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By Evelyn Lucus, C.P.A.
August 2005
You know, when I was growing up I never really gave
much thought to or was ever very concerned with the
big “to do” about voting. After all, I grew up in the
modern era where all you had to do was register and
go to the polling place on Election Day to cast your
ballot.
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If you were too busy or just not really interested in the
candidates or issues being voted on, don’t worry about not
exercising your right to vote. It’s no big deal, right?
Boy, was I ever wrong!
I joined Wichita Falls Business and Professional Women in
1990. At that time, I had already begun my accounting career
and thought I needed some quality networking time with other
business women in the area. As I became more aware of the
issues that BPW and other women’s groups have supported over
the years, I could hardly believe what I learned. There was
a time when women were not allowed to vote? No way!
Thank goodness for courageous women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and Susan B. Anthony who founded the women’s suffrage movement
and took up the cause of women’s right to vote. They faced
opposition to their cause everywhere. Whereas men were considered
rational and emotionally stable, women were considered irrational
and “high strung.” Some of their opponents even argued that
women were not as intelligent as their male counterparts and
unable to make educated decisions. These views only made
these women more determined in their fight for women’s right
to vote. Stanton and Anthony became “inseparable colleagues”
and devoted their lives to the women’s movement.
Even before the era of Stanton and Anthony, men and women’s
roles in society were stereotyped. Men made the decisions
while women remained in the background. While John Adams
was attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia
in 1776, his wife Abigail asked that he and the other men
who were at work on the Declaration of Independence “remember
the ladies.” John chuckled, and the wording in the Declaration
specifies that “all men are created equal.”
The anti-slavery movement led to women become more involved
and outspoken. When the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention was
held in London in March of 1840 and rejected the credentials
of female American delegates, Elizabeth Cady Stanton took
up the cause of women’s rights. The first women’s rights
convention in the United States
was held in Seneca Falls,
New York in July of 1848.
Many participants signed a “Declaration of Sentiments and
Resolutions” that outlined the main issues and goals for the
emerging women’s movement.
The Civil War disrupted the suffrage activity but served
as a training ground where women learned important organizational
skills that they would later use in their quest for the right
to vote.
In the years following the Civil War, women began “testing
the waters” by appearing at polling booths across the nation
and attempting to cast their votes. In every instance, they
were turned away. Various women’s groups began to form, all
in support of the suffrage movement.
In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive (Bull Moose) Party
became the first national political party to adopt a women
suffrage plank. The Women’s Rights Movement finally started
to pick up steam. In 1913, the Congressional Union, later
known as the National Women’s Party, was organized by Alice
Paul and Lucy Burns. They participated in hunger strikes,
picketed the White House and engaged in other activities aimed
at publicizing the cause of women’s suffrage.
On March 3, 1913, members of the Congressional
Union organized a suffrage parade on Pennsylvania Avenue.
They intentionally scheduled the parade for the day before
President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. Some hostile members
of the crowd swarmed the marching women and hurled insults
at them. The resulting publicity prompted an investigation
by local authorities and provided further momentum for the
suffrage campaign. Once again, the suffrage campaign was
slowed by war, namely, World War I. Some suffragists decided
to shelve their suffrage efforts in order to help with the
war effort. Others continued on with the campaign. Once
the war ended, those who had put their suffrage efforts on
hold were commended and their decision lauded as a reason
why women deserved the right to vote.
Finally, on August 26, 1920, after a 72-year struggle,
the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States was ratified, granting
women the right to vote. The actual text of the 19th
Amendment reads as follows:
Section 1. The right of the 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.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by
appropriate legislation.
In 1971, President Jimmy Carter designated August 26th
as Women’s Equality Day. This day serves as a commemoration
of women gaining the right to vote and as a reminder of women’s
continuing efforts for equality.
During the week of August 22nd through August
26th, women’s groups nationwide will be celebrating
the 85th Anniversary of the ratification of the
19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution when American
women gained the right to vote. Many BPW clubs are registering
voters, obtaining proclamations and even screening the film
“Iron Jawed Angels” that depicts the graphic battle that women
waged to gain the right to vote.
Whether you decide to formally celebrate this anniversary
or not, at least do one thing—exercise your right to vote
every time the opportunity presents itself!
| About the Author:
Evelyn Lucus is a C.P.A in Wichita Falls, TX and a past
president of BPW.
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