August Suffrage Month - Day 7. Kendra and I are finding many fascinating aspects of the fight for women’s suffrage — the women, the men, the events, and the dates -- and yes, even the facts behind today's quiz.
Today, I Invite You to Take a 2-Question Quick Quiz
You probably won’t know the answers, I certainly didn't. But I hope you’ll have fun discovering them by checking the Fact List below and then by checking a bit of your family history -- birth dates of your mother or grandmother or even great grandmother (maybe a favorite aunt or cousin too?)
What Kind of Suffrage Quiz Is This?
As you learned in my blog last week, in 1919, the 19th Amendment secured enough votes in the US Senate to go to the states where 36 legislatures had to ratify the amendment so that it could become law and be added to the Constitution.
Today, Let's Get Into the Specifics of Those States
Which states ratified the 19th Amendment?
Which ones vetoed it?
Which was first to ratify?
Which was last?
But wait. That might be interesting, but we want to make this fun for you. Therefore, we invite you to answer the 2-question suffrage quiz below rather than just reading a list.
Q. 1. When did YOUR state ratify the 19th Amendment — finally giving women the right to vote?
Answer the question or find the answer in the list below for the:
State where you now live
State where you were born
Other states where you have lived
My answer: I live in Oregon and this state ratified the amendment on January 13, 1920. And my birth state -- Oklahoma -- voted to ratify just a little over a month later -- on February 28, 1920. I've lived in so many states that I won't bore you with that list of dates, but I hope you'll check on your set. It was fun learning that both were in the 1920 year.
Now, It’s Your Turn To Answer Question 1
Q. 2. Who in your family was born before women had the right to vote?
It’s amazing and fun to discover who in your family was born before women could vote. Is it a great grandmother, a grandmother, or even a mother who was born before women achieved suffrage?
Now, It’s Your Turn to Answer Question 2
Write the name of one or more female family members who were born before women had the right to vote. It’s a wonderful opportunity to reflect on life at that time and to appreciate our voting privilege. And this is a great way to reach out to family members. You may even learn more about life in your family in 1919 and 1920.
My answer: My mother was born in 1908. She was 12 before her mother could vote. And my mother took the lesson of suffrage seriously. She always voted. She also considered that who she voted for was just her own business. When asked, she said, “There’s a reason we have a secret ballot.”
Getting to vote was viewed as a special privilege when I was growing up. Mother always let me walk with her to our local voting place. While she was in the booth, one of the volunteers would give me a sample ballot and let me mark it so that I would know how to do it when I grew up.
Share the Results of This Quiz
Write your answers to today’s quiz. Then hopefully, you’ll share the information with your family. The two quiz questions give you a way to connect and talk about the important cause of women’s suffrage. Use emails to family, post your results on social media, write and print your answers and share them at your next holiday gathering. It just might start an interesting conversation.
Quiz Look Up Table
Quick Summary of the Start and End Dates
The Susan B. Anthony Suffrage Amendment (AKA the 19th Amendment) passed the US House of Representatives on May 21, 1919. Shortly after that, on June 4, the US Senate passed it. Then it was off to the states where 36 needed to ratify the amendment before it could go into effect.
The 36th state ratified the Nineteenth Amendment on August 18, 1920 and the votes were certified on August 26, 1920.
FIND YOUR STATE(s)
See When Each Ratified the 19th Amendment
Just 6 days after the Senate passed the suffrage amendment,
the first three stated ratified it.
June 10, 1919: Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin became the first states to ratify the amendment.
June 16, 1919: Special legislative sessions were called in Kansas, Ohio, and New York to ratify the amendment.
June 24, 1919: Pennsylvania voted yea to the amendment. I’m guessing suffragists heard the Justice Bell ring. The Justice Bell, by the way, is a real bell. It was created to promote women’s suffrage and is on permanent display at the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge National Park in Pennsylvania.**
June 25, 1919: Massachusetts became the 8th state to ratify, despite a powerful anti-suffrage presence. I can imagine Abigail Adams’ ghost was dancing the night away.
June 28, 1919: Texas became the first southern state to ratify the 19th Amendment.
July 2, 1919: Iowa, home of suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, became the 10th state to ratify.
July 3, 1919: Missouri ratified the amendment in a special session called by the governor.
July 24, 1919: Georgia became the first state to vote against ratification.
July 28, 1919: With a thumbs-up (and enough aye votes) by Arkansas, suffragists were one-third the way to seeing ratification of the 19th Amendment
August 2, 1919: With Montana and Nebraska, was suffrage back on track for fast passage in more states?
