2. The growth of woman suffrage (throughout the 1900's)

Ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920 granted women the right to vote and opened the door for them to hold elected office and other governmental positions. For the first time in U.S. history, President Franklin D. Roosevelt brought a number of women into his Administration, including the first female Cabinet secretary, Frances Perkins. Madeleine K. Albright became the nation's first female secretary of state in 1997. Women's electoral clout was on its greatest display in 1992, the Year of the Woman in politics. That year, 24 women were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and 5 to the U.S. Senate, the greatest increase in American history.

 

Janet Z. Giele is a Professor of Sociology in the Heller School for Social Welfare at Brandeis University. She focused on the field of women's movements in the 1900's. This Top 10 list celebrates a century of achievement for women and credits the contributions of a number of outstanding women, including Margaret Sanger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Betty Friedan, and Naomi Wolf. Susan Schantz, a Graduate Research Assistant in the Heller School for Social Welfare at Brandeis University, assisted Professor Giele in developing the list.

1.

Increased control over reproduction (middle to late 1900's)

2. The growth of woman suffrage (throughout the 1900's)
3. Social assistance and insurance for women (throughout the 1900's)
4.

The influence of World War II (1939-1945)

5. The rise of the female athlete (middle to late 1900's)
6. The publication of The Feminine Mystique (1963)
7. The impact of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
8. The failure of the Equal Rights Amendment (late 1900's)
9. Rising education rates (throughout the 1900's)
10. Rise of the third wave of women's movements (late 1900's)