Women’s Right to Vote… Did you know?

For the month of March, we’ll be featuring a “Did you Know” blog each week regarding Women’s History…I’m sure you do know that March is Women’s History month, right?

Women’s History Month established by Congress in 1987 (P.L. 100-9). Did you know that NYLI membership gives you access to ProQuest Congressional??

I’m sure you know that the 19th Amendment (1920) granted women the right to vote…..but did you know that Wyoming territory granted full voting rights to women in 1869? And did you also know that 21 states only granted women the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920?

And did you know that New Jersey’s first Constitution granted both men and women the right to vote, but that by 1807 it was restricted to “free, white, male citizens”. And even under the original New Jersey Constitution, married women could not vote or own property due to the then-accepted legal principle of coverture.

And did you know that definitive definitions (historical & current) are available in the Oxford English Dictionary? And that OED remote access is available to NYLI members? Check out the OED’s definition of coverture below…..

You may know that women’s right to vote was discussed even before the founding of our nation. In March 1776, Abigail Adams instructed her husband John to “remember the ladies” as he and other delegates to the Continental Congress drafted founding principles for a newly independent nation.

But did you know that the political activists met at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848 to organize a national movement for women’s legal and political rights?

And now flash forward to 1920s Women’s Rights movement….Did you know that the first Equal Rights Amendment was proposed in 1923? If you remember the 1970s, you may remember a highly publicized ERA campaign, but did you know that the Equal Rights Amendment has been proposed over a thousand times since the initial 1923 proposal? And, did you know that the original Equal Rights Amendment (HJ Res 75; 12/13/1923) was authored by Rep. Daniel Anthony, nephew of Susan B. Anthony?

Excerpt from HJ Resolution 75 (December 13, 1923)

You probably know that the other Constitutional amendment adopted in the early 20th Century was the 18th Amendment (1919), popularly known as Prohibition. But did you know that the WCTU (Women’s Christian Temperance Union) was the largest organization of women in the U.S. with 300,000 members and was essential to the passing of the 18th Amendment? And did you also know that when Frances Willard became President of the WCTU in the 1880s, the organization shifted to a more general agenda of empowering women? This shift included supporting women’s suffrage.

As you now know, the 19th Amendment’s successful adoption was years in the making…. but did you know that this is the first in a series of NYLI blogs on Women’s History Month? Tune in next week for “Women of the Supreme Court… Did you Know??”