Women’s Equality Day 2023: Embrace Equity

“After I decided to write this tribute, I was beset with feeling inadequate to the task of expressing what Ketriana has meant to so many people, including me. What adjectives are adequate to describe the full range of Ketriana’s multi-talented, multi-faceted lived experience that has uplifted the lives of her friends, neighbors, colleagues and co-workers, even acquaintances. She approaches and interacts with all folks with a generous, compassionate, and caring spirit that says I salute and encourage the best in you.”

Thus begins the tribute Charles Yates has written to his friend Ketriana Yvonne on WomensActivism.NYC, a moving dedication that captures Ketriana’s energy and creativity—from her challenge for him to write a poem each day of National Poetry Month to her own artistic work. Ketriana’s story is part of an initiative to write women into history by sharing stories of everyday, extraordinary women launched by the NYC Department of Records & Information Services (DORIS) on Women’s Equality Day on August 26, 2015.

WomensActivism.NYC is a public, searchable site showcasing brief descriptions of inspiring women from around the world. Entries include women—both well-known and not—with roles as diverse as sisters, great-grandmothers, celebrities, next-door neighbors, elected officials, teachers, professional athletes, artists, and more. Diverse representation is important, and the only requirements are: 1) they must be woman-identified, and 2) they must have contributed to making change in some way.

With more than 9,000 stories already archived, DORIS is currently soliciting 700 more stories to complete the project with 10,000 stories of inspiring and empowering women. This collection will be preserved and made available in perpetuity through the Municipal Archives, where the stories will be freely and readily accessible for all.

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“On May 2, 1963, nine-year old Audrey Faye Hendricks became the youngest known person arrested during the Civil Rights Movement. She was one of hundreds of children who took part in marches against segregation in the city of Birmingham, Alabama.”

–Preston F. on Audrey Hendricks 

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Women’s Equality Day

Born Bella Savitsky on July 24, 1920, in New York City, Bella Abzug was a leading liberal activist and politician in the 1960s and 1970s who became especially well-known for her work for women’s rights. To promote women’s issues and to lobby for reform, she helped establish the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC) with Betty Friedan, Shirley Chisholm, and Gloria Steinem. To have an even greater impact on the political process, she served in the House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977.

At the behest of Representative Bella Abzug (D-NY), in 1971, the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as Women’s Equality Day in 1973. This date was selected to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution—a key piece of legislation granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world’s first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York.

The annual observance of Women’s Equality Day on August 26 not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women’s continuing efforts toward full equality in our society. Many workplaces, libraries, organizations and public institutions now participate in Women’s Equality Day with programs, displays, or other activities, all with the intention of bringing awareness and attention to the important matter of gender equity. For 2023, the theme of Women’s Equality Day is “Embrace Equity,” a global recognition of the ongoing struggle for equal rights and opportunities for women of all backgrounds.

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“On May 28, 1969, NY City Mayor John V. Lindsay appointed Dr. Mary McLaughlin as Commissioner of the Department of Health. She was the second woman to hold the post. Under McLaughlin’s leadership, the Health Department launched initiatives that addressed narcotics addiction, mental health, and lead poisoning.”

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Women’s Equality Week

Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY), who had applied to Harvard Law School but was rejected because of her gender, graciously accepts a copy of the mayoral proclamation. Bella Abzug with Mayor Edward I. Koch, City Hall, August 20, 1980. Mayor Edward I. Koch photograph collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

On August 20, 1980, Mayor Edward Koch issued a proclamation declaring the week of August 20–26, 1980, as “Women’s Equality Week” in New York City, “in order to emphasize the importance of full rights and opportunities for women in our society.”

The proclamation went on to recall the struggles the recognized leaders of the Women’s Suffrage Movement had endured mere decades earlier in their struggles to bring about women’s rights for future generations:

THE MILESTONES IN WOMEN’S STRUGGLE TO ACHIEVE EQUALITY ARE MANIFOLD.

THE FIRST SIGNIFICANT EVENT OCCURRED IN SENECA FALLS, NEW YORK, IN 1848, WHEN LUCRETIA MOTT AND ELIZABETH CADY STANTON LED THE FIRST WOMEN’S RIGHTS CONVENTION.

THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY SUSAN B. ANTHONY BEING CONVICTED FOR VOTING ILLEGALLY; HARRIET TUBMAN, BORN A SLAVE, LEADING 300 SLAVES TO FREEDOM; AND MARGARET SANGER ESTABLISHING THE FIRST CLINIC FOR CONSULTATION ON BIRTH CONTROL, TO NAME BUT A FEW.

IT IS FITTING THAT WE RECALL THESE TURNING POINTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT, AND THAT TODAY, IN 1980, WE CELEBRATE THE 60TH ANNIVERARY OF SUFFRAGE, RECOGNIZING ANEW THAT ALL MEN AND WOMEN ARE EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW.

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“As you lose your memory, your words, and yourself, I want you to know that I still see you. I still see the strong woman who didn’t have a choice but to be strong in a country that was brutal and unforgiving. I see the woman who managed to provide opportunities to her own daughters that she didn’t have as a young, immigrant, black woman in either her country of birth or choice.”

–Dr. Christiana Best on her mother, Pearl Mavis Munro 

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Women’s Rights in 2023

“Catherine Harry is a Cambodian influencer. She founded a vlog channel called A Dose of Cath and uses it as a platform to discuss topics that are usually not talked about enough in Cambodia because they are often deemed taboo. The topics she tackles include safe sex, masturbation, rape, abortion, divorce, etcetera. Harry aims to empower women.” 

Since the creation of Women’s Equality Day in 1973 and Mayor Koch’s proclamation of Women’s Equality Week in 1980, efforts have continued toward realizing women’s full equality and recognition in our society. Women such as Catherine Harry are giving voice to subjects not previously acknowledged, while raising conversations around women’s needs and gender equity for all.

One part of bringing about gender equity is publicly recognizing the hard work, contributions, and accomplishments that women have made and continue to make toward improving society. Celebrate the women you know who are making positive change by joining the thousands of people who have contributed stories to WomensActivism.NYC. From historic figures who were left out of yesterday’s history books to today’s family and neighborhood role models, we all know women who deserve to be written about and remembered for generations to come. They are exceptional, everyday, extraordinary, important, and they matter to us.

As Charles concludes in his dedication to Ketriana, “Yes, truly inspirational.” 

Honoring Women’s History Day, Week and Month

From 1977 to 1991, New York City Councilmembers Miriam Friedlander, Jane Trichter, Ruth Messinger and others frequently used the cable television station Channel L to advocate for the rights and welfare of women, as well as celebrate the history and ongoing activism of women in the City. Channel L was the public access channel assigned to the City of New York by (Sterling) Manhattan Cable Television as part of the franchise agreement MCT signed with the City in the late 1960s. Hosting episodes of the call-in talk show, ‘Manhattan at Large,’ these Councilmembers invited guests to discuss salient and evolving issues in women’s lives, such as job discrimination, domestic abuse, politics, sexual orientation, and homelessness, to name just a few.

The first Women’s History Day was held in New York City, February 28th, 1909, organized by the Socialist Party of America and corresponded with rising action to achieve women’s suffrage in the United States. In the following years, the celebration evolved into International Women’s History Day, observed every March 8th by feminist, Socialist and labor organizations around the world. By 1978, both New York City and the United Nations officially recognized International Women’s History Day and the United States declared March as Women’s History Month in 1987.

REC0072_0136_excerpt March 3, 1982. Channel L Working Group Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Diane Lacey (board member of the NYC Health and Hospital Corporation) and Connie Kopelov (Coalition of Labor Union Women) comment on the importance of knowing women’s history and what it does for them personally.

The recognition of International Women’s History Day in 1978 came one year after the pivotal 1977 National Women’s Conference in Houston, chaired by New York Congressional Representative Bella Abzug. Tens of thousands of women from across the country attended the conference and created a report that was later presented to Congress and the Carter administration. The report, titled The Spirit of Houston, included a National Plan of Action detailing reforms and new policies meant to improve the lives of women in the United States. The many topics covered in the report included: education, minority women, employment, domestic abuse, healthcare, an Equal Rights Amendment, insurance, homemakers, older women, sexual assault and reproductive freedom.

REC0072_0013_excerpt March 15, 1978. Channel L Working Group Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. The devaluation of work traditionally done by women was one of many topics discussed at the National Women’s Conference.

