TRAIL BLAZERS
Women’s suffrage movement paved the way
One hundred years ago this week, women in the United States won the right to vote.
It was just a few sentences. But the ratification to the 19th Amendment on Aug. 18, 1920, made it clear that, “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or by any state on account of sex.”
Wendy Smith of Chesterfield Township believes that had she been around during this pivotal time in women’s history she would have marched with the women who fought for change.
“I would hope so,” said Smith. “But it’s really easy to look back and say I would have helped, when we don’t really know unless we have the opportunity to do so.”
She does, however, admire those who did.
“I think it’s sad that many people have forgotten how hard we worked to get here. Women and men were ridiculed, beaten and arrested, and here I am today exercising my rights,” Smith said, during a previous Michigan primary election.
Maria Rivera of Warren concurred.
“What stands out in my mind is the actual pain and suffering from the start of the movement for women to gain the right to vote” said Rivera, who is a founding member of the Macomb County chapter of the League of Women Voters (LWV). The national branch of the nonpartisan organization was started by the leaders of the women’s suffrage movement, after they won the right to vote, in order to help women carry out their new responsibilities as voters.
The trail blazers
Among the pioneers who helped to launch the woman’s suffrage movement were Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In 1840, they tried to attend the World
Anti-Slavery Convention held in London, England but were barred from doing so, prompting them to organize the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Their first meeting drew a crowd of more than 300 people, launching a movement, fueled by women activists who marched, lobbied, protested and
After the Civil War, suffragists continually fought for expanded voting rights only to see their state constitutional amendments and ballot initiatives defeated, over and over again. Among the small victories during the movement was that of Eva Belles, who tried to vote in school board elections but was denied.
even went to jail for their cause. It was also shortly after this meeting that Stanton met fellow activist, Susan B. Anthony, who is among the key players in the suffragist movement.
“Anthony was good at strategy. Her discipline, energy, and ability to organize made her a strong and successful leader. Anthony and Stanton co-founded the American Equal Rights Association. In 1868, they became editors of the Association’s newspaper, The Revolution, which helped to spread the ideas of equality and rights for women,” according to the National Women’s History Museum.
She and Stanton spent years, speaking on behalf of women’s rights. In 1872, when it appeared no one was listening, Anthony decided to vote regardless of any restrictions. She cast a ballot for Ulysses S. Grant in the presidential election but was arrested. She was tried and fined $100 for her crime, but it brought national attention to the suffrage movement. Anthony died in 1904, and while she never saw an end to the struggle, she helped Stanton establish the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association, whose members carried on the fight including, Alice Paul.
“She led pickets at the White House and Congress and despite America’s entry into World War I, refused to abandon these tactics. She and her colleagues were arrested and imprisoned; they engaged in hunger strikes and endured forced feedings at the hands of authorities,” Rivera said. “Her perseverance also helped to establish that women were not just chattel, but had the intelligence and the desire to have the rights afforded to all citizens.”
Eventually, women pressured Congress to vote on an amendment that would recognize their suffrage rights, and when progress on the federal amendment stalled in the 1870s, they pushed to change state suffrage requirements regarding the vote.
In Michigan, women petitioned the legislature for the ballot as early as 1855.
After the Civil War, suffragists continually fought for expanded voting rights only to see their state constitutional amendments and ballot initiatives defeated, over and over again. Among the small victories during the movement was that of Eva Belles, who tried to vote in school board elections but was denied.
“This resulted in the 1889 Michigan Supreme Court Belles versus Burr decision, which upheld her right to vote in school board elections and thus all women’s right to vote in school board elections,” said Katherine Labuhn of St. Clair Shores and chair of the Macomb County chapter of the LWV. “They argued that women deserved to have a say in their community.”
Also leaders among Michigan’s movement were Clara Arthur, co-founder of the Michigan Equal Suffrage Association, and Anna Howard Shaw, a Big Rapids minister and successor to Susan B. Anthony as director of the National American Women Suffrage Association.
Sojourner Truth was an African American who fought for both abolition and women’s rights. The same year Anthony voted for Grant in the presidential election, Truth appeared at a polling station demanding a ballot to vote; but was turned away.
Although born a slave in New York, Truth escaped to freedom and settled in Battle Creek, Mich., where she became known for her speeches on racial inequalities including, “Ain’t I a Woman?” delivered during the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention.
Staying focussed
As a result of the work done by these and many other women, Michigan passed a state constitutional amendment in 1918. The next year, Congress passed the 19th Amendment.
