On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment, providing the three-fourths majority of states required to add women’s suffrage to the U.S. Constitution. The decisive vote in the Tennessee House of Representatives came down to 24-year-old State Representative …
Harry T. BurnFebb E. BurnTennessee General AssemblyCarrie Chapman CattSue Shelton Whitewomens-suffrageconstitutional-amendmentdemocratic-expansioncorporate-oppositionhistoric-victory
On June 4, 1919, the U.S. Senate voted in favor of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which stated that “The right of 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.” The Senate vote came nearly 18 months …
U.S. SenateU.S. House of RepresentativesWoodrow WilsonNational American Woman Suffrage AssociationNational Woman's Partywomens-suffrageconstitutional-amendmentdemocratic-expansioncongressional-action
On January 9, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson announced his support for a women’s suffrage constitutional amendment, reversing years of opposition in the face of mounting public outrage over the treatment of suffragist prisoners. Wilson’s reversal came less than two months after the …
On January 10, 1917, Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party (NWP) became the first people ever to picket the White House, initiating an 18-month campaign of nonviolent protest that would eventually involve over 2,000 women. The “Silent Sentinels,” as they became known, stood …
Alice PaulLucy BurnsNational Woman's PartyWoodrow Wilsonwomens-suffragecivil-disobediencemilitant-tacticsdemocratic-expansionwilson-administration
On November 7, 1893, Colorado held a referendum on women’s suffrage that resulted in voter approval, making it the first time in U.S. history that voters—as opposed to legislators—approved women’s voting rights. The referendum passed with support from the short-lived Populist Party, …
On February 18, 1890, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was formed through the merger of the rival National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), healing a 21-year split that had fractured the women’s rights movement since …
Alice Stone BlackwellElizabeth Cady StantonSusan B. AnthonyLucy StoneHenry Blackwell+1 morewomens-suffragemovement-organizationdemocratic-expansionstrategic-realignment
On December 10, 1869, Wyoming Territory’s all-male territorial legislature passed “An Act to Grant to the Women of Wyoming Territory the Right of Suffrage, and to Hold Office,” making Wyoming the first place in the United States to grant women full voting rights since New Jersey …
On May 15, 1869, the women’s rights movement fractured when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) after breaking with the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) over support for the 15th Amendment. The proposed amendment would …
Susan B. AnthonyElizabeth Cady StantonLucy StoneHenry BlackwellFrederick Douglass+2 morewomens-suffrageinstitutional-racismdemocratic-expansionreconstructionpolitical-fracture
The Seneca Falls Convention, held July 19-20, 1848, at the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Seneca Falls, New York, marked the first organized women’s rights convention in the United States. Organized primarily by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott along with local Quaker women, the …
Elizabeth Cady StantonLucretia MottFrederick DouglassJane HuntMary Ann McClintock+1 morewomens-suffragedemocratic-expansioncivil-rightsinstitutional-resistanceabolitionist-movement