Women’s Equality Day is scheduled for August 24 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in the Flag Room on the 6thfloor of City Hall located at 1500 Marilla Drive. The keynote speaker is Debbie Branson, former Chair of Parkland’s Board of Managers and the 87th Linz Award recipient. The event will include a Proclamation recognizing the 96th Anniversary of Women’s Equality Day given by Mayor Rawlings, the City Council, and County Commissioners, and others. It will be followed by a program honoring the history and aspirations for full equality of women and girls. The event is free and open to the public.
Women's Equality Day has been celebrated annually by Women’s Issues Network (WIN) for over 20 years. Over 100 women wearing white will descend upon City Hall for the program. White garments represent the suffragists who lobbied for women to vote, keeping their memory alive.
Although women's voting rights are taken for granted today, they were earned through a long brutal campaign by women that began in the 1700's and culminated nearly 150 years later when the 19th Amendment was passed on August 26, 1920.
Until that time, women were not allowed the right to own property, to have legal claim to the money they earned, nor the right to vote. Clothes, jewelry, and land were owned by their husbands or fathers. Bibles were one of their few possessions that they could hand down to their children
Betty Ritchie and Jo Ann Jenkins are the event chairs. Jana Barker is the President of WIN.
Sponsors for this event are: Dallas Women’s Foundation, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Dallas Alumnae Chapter, Jane’s Due Process, Junior League of Dallas, League of Women Voters of Dallas, NARAL Pro-choice Texas, National Council of Jewish Women Greater Dallas, National Organization of Women N. Dallas Chapter, League of Women Voters of Collin County, Peacemakers, Inc., Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, S.E. Dallas Business & Professional Women’s Club, Temple Shalom, Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation, Inc., The Afiya Center, United Nations Association—Dallas Chapter, Women’s Issues Network.