The importance of such a conference was underlined by the stark realities women faced in the United States in the late 1970s, and still face today. One topic that Councilmember Friedlander returned to repeatedly on her Channel L program was the plight of battered women and efforts to reform laws around domestic abuse. Frequently, law enforcement officers and courts treated domestic violence as a family matter to be handled internally, rather than a criminal assault that necessitated serious legal penalties. Over the course of her time in City politics, Friedlander successfully pushed for a significant expansion of shelters and services for victims of domestic abuse.

REC0072_0027_excerpt July 26, 1978. Channel L Working Group Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. The ongoing tolerance of domestic abuse has been a primary example of the way in which women are treated as second class citizens, despite significant reforms.

Although abortion had been decriminalized in New York State in 1970, it wasn’t until 1973 with the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v Wade that abortion was essentially legalized throughout the country. Even with this new legal status, it was estimated that hundreds of thousands of women were still unable to get an abortion throughout the 1970s. This was often due to inadequate facilities where they lived, forcing them to make long and burdensome trips to obtain safe and reliable healthcare. This remains a major problem almost half a century later and one that primarily impacts already disadvantaged women.

REC0072_0129_excerpt January 13, 1982. Channel L Working Group Collection, NYC Municipal Archives. Despite abortion rights being consistently supported by large majorities in the United States, it is an inherently difficult topic to discuss and therefore organize around.

In 1937, Genevieve Earle was the first woman elected to the New York City Council. Representing Brooklyn, she became involved in politics in 1907 as a municipal researcher and was a leader in the local suffragist movement for many years. Four decades after her election, Councilmembers like Miriam Friedlander traced their own work for women’s rights back to this era, drawing not only on the inspiration Earle had provided, but also the hard-won legal rights the suffragette generation had achieved. As of 2022, roughly four decades after these television programs were broadcast, for the first time in history, the majority of the New York City Council is made up of women. Still, it is important to appreciate that women’s history extends far beyond any one place or time and that no one organization or group of government officials has an ability to define or claim ownership. The same can and should be said of women’s hard-won legal rights.

The New York City Municipal Archives recognizes the critical role that women have played in our City’s history and is committed to the preservation of records that document that history. We hope that the conversations recorded in these videos and many others in the Channel L collection will inspire  current and future generations to honor the achievements of those who came before and strive for a better future.

The Inspiring Women Archive

We’re getting there! 

There are now more than 8,500 stories in the archive and it is still very much an active initiative at the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS). It began in 2015 as part of the five-year celebration of women’s activism connected to the Suffrage Centennial. DORIS created WomensActivism.nyc to honor the anniversary of women winning the right to vote in New York State in 1917 and in the United States in 1920.

The inspiring women’s stories archive features women from around the globe who made a difference through their activism and, in turn, inspire activism today. Some are famous; many are unknown; but all have contributed to making change in some way.

What better time than Women’s History Month to consider contributing a story to the archive? Here are the stories of just three of the inspiring women included in the archive: 

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Alexa Irene Canady

Alexa Irene Canady was the first African-American woman neurosurgeon in the United States. However, her career began tentatively. She almost dropped out of college while a mathematics major, because “I had a crisis of confidence,” she has said. When she heard of a chance to win a minority scholarship in medicine, “it was an instant connection.” After earning a B.S. degree in zoology from the University of Michigan in 1971, her additional skills in writing and debate helped her earn a place in the University of Michigan Medical School, where she graduated cum laude in 1975. “The summer after my junior year,” she explains, “I worked in Dr. Bloom’s lab in genetics and attended a genetic counseling clinic. I fell in love with medicine.” In her work as a neurosurgeon, she saw young patients facing life-threatening illnesses, gunshot wounds, head trauma, hydrocephaly, and other brain injuries or diseases. Throughout her twenty-year career in pediatric neurosurgery, Dr. Canady has helped thousands of patients, most of them under the age of ten.

Such credentials still could not shield her from prejudice and dismissive comments. As a young black woman completing her surgical internship at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 1975, on her first day of residency, she was tending to her patients when one of the hospital’s top administrators passed through the ward. As he went by, she heard him say, “Oh, you must be our new equal-opportunity package.” Just a few years later, while working as a neurosurgeon at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from 1981 to 1982, her fellow physicians voted her one of the top residents. Dr. Canady was chief of neurosurgery at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan from 1987 until her retirement in June 2001. She holds two honorary degrees: a doctorate of humane letters from the University of Detroit-Mercy, awarded in 1997, and a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Southern Connecticut, awarded in 1999. She received the Children’s Hospital of Michigan’s Teacher of the Year award in 1984 and was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 1989. In 1993, she received the American Medical Women’s Association President’s Award and in 1994 the Distinguished Service Award from Wayne State University Medical School. In 2002, the Detroit News named Dr. Canady Michigander of the Year. She is an inspiration because she was the first black woman to become a neurosurgeon.

