Reasons to Be Cheerful in the United States 25

1870s Esther Morris is the first woman judge. Most states allow women to serve as judges by the early 1970s.

1907-1922 America’s Expatriation Act deprived a woman of US citizenship if she married a non-citizen.

1920s In Ohio, women were forbidden to drive taxis. It was legal for a law firm to refuse to hire a qualified woman. Workplaces and colleges supplied fewer, or no, toilets for women. In many states women couldn’t serve on a jury.

1920s Doris E. Fleischman (Mrs Edward Bernays) was the first married woman in the US to be issued a passport in her own name only.

1943 Prison chain gangs end in Georgia.

1960s FDA approves the Pill.

1961 A university bans fraternities over racism and anti-Semitism; Washington Redskins becomes last NFL team to integrate, when forced to by the government. Fans responded with banners reading KEEP REDSKINS WHITE.

1965 Supreme Court upholds that married women could receive the Pill.

1964 Civil Rights Act forbids firms to discriminate on the grounds of gender or race.

1967 Supreme Court forces states to allow interracial marriage; Kathrine Switzer is the first woman to run in the Boston Marathon (she was attacked, spat on, and taunted).

1969 No-Fault Divorce Act makes ending a marriage easier for women.

1969 Five states agree women should be allowed maternity leave, leading to the Temporary Disability Insurance Act.

1969 Yale is the first Ivy League college to admit women.

1973 All states allow women to serve on juries.

1973 Roe v Wade rules that states that ban abortions are unconstitutional.

1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act means women don’t need their husband’s signature to get a credit card (if unmarried, brother or father’s signature).

1975 First Women’s Bank in New York City is the first bank owned and operated by a woman. Before this date they couldn’t open a bank account without their husband’s permission.

1976 West Point admits its first female students.

1977 US Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia states that women can't get fired if they refuse sexual advances from their boss.

1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act prevents firms firing employees who get pregnant.

1980 President Carter rules that the States would celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8.

1980 First women graduate from West Point

1980 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines sexual harassment.

1981 Sandra Day O’Connor gains a seat in the Supreme Court.

1983 Sally Ride is first female US astronaut to go to space.

1983 Columbia University admits women.

1994 Women are banned from combat/2013 This ban is lifted.

1994 Violence against Women Act criminalises marital rape

2013 All 50 US states adopt a law allowing couples to live together without being married.

2014 Alison Russell is the first judge to use the title Ms.

2020 DC city council unanimously passed a police reform package today that would speed up access to body camera footage and ban: Neck restraints, Use of pepper spray, Rubber bullets, Stun guns, Tear gas.

2020 Confederate statues are being pulled down all over the southern States. The head of the US Navy intends to prohibit the Confederate flag from “all public spaces and work areas aboard Navy installations, ships, aircraft and submarines”. NASCAR bans the flag.

More here, and links to the rest.