Votes for Women 100th Anniversary

Caroline Barnes Wilson, suffragette

Seemingly lost in the pressing news of the day, March 19th celebrates the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. My great-grandmother, Caroline Barnes Wilson, pictured above was a suffragette, working tirelessly for women’s right to vote. My grandmother recalls Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony meeting with her mother in their home in New Jersey.

My great-grandmother is seated in the front seat of the horse-drawn parade wagon.

Mementoes from my great-grandmother.

On this occasion, I remind readers about the power, privilege and responsibility to vote as we face one of the most important presidential elections in history.

Learn more about the 19th Amendment and the women’s suffrage movement at Women’s Vote Centennial

Suffragists began their organized fight for women’s equality in 1848 when they demanded the right to vote during the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. For the next 72 years, women leaders lobbied, marched, picketed, and protested for the right to the ballot. The U.S. House of Representatives finally approved the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote, on May 21, 1919. The U.S. Senate followed two weeks later, and the 19th Amendment went to the states, where it had to be ratified by 3/4ths of the-then-48 states to be added to the Constitution. By a vote of 50-47, Tennessee became the last state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby issued a proclamation declaring the 19th Amendment ratified and part of the US Constitution on August 26, 1920, forever protecting American women’s right to vote.

Today, more than 68 million women vote in elections because of the courageous suffragists who never gave up the fight for equality. Explore the resources below to learn more about the story of the 19th Amendment and women’s fight for the ballot.