The role of the American woman was starkly different before they earned the right to vote 90 years ago. The Village of Seneca Falls played a large role in that movement. It's the site of the first women's rights convention and the place where the Declaration of Sentiments was presented. This year's convention focused on these accomplishments, as well as ongoing fights. Our Karen Lee sat down with keynote speaker, Karen DeCrow.

SENECA FALLS, N.Y. -- Almost to the day 162 years ago, shocking words were read aloud here: "All men and women are created equal." It would take more than 70 years but the Declaration of Sentiments read at the Seneca Falls Convention would steer the successful movement for women's rights to vote. Many of those suffrage leaders were local.

"One of my theories on why there was feminist activity in the 1840s and 1850s is our terrible weather. And if you live in Upstate New York, you really aren't going to be wandering around outside. So you might be sitting in the house, writing a Declaration of Sentiment, said Karen DeCrow, a women's rights activist.

The upstate cold affected Jamesville attorney, Karen DeCrow, who as president of the National Organization for Women did much for the feminist movement in the seventies. She says the number of women in current leadership roles is proof of just how far they've come, but DeCrow isn't about to back down yet. Birth control and abortion rights are her top concerns.

"I would never have dreamed in the 1970s that we'd still be talking about it 40 years later and it should be off the table but it isn't. So I don't think we can relax for a minute,” said DeCrow.

DeCrow says when she was younger, she was the archetype of angry feminist, but as a practicing lawyer, she changed her tactic: exchanging rage for pleasantry.

"I decided it worked, so I advice people to do it. That doesn't mean you fold. You don't fold," said DeCrow.

DeCrow is also the National Women's Hall of Fame 2009 inductee.