For Women's History Month - Lesser-Known Stories
The League of Women Voters of New Castle County presents this series of weekly stories for womens' history month, March 2021. Third and last in the series, we highlight Dorothy Pitman Hughes, a feminist, child-welfare advocate, African-American activist, public speaker, author, pioneering African-American small business owner, and mother of three daughters. She was a co-founder of Ms. Magazine.
Dorothy Pitman Hughes should be a household name in this country. If you know the name “Gloria Steinem,” you should know Ms. Hughes's name as well.
Dorothy Pitman Hugues
You can read all about Ms. Hughues in her Wikipedia article (Dorothy Pitman Hughes - Wikipedia), but a more enjoyable way to learn is to watch this January 2015 YouTube video by Ariana Reid:
Many thanks to Ariana for creating and posting this video documentary on her YouTube for us to find. It highlights not only Dorothy Pitman Hughes, but many aspects of the women's rights movement in the United States.
Watch the video, and read about Dorothy Pitman Hughes, in honor of Womens' History Month 2021.
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in the United States
It's been 101 years since the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote.
It's been 98 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in Congress.
It's been 49 years since the ERA was passed by Congress.
And it's been one year since the ERA was ratified by the required 38 states.
On January 27, 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. But the Equal Rights Amendment has not been added to the U.S. Constitution, because the amendment proposal had a deadline which was not met. When it passed the ERA in 1972, Congress attached a 7-year deadline for ratification to the amendment. In 1978, Congress passed a bill extending the deadline to June 30, 1982, but by that deadline the ERA had received only 35 of the necessary 38 approvals (three-fourths of the states must approve any Constitutional Amendment).
The League of Women Voters of the U.S. supports legislation removing the ratification deadline so that the ERA amendment can take effect, guaranteeing equal rights for women and men. Read more about it in this LWV blog post: The Equal Rights Amendment: What Happens Now?
