clockwise from top left: Culture Club / Getty Images; David L. Ryan / The Boston Globe via Getty Images; courtesy of the Feminist Majority Foundation; Arne Dedert via Getty Images; Shawn Thew / Pool via CNP / Getty Images; Dudley M. Brooks / The Washington Post via Getty Images
The History of the Women’s Rights Movement, 1600 to Present
From the Haudenosaunee women who successfully challenged warfare in the 17th century, to today’s feminist organizers defending democracy, reproductive freedom and civil rights, the struggle for women’s equality has never been a straight line. It is a story of persistence, resistance and collective action spanning centuries.
Compiled by editors at Ms. and researchers from the National Women’s History Alliance, this women’s history timeline traces the interconnected histories of feminism, abolition, labor organizing, civil rights, reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ liberation and democratic participation.
No timeline can fully capture more than 400 years of feminist history, let alone every movement, leader, victory and setback that has shaped the ongoing fight for equality. Rather than offering a comprehensive account, this chronology highlights pivotal moments and turning points that help tell the story of how women have expanded the boundaries of freedom, democracy and human rights in the United States and beyond.
The timeline is part of Ms. magazine’s FEMINIST 250: Founding Feminists project, a multimedia essay series marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence by examining the women and feminist movements that have worked to make the nation’s founding promises more fully realized. Through reported features, essays, interviews and historical analysis, FEMINIST 250 explores not only where we have been, but where we must go next to achieve true equality.
FEMINIST 250’s Parts 2 and 3—Feminist Lessons and Feminist Futures—drop this month on MsMagazine.com.
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American Democracy on Fire (with Steve Vladeck and Moira Donegan)
In this episode of On The Issues, we confront American democracy on fire. How did we get here and who lit the match? In a 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais, the United States Supreme Court gutted a fundamental provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), landmark legislation enacted by Congress at the height of the civil rights movement to eradicate entrenched patterns of voter suppression and promote equality at the ballot box. With key mandates in the VRA now eviscerated under the hand six justices on the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, what’s next? The Court has the lowest approval ratings since confidence in the court has been measured. Many Americans now wonder—can the Court be trusted?
The Supreme Court has emphasized that if women want reproductive freedom and don’t like abortion bans, they should go vote. But what happens when the Court plays a strategic role in diluting voting power and making voting more difficult by stripping away protections?
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How ICE Became the Enforcement Arm of the Patriarchy
Speaking in early February, while the nation was still reeling from the killings of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents, Jackson Katz, a leading voice in gender violence prevention and masculinity studies, and Loretta Ross, a celebrated Black feminist scholar and cofounder of SisterSong, examined the deadly ways misogyny and racism intersect in Donald Trump’s America.
The two of them had a nuanced exploration of how government institutions, cultural narratives and political movements shape—and weaponize—issues of gender and race. Their candid exchange critiques the forces behind U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and right-wing populism, and challenges us to rethink empathy, identity and our strategies for building a more inclusive feminist movement.
Jerome Gilles / NurPhoto via Getty Images
‘Ms. Book Club’ Miniseries: Four Must-Listen Conversations on Black Women, U.S. History and the Law
Our podcast platform Ms. Studios has launched a newly updated miniseries: Ms. Book Club, examining the last 250 years of U.S. history through a feminist lens and asking what the nation’s founding ideals have meant in practice for women, Black Americans and other historically marginalized communities.
Across the four-part series, Dr. Michele Goodwin—host of On the Issues and executive producer of Ms. Studios—speaks with four leading scholars and authors whose recent books explore how gender, race, law and power have shaped American life from 1776 to today: Keisha Blain, Dorothy Roberts, Khiara Bridges and Patricia Williams.
Each episode features an in-depth conversation between Goodwin and the author about how their work reframes dominant narratives of U.S. history—and challenges listeners to reconsider what, exactly, America is celebrating at its 250-year mark.
