Happy Women’s Equality Day – August 26th!

Today, August 26th, we celebrate Women’s Equality Day, the day the 19th Amendment granting all women in the United States the right to vote was finally made part of the US Constitution in 1920. The designation of August 26th as Women’s Equality Day was proposed in 1971 by Bella Abzug, representative from the 19th Congressional District in Manhattan. After seventy-two years of seemingly endless marches, petitions, speeches, and writings, the 19th Amendment was finally ratified on August 18, 1920 by the 36th state, which happened to be Tennessee. Thanks to a last minute change of heart by a young Representative, Harry Burn, the Amendment was ratified and sent by Governor Roberts of Tennessee to US Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby, whose job it was to sign the Proclamation and declare the 19th Amendment to be part of the United States Constitution.

The signing of the proclamation took place without any ceremony of any kind, and its issuance was unaccompanied by the taking of movies or other pictures, despite the fact that the National Woman’s Party and the National American Woman Suffrage Association had both been anxious to be present and to have the historic event recorded. Colby was later gracious in his congratulations of the suffragists’ “efforts in the face of discouragement,” but when he was asked to recreate the ceremony in the presence of movie cameras he refused, stating that “the proclamation of the ratification…was more important than feeding the movie cameras.”

Still, there was much to celebrate. Carrie Chapman Catt proclaimed: “This is a glorious and wonderful day. Now that we have the vote let us remember we are no longer petitioners…but free and equal citizens. Let us do our part to keep it a true and triumphant democracy.”

This year is a bit different from other years, as we are gearing up to celebrate the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment next year in 2020. Celebrations, rallies, parades and exhibits have already begun, and many are planned. We will try to list as many as possible on our “What’s Happening?” page –  refer back to it now and again to keep abreast of planned activities.

Happy Women’s Equality Day!

 

 

One Response

  1. Lorraine Kilkenny August 27, 2019 at 5:52 pm | | Reply

    Is 2020 a mistake ? It hasn’t happened yet . Should it be 1920 ?

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