HISTORICAL TIMELINE

1700 - 1799 | 1800 - 1899 | 1900 - 1950 | 1951 - present

1800 - 1899

1804 - Sacagawea

The daughter of a Shoshone chief, Sacagawea traveled with the Lewis and Clark expedition from North Dakota to the Pacific Northwest. A valuable guide, she identified various indigenous plants, edible fruits and vegetables. As an interpreter, she made it possible for the explorers to communicate with tribes of the Plains and Northwest, and to acquire fresh horses and provisions throughout their journey.

(In 1999, a new dollar coin featuring the face of Sacagawea was released by the U.S. Mint.)

1837 - Oberlin College

The Oberlin Collegiate Institute was founded in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the first American college to adopt a policy of equal enrollment standards for both women and men.

1843 - Dorothea Dix

After investigating the inhumane treatment of the insane and mentally disturbed throughout Massachusetts' prisons, Dorothea Dix submitted a report to the state legislature and began a lifetime of successful campaigning to establish hospitals for the mentally ill.

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1847 - Maria Mitchell

Maria Mitchell, a librarian by day who was taught astronomy by her father, discovered a new comet, Comet Mitchell. She was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1865, she became the first female professor at Vassar Female College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

1848 - The Seneca Falls Convention

On July 19th, a group of women and men assembled in Seneca Falls, New York, to discuss the status of women in American society. Regarded as the birthplace of the Women's Rights Movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton's "Declaration of Rights and Sentiments" (a statement calling for women's rights, patterned after The Declaration of Independence) was passed unanimously and signed by 68 women and 32 men in attendance.

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1849 - The First Woman to Earn
a Medical Degree

In January, Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from Geneva Medical College in Geneva, New York. She later opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children in the slums of New York. In 1859, Elizabeth and her sister, Dr. Emily Blackwell, organized the Women's Central Association of Relief, which trained nurses to serve during the Civil War.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell.

1865 - The First Woman Awarded
The Congressional Medal of Honor

On November 11th, Dr. Mary E. Walker became the first woman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for her services as a contract surgeon during the Civil War.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Mary Walker.

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1869 - Women's Suffrage in the Wyoming Territory

The Territory of Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to grant women the right to vote. More than a decade later, anti-suffrage leaders in Congress threatened to block Wyoming's petition to become a state unless it reversed its position. Territorial leaders refused to back down, and despite the opposition, Wyoming was admitted into the Union in 1890.

1872 - Susan B. Anthony Arrested

Susan B. Anthony and fifteen other women were arrested and indicted for "knowingly, wrongfully, and unlawfully voting for a representative to the Congress of the United States." She appealed her conviction to the U. S. Supreme Court, but her conviction was upheld.

Click here to learn more about Susan B. Anthony.

1881 - The American Red Cross is Founded

Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross to assist victims of war and natural disasters. Barton previously founded free schools in New Jersey, and was the first woman to direct a government bureau, the Missing Soldiers Office.

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1700 - 1799 | 1800 - 1899 | 1900 - 1950 | 1951 - present