Commander, Navy Region Southeast, Rear Adm. Bette Bolivar, praised the contributions of women in the history of the nation and the Navy, as the guest speaker at a Women’s Equality Day event, Aug. 23. Nearly 100 people attended the event, hosted by Naval Hospital Jacksonville’s diversity committee, at Dewey’s on base.

Women's Equality Day, instituted by Congress in 1971, coincides with the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that granted women the right to vote.

“This day represents the ideal of female equality, brought to focus after years of work and sacrifice,” said Bolivar. “Women’s equality has made us a stronger Navy, a more globally engaged Navy and, most importantly, a Navy more fully reflective of the values and best characteristics of our great nation.”

The women's suffrage movement began in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. This movement outlined key social, civil and political demands for women, which helped the cause of women's suffrage gain national prominence.

Bolivar spoke about the history of the suffrage movement, touching on the accomplishments of pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, two leading suffragettes who organized the Seneca Falls convention.

“Mott and Stanton travelled to London in 1840 to attend a world anti-slavery conference,” Bolivar said. “When they got there, after weeks of travel, the organizers wouldn’t engage with them because they were women. So they came back to the United States where they worked, planned and fought for eight years, before holding the first women’s rights convention.”  

“We stand on the shoulders of those early pioneers, who sacrificed and fought for the freedoms women enjoy today,” she said.

"Our U.S. Navy has in fact often been more progressive than civilian society in allowing women the opportunity to succeed," said Bolivar. "In 1908, women first entered the naval service more than a decade before they were granted the right to vote." She shared personal experiences from her career, and highlighted her predecessors, including Rear Adm. Alene Duerk, the Navy’s first female flag officer.

“Admiral Duerk was a trailblazer,” said Bolivar. “She came in the Navy as a nurse during World War II, and served proudly for more than thirty years. She was a surgical nurse, a ward manager, an educator and a barrier-breaking administrator.”

Aviation Maintenance Administrationman 2nd Class Shadasia Helton, assigned to the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit, said she appreciated learning about the women who fought for equality.

“I think it’s so important to look back at where we came from,” said Helton. “Today we have equal opportunity, but it wasn’t always that way.”

Culinary Specialist 2nd Class Kenneth Alexander, president of the diversity committee and one of the organizers of the event, offered closing remarks, remembering the sacrifices of his own mother who raised him and his brothers as a single mother.

"Today's event is about remembering those women who have made a difference in our own lives, and recognizing the many contributions they have made to our nation and our Navy," he said.

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