On July 19, 1848, the first Woman’s Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls, NY. This convention was remarkable for being the first time that women’s right-to-vote was demanded. It was the opening salvo in a 72 year struggle which culminated in the 19^th Amendment being adopted in August, 1920. This amendment gave women the legal right to vote and acknowledged that women deserved full citizenship.

 Many courageous women led the fight to gain the right to vote and to exercise that right to address changes in what they considered an unjust system. At the 1848 convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott presented The Declaration of Sentiments, which was modeled on The Declaration of Independence, and set forth numerous demands on behalf of women. In 1851, Elizabeth Stanton met Susan B. Anthony and the two found that they had many common interests. They formed a friendship that lasted a lifetime. Susan B. Anthony became the voice of the Women’s Movement in these early years.

 Although neither Susan B. Anthony nor Elizabeth Cady Stanton lived to see the fruition of the work they began, the work they did inspired many women, and men, to take up the cause.