The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
- 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution
Convention Days at Women’s Rights National Historical Park
The year 2020 will mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
Early women’s rights activists dedicated years, and in some cases most of their lives, advocating for the right to vote. Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, New York commemorates one of the earliest women suffrage movements in United States history. It was here the first Women’s Rights Convention took place in 1848, attracting nearly 300 men and women to debate and exchange ideas regarding the social, civil, and moral rights of women.
The park tells the story of this event through a variety of sites including Wesleyan Chapel, where the convention was held, as well as the homes of renowned women rights activists Jane Hunt, Mary Ann M'Clintock, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton who launched the women’s rights reform movement. They contributed to the creation of the Declaration of Sentiments, which proclaimed that “all men and women are created equal.”
If you find yourself in Seneca Falls this weekend, the park is hosting Convention Days on July 19-21, 2019.
The event is a unique opportunity learn about the early days of the women’s rights movement and the factors that impacted its development. Not-to-miss events include ranger-guided tours, reenactments of the Declaration of Sentiments speech, and the opportunity to meet Coline Jenkins, great-great granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who will present the keynote address!
She’s the face on that weird dollar coin you get from the airport cart machine and one of America’s original push girls. Susan B. Anthony was involved in activism and abolitionist movements since before she could walk, thanks to growing up in a Quaker household. And by the time she hooked up with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she was an unstoppable force for women’s rights. So, the next time you end up with a Susan B. Anthony dollar, think big!
Tell your friend she’s got a little Susan in her. Reblog now to give her a little push.
On This Day in Herstory, August 26th 1920, the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution is incorporated, giving women across the US the right to vote.
After more than a century of struggle and protest in America the Women’s Suffrage Movement finally won, and women across the country were granted the same voting rights as men. (This is legally speaking, but in practice women still struggled. Black women weren’t given equal voting rights until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was passed.)
The Women’s Suffrage Movement officially began on a national level in the US in 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott held the Seneca Falls Convention. Stanton, Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Virginia Minor, and countless other women fought to raise awareness of Women’s Suffrage, and on August 18th 1920, Tennessee ratified the bill granting women the vote, and became the final State needed to win a three-fourths majority.
Just over a week later US Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the law and so it became the 19th Amendment to the constitution.
Women across the country were able to exercise their newly earned right, when on November 2nd 1920, 8 million women were allowed to vote in the US Presidential election. Finally, on March 22nd 1984, Mississippi became the final State to ratify the amendment.
Full(er) context: “The one distinct feature of our Association has been the right of the individual opinion for every member. We have been beset at every step with the cry that somebody was injuring the cause by the expression of some sentiments that differed with those held by the majority of mankind. The religious persecution of the ages has been done under what was claimed to be the command of God. I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do to their fellows, because it always coincides with their own desires.”
–(A defense of Elizabeth Cady Stanton against a motion to repudiate her Woman’s Bible at a meeting of the National-American Woman Suffrage Association 1896 Convention)
