April 12 - Belmont-Paul Women's Equality Monument Day

nPosted on April 12, 2019

Key Points

When I say “monument,” what do you think of?

Many of us would immediately think of a statue or fountain or obelisk – some sort of memorial to soldiers or a president or…?

What if I were to say “national monument”?

nSuddenly many would think of some bit of natural beauty. A particularly lovely seashore, maybe, or a natural stone arch or cave.

nBut there are lots of kinds of national monuments. From Admiralty Island (Alaska) to White Sands (New Mexico), lots of national monuments are beautiful chunks of the natural world that are being safeguarded for us all to enjoy – and for future generations – but other national monuments are ancient human-built structures (like Wupatki in Arizona), really important statues (like the Statue of Liberty), and important homes or businesses (like Stonewall in New York City).

Today is the anniversary of the 2016 creation of the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument.

nThis particular house, located in Washington, D.C., was associated with and used by two women who worked for women’s suffrage and equal rights – and their names are included in the National Monument’s name.

Alva Belmont was a multi-millionaire who lived from the 1850s to the 1930s. She heard a lecture from a women’s suffragist, and she donated a lot of money to the cause, both in the U.K. and the U.S. She founded the Political Equality League and helped found the National Women’s Party; she served as the president of the latter for years.

Alice Paul grew up in the Quaker tradition of public service (and she was a descendant of William Penn, the Quaker man who founded Pennsylvania). As a little girl, she went to women’s suffragist meetings with her mother. She went to college, earned a degree in biology, and served in the student government.

nAt first she thought she would be a social worker, but she soon decided that she couldn’t work on social injustice as a social worker. Instead, she organized people, she wrote and spoke, she became an activist, and she practiced civil disobedience – which also meant that she went to jail more than once. Paul even risked bodily harm and was at times beaten by police for her attempts to do such things as speak to crowds or enter political meetings that were meant to be for men only.

nPaul continued her education, earning a master’s degree and PhD in social sciences – political science, sociology, and economics – and even earning a law degree!

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nOnce women were finally given the right to vote, Paul continued to work for women’s rights. Along with Belmont, Paul formed the National Women’s Party; she wrote many bills, made sure that women were considered in Civil Rights laws, and proposed the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.

nThe ERA should not be controversial – it merely states that equality of rights shall not be denied on account of sex – but although it was introduced in every session of Congress from 1923 on, it wasn’t passed until 1972. And it still is not an amendment! To become a part of the Constitution, the ERA must be ratified by three-fourths of the states, and it stalled three states short around 1978.

nOriginally, Congress had put a deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment on March, 22, 1979. When the deadline was approaching, Congress and then-president Jimmy Carter extended the deadline to June 30, 1982. Obviously, both extensions have passed; however, it is possible that the ERA could still be ratified and become a part of the Constitution. One Constitutional amendment finally became the law of the land after being ratified more than 202 years after being passed by Congress (see my post about the 27th Amendment here).

nThe Supreme Court could rule that the ERA be accepted despite having passed the deadline.

nWith that in possibility in mind, the ERA was ratified by Nevada in 2017 and by Illinois in 2018! So it is just one state away from POSSIBLY becoming the law of the land.

What better way of celebrating Belmont and Paul, today, on Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality Monument Day, than by some state legislature that still is hanging out there, not having ratified, finally approving the ERA??!?!

nSo c’mon, Florida, your state house voted to ratify; let’s get the state senate to do so as well! Same goes for Missouri and North and South Carolina! In contrast, Virginia, Louisiana, and Oklahoma: your state senates voted to ratify; let’s get it through your state house!