Women's Equality Day
Women's Equality Day August 26th
Women's Equality Day-August 26 is the Anniversary of Women Winning the Vote! Are you ready to celebrate? Join the UofL Women’s Center in the celebration!
Women’s Equality Day Virtual Scavenger Hunt
Commemorate the Centennial of the 19th Amendment and the 55th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act by going on a Virtual Scavenger Hunt with us! When you have completed the scavenger hunt, email it to womenctr@louisville.edu by Thursday August 27th by 5pm. The first 20 who send in their completed form will win a prize. Winners will be announced at the Women’s Center Orientation Friday August 28th. Scavenger Hunt will go live on August 26th. *Prizes are for UofL students, faculty & staff, but we encourage the community to participate too!
Optional, but encouraged: Share your finds on social media and tag us so we can celebrate these women and acknowledge their fight for the right to vote! We will be sharing your photos on our Instagram and Facebook.
- Go to the 19th Amendment by State page. Find you state or territory and click on it. (If you are not from the U.S., choose a place you would like to visit!) a. When did that state ratify the 19th Amendment? b. List something you learned that you found interesting c. Share a picture of your state with the information you found! Tag @uoflwomencenter.
- Visit the page 20 Suffragists to Know for 2020. Pick one of the suffragists listed and read their story. a. Name them and list something you learned that you found interesting. b. Share a picture of them with the information you found! Tag @uoflwomencenter.
- Visit the page Black Women and the Fight for Voting Rights.. a. Name a woman who was instrumental in fighting for the right to vote for women and in particular, Black women. b. Share a picture of them with the information you found! Tag @uoflwomencenter.
- Visit the Kentucky Woman Suffrage Project website. Got to Gallery of Suffragists. a. Name a woman who was instrumental in the fight to vote for women in Kentucky. i. Where did she live (i.e. Louisville)? List something you learned that you found interesting. b. Share a picture of them with the information you found! Tag @uoflwomencenter.
- Visit the Kentucky Woman Suffrage Project website. Got to Votes for Women Trail. a. Name 1 location that is on the trail. Have you been there before?
- Name someone who you think is a modern-day suffragist and why. b. Share their picture! Tag @uoflwomencenter.
- Fill out the “I’m Voting because…” sign and take a photo of your sign or share it written. a. Share your picture! Tag @uoflwomencenter.
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People often forget that women could not vote throughout the U.S. until 1920. This August 26th is the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote through passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act was also celebrated this year.
Both women and men owe a great deal to the brave suffragists who persevered over seventy years until they succeeded. They were led by outstanding American patriots like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells, Carrie Chapman Catt, Alice Paul, and many others. We remember them all - speakers, field workers, political organizers, strategists, demonstrators, and prisoners - and honor their love of democracy on Equality Day, August 26.
This 95th anniversary also marks the start of the drive to recognize the final five years of this great civil rights movement, leading up to its centennial in 2020. New efforts like the campaign to put a woman on the $20 bill and placing statues of suffragists in New York and Tennessee show that exciting activities have already begun.
Since women in every state were involved, it can be very rewarding to learn about that part of local history.
This year, celebrate women's vital victory for democracy.
Remember, women won their political independence with the help of supportive men and their success made the U.S. a more complete democracy. Like the Fourth of July, Women's Equality Day is a day for all of us to celebrate.
(Source: National’s Women’s History Project, 2015)
Additional Resources
Louisville & Kentucky
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In landmark year, the right to vote is 'in the urgent middle of all that is happening' (Courier Journal)
What is a Vote Worth? Suffrage Then and Now Exhibit (Fraizer History Museum)
Articles
- For Black women, the 19th Amendment didn’t end their fight to vote (National Geographic)
The Voting Rights Act was signed 55 years ago. Black women led the movement behind it. (USA Today)
The 19th Amendment: An Important Milestone in an Unfinished Journey (The New York Times)
100 years after women’s suffrage, work remains in achieving equality (PBS)
'It's a Struggle They Will Wage Alone.' How Black Women Earned the Right to Vote (Time)
Similarities between suffrage movement a century ago and today's protests (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Women’s suffrage was a giant leap for democracy. We haven’t stuck the landing yet. (The Washington Post)
The forgotten history of women’s suffrage in the United States (Fortune)
For Black Suffragists, the Lens Was a Mighty Sword (The New York Times)
Thousands of women fought against the right to vote. Their reasons still resonate today. (The Washington Post)
How Queer Women Powered the Suffrage Movement (The New York Times)
The Very Queer History of the Suffrage Movement (Ms. Magazine)
Meet the Brave but Overlooked Women of Color Who Fought for the Vote (The New York Times)
‘Where are the women?’: The centennial of the 19th Amendment and rewriting women’s history (USA Today)
‘Finish the Fight’: A Special Digital Theater Performance Celebrates 100 Years of Women’s Right to Vote (The New York Times)
Documentaries & Movies
- Iron Jawed Angels
- Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice
- Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
- Inez Milholland ~ Forward Into Light
- One Woman, One Vote
- The Vote