#19that100

On June 4, 1919, Congress passed a joint resolution proposing a 19th Amendment to the Constitution that prohibited states from denying the vote on the basis of sex.  

Suffragists’ fight for that long-sought amendment was not quite over, however. To become part of the Constitution, the amendment had to be ratified by legislators in three-fourths of the 48 states, a grueling process completed 14 months later, when Tennessee voted in favor on August 18, 1920.

On August 26, 1920, the U.S. Secretary of State certified that the 19th Amendment had obtained the necessary ratifications to become part of the Constitution. 

This landmark moment in American history had not been achieved easily. It took three generations of relentless political pressure to win women a constitutional guarantee of equal voting rights with men in their states.

Suffrage Song

One hundred years ago today the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed the Senate and was submitted to the states for ratification. That got us digging into the collection and returned to raise our voices in song!

Today marks 100 years since Congress passed the 19th Amendment.

Betty Ford, a champion of women's rights, received this copy of the 1919 Congressional Joint Resolution "proposing an amendment to the Constitution extending the right of suffrage to women." Archivist of the United States James B. Rhoads and GSA Administrator Arthur Sampson presented it to her when she attended an International Women’s Year reception at the U.S. National Archives to view the exhibit “Her Infinite Variety: A 200-Year Record of America’s Women” on July 10, 1975.

The 19th Amendment was just one milestone for American women in their battle for the vote. The @usnatarchives​ new exhibit “Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote,” explores how women from all walks of life persisted in the struggle for equality. Learn more at archives.gov/women

Today marks 100 years since the Senate passed the 19th Amendment.

Women fought long and hard for the franchise—the right to vote—for many reasons. Many suffragists argued that the right to vote should be universal and that it was unjust to bar American women from the polls. They also argued that women’s inability to vote resulted in economic, political, and social harm to them, their families, and their communities.

In 1879, Emily Barber, a teacher, sent this petition to Congress calling attention to the inequalities she endured as a wage-earning woman. She pointedly noted that she paid equal taxes with men but had no say in how they were spent, and that “with acknowledged superior capacities for teaching and governing schools,” she made only a third of male teachers’ pay at her school.

Do you know a kid who loves history and who loves to draw? 

The National Archives Foundation is holding a youth art competition for students in grades 4, 5 and 6. Create a visual piece of artwork that tells us: What does the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote mean to you and your community?