Suffragist history
Events on tap to mark centennial of women gaining right to vote.
On Saturday morning, nearly all the wooden desks in the legislative chambers of the Old Statehouse Museum in downtown Little Rock were occupied by khaki-clad Girl Scouts.
The last time lawmakers met in that building in 1911, those seats were all filled by white, landowning men, Kathleen Pate, president of the Arkansas Women’s History Institute, told them.
Arkansas ratified the 19th Amendment on July 28, 1919. On the 99th anniversary Saturday, the museum hosted a kickoff event for the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commemoration Committee, which was created by Gov. Asa Hutchinson in 2017 to memorialize the fight for women’s right to vote in the state.
“Our primary goal is to recognize the unique place Arkansas holds in the suffrage movement,” Pate, the committee’s chairman, said.
Arkansas was the 12th state and only the second Southern state — after Texas — to ratify the amendment. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia initially rejected it.
Over the next two years, the committee will promote events, research and exhibits across the state to educate people about the history of women’s suffrage in Arkansas. The 19th Amendment
was added to the Constitution on Aug. 26, 1920.
Saturday’s attendees milled around the upper floor of the Statehouse, where temporary exhibits let them pose for photos in the floppy hats and long dresses of the early 1900s, create buttons and pennants with their own suffrage-themed slogans and practice voting on an electronic ballot machine. Many members of the crowd were teen or preteen Girl Scouts from across the state, who had gathered in Little Rock for their annual conference.
Nell Matthews, who ran a table for the League of Women Voters of Arkansas at the event, said she registered several 16- and 17-year-olds to vote that day. Teens can register to vote in Arkansas provided that they will be 18 by the date of the next election.
Journalist and author A’Lelia Bundles appeared as a guest speaker and emphasized the importance of connecting the dots between the past and present and recognizing the struggles that took place.
“We’ve come a long way, baby, but there is always more mountains to climb,” she said.
There was also a themed ice cream flavor from Little Rock’s Loblolly Creamery — a triple-berry confection dubbed “Votes for Women Violet.”
The room was flanked by photos of Arkansan suffragists and their achievements — Clara McDiarmid, Florence Cotnam, Adolphine Fletcher Terry.
Some Girl Scout attendees could name people and events from the national movement for suffrage but said they had never learned about efforts in Arkansas.
“I’m a history buff, so for some of this stuff I was like, ‘yes, preach,’”Anna Tilley of Fort Smith said.
The 15-year-old said Saturday’s event helped her find ideas for internships or things she might want to get involved in, like the #ARGIRLSLEAD initiative started by 18 women who serve in the state House of Representatives.
Pate said the centennial was a chance to educate Arkansans on what they might not have learned in a history class.
“I think people recognize the importance of local history, state history and underrepresented populations history tends to leave out,” she said. “This is a great opportunity to kind of bring that to light.”