June 4, 1919: Nineteenth Amendment Passes

 “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.”

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment by Congress in joint session.*

[This pen in @amhistorymuseum was used to sign the amendment's joint resolution. #BecauseOfHerStory #19thAt100. Smithsonian Institution] 

However, before it could become the law of the land three-fourths of the states had to ratify it so the battle wasn't over yet.** There was still a lot of opposition, including from President Woodrow Wilson.

[Photograph of six suffragists at the 1920 Republican National Convention in Chicago, gathered in front of a building with suffrage banners. Mrs. James Rector, Mary Dubrow, and Alice Paul (left to right) hold center banner that reads: "No self respecting woman should wish or work for the success of a party that ignores her sex. Susan B. Anthony, 1872." National Photo Co., Washington, D.C. Republican National Convention, Chicago, Illinois. Chicago Illinois United States, 1920. [June 8-12] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/mnwp000260/.]

By March of the following year 35 states had voted in favor and Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia had already rejected the amendment. It fell to Tennessee, the 36th state, who ratified it on August 18, 1920 (by a 49-47 vote).




*The House of Representatives had voted 304-89 and the Senate 56-25 in favor of the amendment.
**And of course, this didn't guarantee the voting rights of African Americans and other people of color who had to wait until the 1965 Civil Rights Act.




© 2019 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

I Voted

99 years and 1 day ago, Congress passed the 19th amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote.(California passed a similar law for the states in 1911 in a special election).


I am so grateful for all the hard work women (and some men) did in the past to allow me the right to vote.  I try to never take that for granted, even when I have to vote in these tiresome California primary elections.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Election Day

I've voted, have you?

[Lady Liberty brings VOTES FOR WOMEN in "The Awakening" PJ MODE COLLECTION AT CORNELL’S DIGITAL LIBRARY/CC BY-SA 3.0

found at Atlas Obscura]

As a woman, I wouldn't have been able to vote in the Presidential election a century ago.


© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Voting Inspiration: Because I Can

By National Woman Suffrage Publishing Co. - Cornell University: Persuasive Cartography: The PJ Mode Collection, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44963586

Well, I got my mail-in ballot today and just finished filling out a seemingly endless ballot.  After I send it off in the mail tomorrow I will be officially done paying any attention whatsoever to this horrible election cycle.

My only real inspiration to get me through this ballot was the scary fact that it has only been a little less than 100 years for women (and 50 years for some African-American women) to have full suffrage in this country.  You bet I vote every time, because I can, and in memory and honor for all those who couldn't for so long.









© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.