vote over three generations is one of the longest and most impactful social movements in American history, spanning the Civil War, Reconstruction, World War I, and the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. Suffragists were ridiculed, marginalized, and imprisoned for their cause. Some were deemed radical and considered "unpatriotic" and "unladylike." Opponents claimed that women voting would inflict permanent harm to the family structure. Despite these overwhelming obstacles, the suffragists persevered in their pursuit of equality.

This Turning Point Memorial celebrates the great woman suffrage movement, its leaders and participants, as inspiring examples of the education and commitment needed to secure justice and equality. We honor them by exercising our precious right to vote. Their triumph is an inspiration to all Americans to lift our banners and persist in the continuing struggle for equal rights.

The challenge remains: What will you do for equal rights?

[Captions:]
Symbolically reserved for future progress toward equal rights

Original contributors to these informational stations were Edith Mayo, Emily McCoy, Robert P.J. Cooney, Jr., and Lisa Kathleen Graddy, incorporating the work of Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn; and the panel of scholars: Dr. Sidney Bland, Dr. Ann Gordon, and Dr. J.D. Zahniser. • August 2020

Erected 2021 by Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association. (Marker Number 19.)

About Eleanor Roosevelt:
Eleanor Roosevelt is widely believed to have been lesbian or bisexual, based on current constructions of those terms. The LGBTQ+ categories are selected here because complete histories of LGBTQ+ individuals have been obscured over time in order to hide those details.