100th Anniverary of the 19th Amendment- Women can VOTE!

August 18, 2020 is the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. Many women worked hard and sacrificed much for the right to vote!

Originally opposed to Women’s suffrage, President Woodrow Wilson changed his position. The year was 1918. In order to pass the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, originally called the Susan B. Anthony Amendment,  all the states had to take a vote. In some states, women already had the right to vote. Those state were Indiana, Kansas, Arizona, Nevada,New York, Nebraska,Illinois, South Dakota, California, Michigan,Washington, North Dakota, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Alaska, Oregon,Oklahoma, Arkansas and Montana.

It would be on August 20, 1920, the state of Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

On November 2 ,1920, eight million women VOTED!

Fun Facts:

• The state of Colorado was the first state to grant the women of their state the right to vote: 1893.
• Wyoming actually gave women the right to vote in 1869 but it was not a state at the time, but a territory. Interestingly, Wyoming said they would NOT join the United States unless this right was given to women.
• Charlotte Woodward was the only attendee of the Seneca Falls, NY, convention (1848) and signer of the Declaration of Sentiments, to see the 19th amendment ratified.
• Wearing bloomers became popular during the women’s suffrage movement. 
• Did you know that it wouldn’t be until 1984 that the state of Mississippi ratified the 19th amendment?
• The first state to ratify the 19th amendment was the state of Wisconisn.
• Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to run for President. The year was 1870. She was unable to vote for herself!

Activities:

1. Have kids try this quiz on Women’s Suffrage:

2. Here is another quiz:

3. Check out when and where women got the right to vote.

4. Symbols of women suffrage movement:

5. Cartoons about women’s suffrage

Check out this bundle on Women Suffrage:(resources also sold individually)

1. Reader's Theater Script on Susan B. Anthony

2. Reader's Theater Script on Nell Richardson and Alice Burke who in 1916 did a cross country trip to promote women's suffrage. Go on a ride through history to learn about the Golden Flyer.

3. The Silent Sentinels: A Reading Passage/ Activities on the brave women who worked to get women's suffrage and what they endured.

Helpful resources:

Centennial Planning Toolkit

50 Moving Photos Of The Bloody Struggle That Won Women The Right To Vote

Photographs

Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party

Women's Suffrage

Photograph from:

Library of Congress