SUFFRAGETTE HISTORY

WONDER WOMEN

THE SUFFARAGISTS MOVEMENT & THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR AMERICAN WOMEN

5 MILLION WOMEN | 70 YEARS | 1 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Content provided by Pat Wirth

The Road to Victory

The formal origination of the suffrage movement began in 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY, at the first women’s rights convention that resulted in the Declaration of Sentiments, a document that sought voting rights for women. Activists such as Susan B. Anthony raised public awareness and lobbied the state and federal governments to grant voting rights to women. Three generations of women persisted until they emerged victorious with the passage of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920.*

Women march with banner "National Woman Suffrage" at the Woman Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., March 3, 1913. In background: northeast corner of Pennsylvania Ave. and 11th St.

On the road to securing the right to vote, thousands of women engaged in peaceful protests throughout the country to bring attention to the movement, scores of whom were illegally arrested, beaten, and worse. Over 25 million women won the right to vote and not a single shot was fired. And one of the greatest expansions of democracy in a single day that the world had ever seen.

America’s original Wonder Women indeed!

*Note that, while African American women fought for and gained the right to vote in 1920, the right was denied to them during Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, and other anti-voting rights schemes prevailed. That changed when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. Native American and Asian women also did not immediately gain voting rights.

A set of matching banners used in White House pickets supporting woman’s suffrage in the early 1900s. Both are now housed at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Honoring the suffragists

In August 2020, the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial opened to honor these virtually unknown women. Located outside of Washington, D.C. in Occoqoquan Regional Park on former DC prison grounds, the monument stands where scores of suffragists aged 19 to 73 were illegally imprisoned, humiliated, inhumane conditions, tortured for picketing the White House in 1917. When word leaked out about this unconscionable treatment, it became a turning point for President Wilson to address Congress and seek a Constitutional Amendment. Finally, a proper place in American history.

Feeling inspired? Donation and educational information is available at www.suffragistmemorial.org.

SHOWING YOUR SUPPORT

1919

People showed their support of the suffrage movement wearing sashes, bins, and banners with the three colors of purple, white, and gold, which symbolized loyalty, purity, and life.

In honor of International Women's Day 2019, individuals struck a pose online (shown in the emoji above) with the hashtag #BalanceforBetter to encourage a more gender-balanced world.