After Congress approved the Amendment, in order for it to become part of the U.S. Constitution, at least 36 states needed to vote in favor of it. This process is called ratification. Michigan was among the first states to ratify the amendment on June 10, 1919.
“Honestly, their biggest strategy was just not giving up after every defeat,” Labuhn said. “I also, think the western states that first implemented women’s suffrage demonstrated to other states that it could be done, and the world didn’t end. The women also got a boost from World War I. They took out advertisements in local newspapers that made the case that letting women vote would help win the war. Since a lot of men were overseas fighting, more women were seen out and about in the workplace, so letting them vote seemed like a natural next step.”
Reminding the state’s younger citizens what a privilege it is to vote is Macomb Community College political science professor Michael Placco of Oakland County.
“My grandmother could not vote but my mother did,” said Placco, who understood growing up that voting was an important civic thing to do.
However, not all American households are the same.
Some women did not want to get their hands dirty, as they said, meaning it was a man’s job to vote. Others were afraid, and rightly so, being that voting would require them to walk past people holding shotguns in order to vote.
“Attitudes and opinions did not change immediately just because there was a law,” Placco said.
There were also grandfather clauses such as literacy tests, that discouraged women voters, but by 1964, the pendulum was starting to swing the other way.
In every presidential election since 1980, the proportion of eligible female adults who voted has exceeded the proportion of eligible male adults who voted, according to the Enter for American Women and Politics. In the most recent election of 2016, 53.6% of the voters were women; 46.4% were men.
Celebrating the vote
This week marks the official
anniversary of the 19th Amendment, but throughout this centennial year much has been said about this pivotal milestone in women’s history. Here are a few of the comments that have been shared:
I’m proud to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the 19th amendment. As a woman in politics, I know how important it is to have your vote counted and to use your vote as your voice. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,
in a press release announcing that the theme
of this year’s Women’s History Month could be “Valiant Women of the Vote.
Obviously, it is only common sense that women be involved in government. Why would you eliminate 50 percent of the people — and 50 percent of the ideas, energy and interests of those people — from the government? I believe America works best when we bring in our diverse ideas and life experiences and add them in to the melting pot.
I have had the opportunity to have experienced several “firsts” as a woman in different positions, but I have never really set out to be any kind of trailblazer. I had ideas and issues that I have been passionate about — clean water and the Great Lakes, the importance of a strong national defense and other topics. I have tried to be a voice for those issues and the issues of my community at every step of the way. I encourage others who want to bring their passions and their voice into government. We need that from both women and men. That’s what makes our system so strong.
I do believe there is a certain point of view that women often bring to the discussion, but more importantly I think it is about getting good people from all walks of life, be they women or men, to have a seat at the table. — Candice Miller, Macomb
County Public Works Commissioner and former member of the House of
Representatives.
It is hard to underestimate the impact of the 19th amendment. We know that many of the suffragists worked their entire lives to make sure women were seen as full citizens with a say in electoral politics.
It is important to remember that not all women benefited from the 19th amendment. Middle-class and upper-class white women were the first to benefit.
Black women were largely disenfranchised until the Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965. — Jo Reger, Oakland University professor
We know that women’s voices and actions in our political process have only made it better for women, children, families, and men. We still have a lot of work to do to increase women’s participation in voting and holding their elected officials accountable to decisions being made that impact their lives. We also must be doing so much more to support more women in running for all levels of office and in women supporting women to help them win these elections.
We simply need more women participating and I’m hopeful this year marking the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, allowing women the right to vote, will inspire more women to make their voices heard in our upcoming elections. — Sarah Roberts, former
state Rep.
For years, I’ve had a poster hanging in my home office that reads: A woman living here has registered to vote, thereby assuming the responsibility of citizenship. Aside from my family, there is nothing more precious to me than this right. Women have always kept the country running, and by gaining suffrage, they finally were able to make the decisions that guided policy—both in voting and in holding elected office. Since women began voting, we’ve made great strides, strengthening the well-being of workers and families. Women make up more than half of the population in this country, and they make most of the health, education and financial decisions in families. Today, women are making a difference in their homes, at the polls, and in elected positions. And the rest is history—and ‘her’ story. — Gilda Jacobs, president
and CEO of Michigan League for Public Policy and former member of the Michigan state Senate.
The suffrage movement made it abundantly clear, that women as a collective can bring about real, meaningful change in our world. The fight to pass the 19th Amendment was not an easy one, but suffragettes understood its importance and faced the challenges head on. On my most difficult days in the legislature, I draw strength from these trailblazers who refused to back down until they accomplished their goals and do my best to channel the perseverance of the brave women who have come before me.
— State Rep. Lori Stone