HomeOur EffortsEnsure Fair VotingWomen’s Suffrage

In 2020, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. This important birthday gave us the opportunity to reflect on the history of suffrage for all women.

On August 26, 1920, with Tennessee as the 36th ratifying state, the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote. Some states, however, promptly instituted poll taxes, literacy tests, and other registration requirements that disenfranchised women, especially women of color.

It was not until the 1960s and the civil rights movement that citizens were legally protected from discrimination on the basis of race. Until then, barriers to voting were boldly erected against Black women, Native American women, Asian-American, and Latinx women.

Today, Fair Voting is still a goal. Although we have made strides over the past century, we can still take steps to remove barriers to the ballot box, reach disenfranchised voters, and protect other groups such as the transgender community from voter discrimination.

Take a look at the presentation below of 21 photos and accompanying text illustrating the long, arduous journey that women in the United States had to take over the years in order to reach full civil rights.