Constitution Day recognizes the adoption of the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787. This holiday is also known as Citizenship Day to recognize those who have become US citizens.

Constitution Day is observed on September 17th because the delegates of the United States Constitutional Convention signed the document on this date in 1787. The process of creating the Constitution was no small task - there were many debates between delegates before a committee, the Grand Committee, was formed to settle the disagreements and create the official draft. A total of 39 delegates signed the Constitution.

The women behind these 39 delegates rarely get attention for all the tasks they did to ensure that the signers of the Constitution had success in starting the United States of America. Many of the delegates had to leave their wives and families for long stretches of time to attend the conferences and fulfill their duties. These women supported the Founding Fathers and maintained all of the affairs in their homes, communities, and even aided in ensuring that the Constitution would be completed, all while the men were away.

This Constitution Day, we want to take a moment and remember these women who were instrumental to the birth of the United States:

Connecticut

o   Anne Beach (wife of William Samuel Johnson)

o   Elizabeth Hartwell (wife of Roger Sherman, friends with Betsy Ross)

Delaware

o   Ann Ennals (wife of Richard Bassett)

o   Jane Ballareau Parker (wife of Gunning Bedford Jr.)

o   Rachel Pierce (wife of Jacob Broom)

o   Mary Norris (wife of John Dickinson)

o   Gertrude Ross Till (wife of George Read)

Georgia

o   Catherine Nicholson (wife of William Few)

Maryland

o   Elanor Carroll (wife of Daniel Carroll)

o   Margaret Allison Caldwell (wife of James McHenry)

Massachusetts

o   Rebecca Call (wife of Nathaniel Gorham)

o   Mary Alsop (wife of Rufus King)

New Hampshire

o   Ann Taylor (wife of Nicholas Gilman)

o   Elizabeth Sherburne (wife of John Langdon)

New Jersey

o   Elizabeth Mullen (wife of David Brearly)

o   Susan Williamson (wife of Jonathan Dayton)

o   Susanna French (wife of William Livingston)

o   Cornelia Bell (wife William Paterson)

New York

o   Elizabeth Schuyler (wife of Alexander Hamilton)

North Carolina

o   Mary Grainger (wife of William Blount)

o   Mary Leach (wife of Richard D. Spaight)

o   Maria Apthorpe (wife of Hugh Williamson)

Pennsylvania

o   Elizabeth Meredith (wife of George Clymer)

o   Catherine Meade (wife of Thomas Fitzsimons)

o   Deborah Read (wife of Benjamin Franklin)

o   Elizabeth Pettit (wife of Jared Ingersoll)

o   Sarah Morris (wife of Thomas Mifflin)

o   Anne Carey Randolph (wife of Gouverneur Morris)

o   Mary White (wife of Robert Morris)

o   Rachel Bird (wife of James Wilson)

South Carolina

o   Mary Middleton (wife of Pierce Butler)

o   Mary Eleanor Laurens (wife of Charles Pinckney)

o   Sarah Middleton (wife of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney)

o   Elizabeth Grimkey (wife of John Rutledge)

Virginia

o   Jean Balfour (wife of John Blair Jr.)

o   Dolley Payne Todd (wife of James Madison)

o   Martha Dandridge Custis (wife of George Washington)