The Women's Centennial Congress was organized by

Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (born Carrie Clinton Lane; January 9, 1859#Fowler, Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women t ...

and held at the Astor Hotel on November 25-27, 1940, to celebrate a century of female progress.

History

The date chosen was 100 years after the first

World Anti-Slavery Convention The World Anti-Slavery Convention met for the first time at Exeter Hall in London, on 12–23 June 1840. It was organised by the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, largely on the initiative of the English Quaker Joseph Sturge. The excl ...

in London in 1840. That convention had been a gathering of abolitionists from around the world. The organisers were surprised when women were sent as delegates and the initial reaction was to deny them entry. Women including the female delegates were only allowed in under sufferance and they were forbidden from speaking or voting. This event was, in time, the catalyst for later efforts in the

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

movement, especially the

Seneca Falls Convention The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. Its organizers advertised it as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman". Held in the Wesleyan Chapel of the town of Seneca ...

. At the Women's Centennial Congress, 100 successful women, most notably

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

, were selected to represent female progress in numerous fields, John G. Reid, '' Viola Florence Barnes, 1885-1979: a historian's biography'', University of Toronto Press, 2005, page 97 although Catt had failed to get Roosevelt to attend the conference. The 100 women chosen were all American, alive and doing jobs that would have been impossible for a woman to undertake in 1840. A later commentator evaluated the conference as a media event.

100 Women included (not complete)

Politics

Frances Perkins Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the fourth United States Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member o ...

* Ruth Bryan Rohde US Ambassador * Florence Harriman US Ambassador * Mary Anderson *

Katherine Lenroot Katharine Fredrica Lenroot (March 8, 1891 – February 10, 1982), an American feminist and child welfare advocate, was the third Chief of the United States Children's Bureau. Biography Katharine F. Lenroot was born in Superior, Wisconsin on Ma ...

Nellie Tayloe Ross Nellie Davis Ross (née Tayloe; November 29, 1876 – December 19, 1977) was an American educator and politician who served as the 14th governor of Wyoming from 1925 to 1927, and as the 28th and first female director of the United States Mint fr ...

* Louise Stanley (Home economics) * Harriet Elliott * Sarah Wambaugh * Henrietta Additon * Genevieve Earle * Frieda S. Miller * Mary Driscoll

Education

* Mary E. Wooley * Aurelia Henry Reinhardt *

Virginia Gildersleeve Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve (October 3, 1877 – July 7, 1965) was an American academic, the long-time dean of Barnard College, co-founder of the International Federation of University Women, and the only woman delegated by United States ...

* Winifred Edgerton Merrill * Mary W. Newson * Olive Hazlett * Anna Pell Wheeler * Louise Pound * Viola Florence Barnes * Alice H. Lerch

Science

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Col ...

* Frederica de Laguna * Christina Lochman * Marie Poland Fish * Anne M. McGrath * Florence R. Sabin * Maud Slye * Alice Catherine Evans * Frances A. Hellebrandt * Gladys A. Anslow * Catherine Blodgett * Constance L. Torrey * Emma P. Carr * Helen U. Keily * Wanda Kirkbride Farr * Margaret Clay Ferguson *

Ida Barney Ida Barney (November 6, 1886 – March 7, 1982) was an American astronomer, best known for her 22 volumes of astrometric measurements on 150,000 stars. She was educated at Smith College and Yale University and spent most of her career at the Ya ...

Annie Jump Cannon Annie Jump Cannon (; December 11, 1863 – April 13, 1941) was an American astronomer whose cataloging work was instrumental in the development of contemporary stellar classification. With Edward C. Pickering, she is credited with the creation of ...

Medicine (not complete)

Alice Hamilton Alice Hamilton (February 27, 1869 – September 22, 1970) was an American physician, research scientist, and author. She was a leading expert in the field of occupational health, laid the foundation for health and safety protections, and a pione ...

* Josephine Bicknell *

Gladys Dick Gladys Rowena Henry Dick (December 18, 1881 – August 21, 1963) was an American physician who co-developed an antitoxin and vaccine for scarlet fever with her husband, George F. Dick. Biography Gladys Rowena Henry was born in Pawnee City, ...

* Katherine MacFarlane *

Martha Tracy Martha Tracy (April 10, 1876 – March 22, 1942) served as dean of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP) from 1917 to 1940, leading the institution through the Great Depression. She created a department of preventive medicine within ...

* Bertha Van Hoosen *

Sara Josephine Baker Sara Josephine Baker (November 15, 1873 – February 22, 1945) was an American physician notable for making contributions to public health, especially in the immigrant communities of New York City. Her fight against the damage that widespread ur ...

* Justina Hill * Ruth Morris Bakwin

Theology and Social Service (not complete)

* Georgia Harkness

Lawyers

* Catherine Waugh McCullough * Florence E. Allen * Sara M. Soffel

Home Economics

* Flora Rose * Helen T. Parsons * Mary I. Barber * Millie Kalsem

Business

* Beatrice Fox Auerbach * Dorothy Shaver * Dorothy Anderson * Teresa G. O'Brien * Clara Scovil

Miscellaneous

* Rachel Crothers *

Margaret Webster Margaret Webster (March 15, 1905 – November 13, 1972) was an American-British theater actress, theatrical producer, producer and theatre direction, director. Critic George Jean Nathan described her as "the best director of the plays of Sha ...

* Antonia Brico * Juliana Force * Beatrice Winsor * Grace McGann Morley * Belle J. Benchley * Captain Rhoda J Milliken * Sergeant Mary C Gainey * Eleanor Hutzel

References

{{reflist 1940 in the United States Women's suffrage in the United States 1940 conferences Lists of women 1940 in New York City November 1940 in the United States Women in New York City Carrie Chapman Catt