How did the suffrage movement win the right to vote for all women in the United States?
On this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Colleen Shogan joins Julia, Lee, and James to discuss the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote and the suffrage movement that made it happen. Colleen is Senior Vice President and Director of the David M. Rubenstein Center at the White House Historical Association. She is also Vice Chair of the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission. Colleen is also the author of the Washington Whodunnit series of mystery novels.
Why did it take so long for women to gain the right to vote in this country? How did the small group of women who first met in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention create a nationwide protest movement that would eventually succeed in amending the Constitution? And what can their efforts teach us about our current political dysfunction? These are some of the questions Colleen, Julia, Lee, and James discuss on this week’s episode.
This episode is also available on Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher.
Show Notes
Tennessee made history on August 18, 1920, when it became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment, guaranteeing all women the right to vote in the United States, was officially added to the Constitution a few days later on August 26, 1920. It was a momentous event, capping off more than seven decades of organized action by a diverse group of women from across the nation to secure political equality.
To celebrate that historic campaign, Congress created the Women’s Vote Centennial Commission (www.womensvote100.org) to commemorate the heroic struggle of those who took part in it to ensure that future generations will remember the events that helped women to secure the right to vote.
Throughout the month of August, the Commission is coordinating a nationwide celebration with partners from across the country to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment through innovative and educational programming.