A Joint Resolution of Congress in 1971 designated August 26th of each year as Women's Equality Day and requested the President to issue a proclamation annually to commemorate that day. That Joint Resolution and the resulting 1972 Proclamation issued by President Richard Nixon were symbolic victories representing the very real gains achieved through the perseverance of women's rights activists such as Roxcy O'Neal Bolton.
Roxcy O'Neal Bolton's struggles for women's rights included campaigning for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, pioneering enlightened treatment of rape victims, opening department store lunchrooms to women, denouncing abusive or derogatory treatment of women, and working with national women's rights movement figures such as Betty Friedan.
This exhibit of items from the Roxcy O'Neal Bolton Papers collection at the State Archives of Florida highlights just a few of Roxcy O'Neal Bolton's activities and achievements from over 50 years of concern and activism.
