It may seem out of character to be talking about women’s suffrage as an automotive manufacturer, but here’s the fact: 2020 marks the centennial of the 19th amendment to the US Constitution, granting women the right to vote, arguably the keystone moment for gender equality in the United States to date. Without women’s suffrage, we would undoubtedly not be able to talk about female auto technicians, service advisors, dealer principals, or managers today. In celebrating women’s suffrage, you can take a stand for women everywhere, and celebrate how far we’ve all come – women and men – in the past hundred years.
Suffragists began their organized fight for women’s equality in 1848 when they demanded the right to vote during the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. For the next 72 years, women leaders lobbied, marched, picketed, and protested for the right to the ballot. The U.S. House of Representatives finally approved the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote, on May 21, 1919. The U.S. Senate followed two weeks later, and the 19th Amendment went to the states, where it had to be ratified by 3/4ths of the-then-48 states to be added to the Constitution. By a vote of 50-47, Tennessee became the last state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby issued a proclamation declaring the 19th Amendment ratified and part of the US Constitution on August 26, 1920, forever protecting American women’s right to vote.
Today, more than 68 million women vote in elections because of the courageous suffragists who never gave up the fight for equality. Explore the resources below to learn more about the story of the 19th Amendment and women’s fight for the ballot.