September 8, 1919: Minnesota ratified the amendment
September 10, 1919: ...and New Hampshire.
September 22, 1919: Alabama became the second state to reject the amendment.
September 30, 1919: Utah, the early adopter
November 1, 1919: California ratified...and the amendment was halfway to the finish line
November 5, 1919: Maine ratified in a special session
December 1: North Dakota ratified the amendment...
December 4: ...and South Dakota, too.
December 14: Colorado ratified the amendment
Colorado became the last state to ratify in 1919.
How many more would follow—and how quickly—in 1920?
1920 - A New Decade Begins
January 6, 1920: Kentucky and Rhode Island...
January 13, 1920: Oregon...
January 16, 1920: Indiana...
January 27, 1920: Wyoming...
January 28, 1920: ...but not South Carolina, which voted "nay"
February 7, 1920: Nevada
February 9, 1920: New Jersey
February 11, 1920: Idaho
February 12, 1920: A win in Arizona, but...
February 12, 1920: ...a loss in Virginia.
February 21, 1920: New Mexico became the 32nd state to ratify, but...
February 24, 1920: ...Maryland rejected it.
February 28, 1920: Oklahoma
March 10, 1920: West Virginia
March 22, 1920: Washington became the 35th state
35 States Have Ratified the 19th Amendment
Just One More Is Needed
March 31, 1920: Mississippi Rejects
June 2, 1920: Delaware Rejects
July 1, 1920: Louisiana Rejects
August 18, 1920: Tennessee Ratifies! The required 36th state has now ratified the 19th Amendment
AND ...
...when did the naysaying states finally adopt the 19th Amendment? Although no more states ratifications were needed after August 18, 1920, they all did eventually vote to ratify. If you didn’t find your state or states in the list above with a ratification date, you’ll find it here. Notice when Mississippi voted to ratify. No! That isn’t a typo.
THE BETTER LATE THAN NEVER LIST
March 6, 1923: Delaware voted to ratify...less than 3 years later
March 29, 1941: Maryland voted to ratify.
February 12, 1952: Virginia voted to ratify.
September 8, 1953: Alabama voted to ratify.
July 1, 1969: South Carolina voted to ratify.
February 20, 1970: Georgia voted to ratify.
June 11, 1970: Louisiana voted to ratify.
And after 64 years of women voting, on
March 22, 1984, Mississippi became the last state to ratify the 19th Amendment.
** AND WHAT ABOUT THAT JUSTICE BELL?
In 1915, Suffragist Katherine Wentworth Ruschenberger commissioned what became known as the Justice Bell. It cost $2,000 and is a replica of the famous Liberty Bell. The text on the bell reads:
Establish JUSTICE Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof Meneeley Bell Co Troy, NY MCMXV
And why a Women’s Liberty Bell?
The fight for woman's suffrage had gone on for decades. What could be done to create a greater awareness...and demand for voting rights for women. In today's terms, we might say that the Liberty Bell was a marketing tool. It was used to bring awareness of the need for woman suffrage.
And how was that done? Most importantly, the bell was tied on the back of a pickup truck that had been modified to hold it securely. And what about the noise it would make? This part was important symbolically — the bell’s clapper had been chained to the side to symbolize that women were silenced when they could not vote. This truck and bell went on a 5000 mile tour in 1915 and visited all 67 counties of Pennsylvania.
VOTES FOR WOMEN was the sign on the side of the truck.
The next time you are getting together with family or friends or when there’s a birthday and you’d like a special gift, we invite you to consider our:
Suffrage Keepsake Ornament Box that includes a special handcrafted lavender-scented artisan soap and lovely suffrage ornament in the 3 suffrage colors -- purple, gold, white.
DETAILS: Tucked into a beautiful white presentation box is a hand-made, 3-color glitter VOTES FOR WOMEN ornament along side of an artisan blend, natural lavender soap bar wrapped in suffrage colors and design. Included is a gift tag to make it easy to give to your female friends or that special woman in your life.
Just use the link in the button below. And when you checkout, enter the discount code: KEEPSAKE15. Yes, you’ll get a 15% discount on this beautify gift (for a BFF, a family member, or even for yourself).
If you’d like us to send the gift for you, just give us the name and address of your recipient and tell us how you’d like us to sign your name.
If you’ve missed any of our other August Suffrage Month blogs,
here are the links:
If you’ve missed our FREE DOWNLOADS of FUN SUFFRAGE THEMED GAMES
we invite you to check them in the links below
and more are on their way each week:
