The National Council of Women was founded in 1888 by suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony in New York City, near the United Nations headquarters.
It was started to advocate for the right of women to vote and, to this day, continues working for the rights of women around the world — and it's name has changed to the International Council of Women, or ICW.
The ICW works towards equality across gender, which is still something that has yet to be reached. Getting the vote in 1920 was a huge event, but it wasn't the end. After all, it wasn't so long ago that a woman couldn't even apply for her own credit card.
And for 125 years, as the various women worked through the decades to make the world a safer and more welcoming place for women, a safe stood in the corner of one of the offices. After a while, everyone forgot what was in it, and the combination had been lost to time.
The safe became something of a mystery. What could be inside? To celebrate their 125th anniversary in June 2013, the ICW decided to open the safe.
But before that, they wanted to know what people thought could be in there, and set up a hashtag (#whatsinthesafe) on social media where people could weigh in with what they thought the safe was hiding.
Some went the historical route and guessed that the safe could perhaps hold Susan B. Anthony's bail receipt from her arrest, a first draft of the Nineteenth Amendment (that could guarantee women the right to vote), or a copy of the suffragette newspaper, The Revolution.
Others hoped for a more everyday look at the lives of the women's rights advocates of yesteryear, like letters, photos, personal documents, and maybe even some booze!
What did they find? Read on to find out!
[H/T: University of Rochester, NPR]
This safe stood in the New York City offices of the International Council of Women, formerly the National Council for Women.
As far as everyone knew, it had been used, and there were things inside, but no one knew what.
That was because, for as far back as even the most senior members of the ICW could remember, the safe had simply never been opened, and the combination had been lost to time.
It was anyone's guess as to what could be inside.
The ICW was founded by the founders of the suffrage movement, like Susan B. Anthony. Anthony championed equal rights for women in the late 1800s, demanding the right to vote.
She was a staunch believer in social equality, and championed gender equality and votes, equal pay, and divorce rights for women.
Anthony was the first president of the ICW.
Anthony's colleague was Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the pair worked together for years — along with many other women — to secure rights for women that would allow them more autonomy, and a chance to participate in their government.
The ICW's 125th anniversary was coming up, and so they decided to have the safe opened in time for the celebration.
But it wasn't easy — or cheap. With funding from the University of Rochester, they hired professional safecracker Elaad Israeli to open the safe.
Having opened many a safe in his time, he warned that most of the time, the safes he opens end up holding nothing but "rubber bands, paper clips, and pens."
With great concentration, Israeli set to work.
And then the safe was open!
It wasn't empty at all.
The artifacts were lifted out carefully, and handled with gloves.
What was inside turned out to be a mixture of items, both clerical and personal, dating from the 1930s through the 1950s.
There was a change purse inside that help currencies from Mexico, France, and a few other countries.
There were also plenty of letters and documents, most of them pertaining to ICW activities.
Most of these documents weren't opened and were rifled through right there, as the paper was delicate. The task of reading, organizing, and digitizing them was left to an archivist.
There were also small illustrated panels, which are actually miniature replicas of much larger murals commissioned for the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago.
They seemed to depict women throughout history, including one Red Cross nurse.
Perhaps most amazing thing was a Smithsonian-crafted replica of Susan B. Anthony's gavel, used when she was president of the ICW.
It was this discovery that caused Catherine Cerulli, director of the Susan B. Anthony Center, to tear up a bit.
The contents of the safe showed decades of work of the ICW and women everywhere to achieve equality, which they're still doing today.
Watch the video below to see the moment the safe pops open!
The general consensus? Although the items in the safe didn't date back to the 1880s, opening the safe still yielded some great finds. It also showed not only how far we've come with regard to women's rights, but also how much work there's still left to do.
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