On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, and on August 26, that amendment officially became part of the United States Constitution. Let’s Celebrate Women’s Right To Vote this August – one hundred years later!

In April 2017, Congress passed legislation to create the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (S.847) “to ensure a suitable observance of the centennial of the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing for women’s suffrage.” 

Just this month, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan resolution introduced by Senators Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, designating this August as National Women’s Suffrage Month.

In Waukesha, I’m working with Bonnie Byrd at the Waukesha County Historical Society to celebrate that achievement throughout the month. We planned and re-planned some awesome in-person events, but, for everyone’s safety, we have gone virtual. Stay tuned to learn about those plans soon.

In the meantime, learn about the Woman Suffrage Movement by viewing the Waukesha Museum exhibit, in-person: “Women Earn the Vote: Waukesha’s Suffrage Efforts, http://www.waukeshacountymuseum.org. Also watch, “The Vote,” on PBS. Explore the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commissions web site, https://www.womensvote100.org.

The effort to achieve their voting rights was a massive multi-state, multi-generational public relations effort that involved women everywhere, who worked tirelessly to convince the male voters to cast their votes in favor of women’s equal voting rights. After decades of effort, the women succeeded. Honor that work by learning about their historic fight for suffrage.