Advocacy for women’s rights and equality have been a lifetime endeavor for Betty Richie and JoAnn Jenkins. Each grew up in nurturing homes and married men who treated them as equals. As they entered the working world, they found much discrimination against women and both set out to help pave the way for future generations of women.
Betty Richie came from a rural northwest Texas community. When ran for a public office she was the first woman to do so in that area. Discrimination was rampant and she was discouraged from running because she “should be at home cooking dinner for her family.” The negative views and comments did not stop her. She did not win the race, but she was determined to work for women’s equal rights. She moved to Dallas and found many like-minded women with similar interests. Although the discrimination was not as severe as the rural area she came from, she found there was still a long way to go for equal rights. She could not even open a bank account without her husband’s signature.
JoAnn Jenkins entered the working world when she got out school and eventually worked in a male dominated office with just a few women. In meetings, the men readily voiced agreement with each other and the women’s voices were hardly heard. It was frustrating for her and she was determined to help make changes of how women were treated. Her husband was politically oriented and helped her find ways to express herself and have her voice be heard.
Betty and JoAnn met through Women’s Issues Network (WIN). Formed in 1980, WIN has continuously worked for women’s rights and equality. The pair are co-chairs for the Women's Equality Day celebration at Dallas City Hall on August 22 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in the Flag Room on the 6th floor of City Hall located at 1500 Marilla Drive.
The event has been celebrated annually by WIN for over 20 years. More than 100 women wearing white will descend upon City Hall for the program. White garments represent the suffragists who lobbied for women to vote, keeping their memory alive.
Although women's voting rights are taken for granted today, they were earned through a long brutal campaign by women that began in the 1700's and culminated nearly 150 years later when the 19th Amendment was passed on August 26, 1920.
Until that time, women were not allowed the right to own property, to have legal claim to the money they earned, nor the right to vote. Clothes, jewelry, and land were owned by their husbands or fathers. Bibles were one of their few possessions that they could hand down to their children.
Women’s Equality day will include a Proclamation recognizing the 98th Anniversary of Women’s Equality Day given by Mayor Rawlings, the City Council, and County Commissioners, and others.
It will be followed by a program “Turning The Page” with featured speakers Jan Sanders, The Honorable Tina Yoo Clinton, The Honorable Dominique Collins, and Monica Lira Bravo. They are four outstanding ladies from our community who will share their stories about the struggles and hardships endured to achieve the success they have today. The event is open to the public.
Ann Moy and Brent Berryman are the co-Presidents of WIN.
Sponsors for this event are: American Association of University Women-Dallas, Dallas Women’s Foundation, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.— Dallas Alumnae Chapter, Federally Employed Women-Dallas Area Chapter, Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas, Jane’s Due Process, Junior League of Dallas, League of Women Voters-Collin County, League of Women Voters of Dallas, League of Women Voters of Irving, Barbara Materka, Martha Tiller Company, Marilyn Mauthe, Mujeres Poderosas/Powerful Women DFW, National Council of Jewish Women— Greater Dallas Section, Our Friends Place, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, Judith Shure, South East Dallas Business & Professional Women’s Club, Southwest Jewish Congress, Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation, The Afiya Center, United Nations Association-Dallas Chapter, Women’s Council of Dallas County, Women Organizing Women (WOW) Democrats, Women’s Issues Network, ZONTA Club of Dallas.