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Michele Ciechalski

When I think of what strength looks like, the first person that comes to mind is a woman named Michele Ciechalski. Well, I call her mom. I have watched life throw so many bricks at her and she has managed to build something remarkable out of them every time. During my seventeen years of living, I have seen her go through a career change, a cancer scare, a divorce, and many more challenges. Through them all, she has stayed true to her character and never given up hope. Michele worked in a telephone company for about twenty years until she realized her true calling was to be a teacher. At forty years old and with two children, Michele went back to college to obtain a master’s degree in education. That was the first major lesson I learned from her—that it is never too late to chase your dreams. She is now a high-school teacher at Lavelle Preparatory Charter School. There are times when I feel like I am living with her students because of how often she tells us stories about them. I admire how much she cares about her students. Whenever they need help, she is there for them. From the college application process, to conflicts with other students or teachers, to personal problems, my mother will always listen and help her students as if they are her own children. Her students don’t just call her Ms. Ciechalski; some call her mom, too. Through my parents’ divorce, my mom remained my rock—even when she didn’t have someone to be hers. She was always patient with me and my sister during those trying times. As a single mother, she tries her best to give us everything we need and want, even if it means that she has to make sacrifices. At one point, Michele took on two jobs to support us. When she would return home in the evening, her mood would be just as bright as it was when she left for work in the morning. Regardless of what happens in her day, Michele never passes up a chance to dance in the kitchen with her daughters while disco music plays. Another lesson I’ve learned from her is to always find time to laugh because, if you can find something to laugh about, then you can get through any struggle. Michele is not only a great mother and an amazing teacher, she is my hero. She taught me that a queen does not need a king nor does a princess have to get saved by a prince.

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Maud Gonnne

Maud Gonne, married name Maud MacBride, (born December 21, 1866, Tongham, Surrey, England—died April 27, 1953, Dublin, Ireland), was an Irish patriot, actress, and feminist, one of the founders of Sinn Féin (“We Ourselves”), and an early member of the theatre movement started by her longtime suitor, W.B. Yeats. The daughter of an Irish army officer and his English wife, Gonne made her debut in St. Petersburg and later acted as hostess for her father when he was assistant adjutant general in Dublin. Converted to republicanism by an eviction she saw during the 1880s, she became a speaker for the Land League, founded the Daughters of Ireland (a nationalist organization), and helped to organize the Irish brigades that fought against the British in the South African War. In the meantime Gonne had become a noted actress on the Irish stage. In 1889 Yeats fell in love with her, and the heroine of his first play, Cathleen ni Houlihan (1892), was modeled after her; she played the title role when the play was first produced at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. However, Gonne refused Yeats’s many marriage proposals. She had become involved with a French journalist in 1887 while recovering from an illness, and she later bore two children by him (a son, Georges, and a daughter, Iseult). The death of their first child, Georges, at about age two, helped to precipitate her interest in spiritualism. In 1903 Gonne married a fellow revolutionary, Major John MacBride. After suffering abuse at the hands of MacBride, she legally separated from him in 1906 and gained custody of their son, Seán MacBride, who later became foreign minister of Ireland and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. John MacBride took part in the 1916 Easter Rising, after which he was executed. Following his death, Gonne began using MacBride’s name again to advance her standing in revolutionary circles. She herself was imprisoned for six months in 1918 for her supposed involvement in a pro-German plot. A book of her reminiscences, A Servant of the Queen (i.e., Ireland), was published in 1938. Yeats’s 1893 poem “On a Child’s Death” is thought to have been inspired by the death of Gonne’s son Georges, whom Yeats thought Gonne had adopted. (The poem was not published in Yeats’s lifetime; scholars say he did not want the poem to be part of his canon, as it is of uneven quality.)

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You can add the stories of women who have inspired you from the past and the present. How about a description of your one of the thousands of essential workers who have kept our City going? Or add a story about your grandmothers. All it requires is for you to provide basic information about their lives and what makes them memorable and inspiring. Wouldn’t it be fun several years from now to go to the Archives to show younger family members the entry?