The woman’s suffrage movement began in the 19th Century in England and quickly moved across the ocean with the goal of securing all women the right to vote. Lasting over 72 years, this persistent movement compelled passage of a Constitutional amendment and became a critical part of our American history.
By 1920, women in some states could already vote, however black and minority women continued to be blocked from voting. When the Federal law was changed, all women as a class finally won legal recognition as American citizens under the 19th Amendment. Ratified on August 18th, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted American women the right to vote and became known as woman’s suffrage.
The campaign began during the 1820s and ’30s as a number of women’s reform groups across the U.S., such as the temperance clubs and anti-slavery organizations, protested. It was not until 1848 that the movement gained momentum on a national level; however, the Civil War cut the movement short.
In July of 1848, strong reformers and close friends Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York. In the audience were many women and men, including former African-American slave and activist Frederick Douglass. A group of delegates led by Stanton produced a “Declaration of Sentiments” which stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” Modeled after the Declaration of Independence the idea was to send the message that women be allowed the right to vote.
The first media coverage mocked the delegates however Stanton and Mott persisted and were eventually joined by Susan B. Anthony and other activists. In 1869, Stanton and Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). In the same year abolitionists Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell founded the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). They believed women’s enfranchisement could best be gained through amendments to individual state constitutions. This group believed the 15th Amendment would not pass if it included voting rights for women and it was ratified in 1870 giving all black men the right to vote.
By 1878, NWSA gathered enough influence to lobby the U.S. Congress for a Constitutional amendment. It was defeated on the Senate floor in 1886. In 1890 NWSA and AWSA merged to form the powerful National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), with the strategy of lobbying for women’s voting rights on a state-by-state basis. By 1896, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho adopted amendments to their state constitutions giving women the right to vote. Carrie Chapman Catt stepped up to take over the lead of the NAWSA at the turn of the century, and under her leadership NASWA achieved successes for women’s enfranchisement at the state level in 17 states by 1918. During this time Stanton’s daughter, Harriot Stanton Blatch, through the Woman’s Political Union introduced parades, pickets, and marches, which led to unrest in D.C.
On President Woodrow Wilson’s 1913 Inauguration Day, protesters organized a massive parade in the capital, and hundreds of women were injured. That year, Alice Paul founded the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, later to be known as the National Woman’s Party. Paul was aware of the civil disobedience tactics Emmeline Pankhurst used in England, and her organization staged regular demonstrations at the White House along with other militant tactics.
Wilson finally switched his stand on women’s voting rights in 1918 with the continued persistent influence of Catt who convinced him to tie the proposed amendment to America’s involvement in World War I and the increased role women had played in the war effort. He addressed the Senate in favor of suffrage, however, the proposal failed by two votes. On May 21, 1919, Representative James Mann, a republican from Illinois and chairman of the Suffrage Committee, proposed the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. It passed the House 304-89, 42 votes over the two-thirds majority. And two weeks later on June 4, the Senate passed the 19th Amendment by the two-thirds majority plus two votes, 56-25. The Amendment was sent to the states for ratification. Within two weeks, six states ratified the amendment. Within the year, 35 states had approved the amendment, one state shy of the two-thirds majority required for ratification. The Southern states were opposed, and seven of them all voted against. Tennessee voted on August 18, 1920, in favor of ratification with the state’s decision coming down to a young representative Harry T. Burn who cast the deciding vote. A mother’s letter convinced him to “not forget to be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the “RAT” in ratification.” In November of 1920, more than 8 million women across the nation voted in elections for the first time.
This recent body of work is an attempt to honor the women who as Suffragists, organized a historic drive for civil rights and won citizenship, political freedom, and the right to vote for all of us. The finished project will include 19 portraits of women who were pioneers of the cause. Today we face a time of what seems to me to be a reversal of social attitudes and respect for all women in society. As the Centennial celebration approaches, we recall the Call to Action which these role models inspired, and remember how important it is to try to move us all toward justice and equality for all. Let’s all fight for a better world. Join the conversation.
This project is dedicated in loving memory to my mother, Betty Kline, who saw the first eight portraits completed. She left me with the acute sense of what it means to be a strong woman in society.
Listen to my January 2023 interview with John Busbee of The Culture Buzz about this collection.
