(Some) Women Get The Vote

 

Women's suffragists parade in New York City in 1917, carrying placards with the signatures of more than one million women

In early May 1919 a joint resolution was approved in Congress proposing a constitutional amendment affirming that a US citizen's right to vote could not be denied based on sex. It was a brief proposal based on a near century-long effort to achieve that end.\

By 1920, twenty-seven states had already given women the right to vote. The amendment required approval of thirty-six of the forty-eight states before it could be become the law of the land. The ratification process was completed on August 18, 1920 with approval from Tennessee. One week later the Nineteenth Amendment became an official part of the Constitution with the signature of Secretary of State, Bainbridge Colby. 

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.

Although now part of national law the Nineteenth Amendment had limitation, Many state constitutions, citizenship and immigration issues, and local regulations including literacy and poll taxes kept African American, Native American, Latina, and Asian women from voting long into the first half of the 20th century. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its subsequent amendments reaffirmed and strengthened historic rights to the ballot box. 

This post remembers only one landmark in the fascinating story of women's suffrage in the US. Consult the references listed below, particularly the Wikipedia articles, sources, and external links, for more information.

Sources

Text:

Wikipedia.com, Nineteenth Amendment,  

National Women's History Museum

Women's Rights National Historical Park

Photos and Illustrations:

suffragists, The New York Times photo archive, public domain

Nineteen Amendment, National Archives and Records Administration