The Role of PR in Achieving Women's Rights
Editor's Note: Photos compiled by the Museum of Public Relations
In 1908 Suffragette Emmeline Pethich-Lawrence created the "uniform" for women identifying with the movement. This included; white for purity, green for hope and purple for loyalty.
From the birth of the women's rights movement in 1848 until passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, women in the U.S. and abroad had been publishing dozens of newsletters, bulletins and journals to deliver news to women about the various protests and marches in progress (which they could not get into the mainstream press). One journal, the Suffragist, was founded by activist Alice Paul in 1913, as the official publication for the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. PR Pioneer Muriel Fox was a co-founder with Betty Friedan of the National Organization for Women. Fox, who had started her career in 1949 as the first woman professional at the Byoir agency, handled all writing and publicity for the new organization. This photo shows her marching in 1980--dressed like her predecessors, in #suffragettewhite-- in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. Kamala Harris, honoring the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, wears an all white pantsuit. The hashtag #suffragettewhite trended over the weekend. This action follows the 2019 State of the Union address, when Congresswomen wore white to celebrate the suffragettes of the prior century.
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