Administration Uses Antiquities Act to Preserve Key Women’s History Landmark

WASHINGTON (April 11, 2016) – President Obama today designated as a national monument a historic landmark central to the women’s rights movement.  The Sewall-Belmont House & Museum in Washington, D.C. was the home of Alice Paul, leader of the National Women’s Party. Paul and others used her home to organize the fight to expand democracy by securing women the right to vote under the 19th Amendment.

The following is a statement by Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“The Antiquities Act enables us to preserve not just spectacular landscapes out West, but also sites that are vital to our national and cultural heritage, like this one. Today’s designation expands America’s story—by including the lesser-told story of women’s fight for equality—and will protect this site from intrusive development and other harms in the future.”