Hello 19th Amendment!

Right: Photo of suffragists at the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, NY. Photo courtesy of University of Nebraska Omaha archives.

Eighty-nine years ago today the 19th amendment was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women their right to vote. By 1920 more than 70 years had passed since the beginnings of the women's suffrage movement. Women had famously rallied in Seneca Falls, NY in 1848. In 1850 the first ever national women's rights conference was held, and this conference was repeated annually ever after. Women wanted equal rights in employment, finances, and politics. They wanted their voices to be heard, and in 1869 led by Susan B. Anthony, women founded the National Women's Suffrage Association. By 1890 only one state, Wyoming, had changed its laws in order to allow women to vote.

In 1916 women suffragist had been fighting long and hard to no avail (only 4 states in total allowed women to vote: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho), so they changed their tactics. Women picketed the White House and staged acts of civil disobedience across the U.S.

Finally on August 26, 1920 Congress heard these women's cries and instituted a law that would allow them to vote. Many of the early suffragist leaders had by this time passed away, but their work was carried on without them and their dreams were finally a reality. In the 2009 presidential election more women voted than men. A woman even ran in the presidential primary.

As women we have a long line of suffragist, some like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton whose names we know, some whose names we will never know, to thank for our right to be heard in a political election. Unfortunately, there are still places in this world where women either lack the right to vote or possess only partial suffrage. Women in the United States certainly owe a debt of gratitude to the suffragettes who came before us, and it is the purpose of this blog to remember those women with thanks.

Available online source for more information can be found here.