29/08/2025
Happy Women's Equality Day! On this date in 1920, the 19th Amendment recognizing the right of women to vote was added to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment's passage marked the culmination of a 72-year long struggle to achieve equal voting rights for women which had begun at the first women's right conference organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. The 19th Amendment was the single largest extension of democratic voting rights in U.S. history, and it was achieved through decades of struggle and sacrifice by countless courageous women, many of whom endured years of ridicule, hardship, and even imprisonment, physical assault, and force feeding, all in pursuit of women's suffrage. In commemoration of this landmark event, in 1971, August 26 was declared Women's Equality Day.
The passage of the 19th Amendment was a tremendous victory for the Women's Suffrage Movement; it was a universal recognition of women's right to vote that decreed that no citizen could be denied the right to vote on account of s*x. This was a right that had been extended to all men in the country 50 years earlier, with the passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870. Even with its passage, however, the struggle for women's rights was far from over. The ability of women of color to exercise their right to vote varied dramatically across the country; while most African American women freely voted in the North and even ran for office after the passage of the 19th Amendment, for example, restrictive state laws effectively disenfranchised most African American women in the South until the passage of further civil rights laws later in the century.
Additionally, many of the suffragists who led the final push to pass the 19th Amendment quickly turned their attention to passing the Equal Rights Amendment, which would enshrine in the Constitution the principle that "women are people equal in stature before the law." The only right explicitly affirmed by the Constitution as equal for women and men is still the right to vote, as guaranteed by the 19th Amendment. While the ERA, which was originally drafted by suffragist Alice Paul in 1923, was nearly added to the Constitution 45 years ago, it narrowly failed ratification and its passage remains a goal of women's rights advocates today. Among them, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who when asked what amendment she would most like to see added to the Constitution, replied that she would choose "the Equal Rights Amendment," noting that when her granddaughters read the Constitution, she would like them to see "that that is a basic principle of our society."
Today, in honor of the 105th anniversary of women's right to vote, we're celebrating a few of the original Mighty Girls -- the suffragists! The suffragists were activists who worked tirelessly to secure that right for themselves, their daughters, and future generations of American women. Women are still grateful for the work of their suffragist sisters; since the 1980s, women have been turning out to vote in significantly higher numbers than men.
For books for all ages about the courageous women who fought for women's right to vote, visit our blog post, "How Women Won The Vote: Books for Kids & Adults About the U.S. Suffrage Movement,” at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11827
For a fascinating book for adult readers about the final fierce fight for the ratification of the 19th Amendment during the summer of 1920, we highly recommend "The Woman's Hour" at https://www.amightygirl.com/the-woman-s-hour
For an excellent children's book about the last dramatic stage of the Suffrage Movement, we recommend "Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and Their Big Idea" for ages 7 to 12 at https://www.amightygirl.com/how-women-won-the-vote
For older kids, there are two wonderful books about the heroic women of the U.S. Suffrage Movement: "Roses and Radicals" for ages 10 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/roses-and-radicals) and "Votes for Women!" for ages 13 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/votes-for-women)
For adult readers who would like a broad understanding of the Suffrage Movement, check out "Suffrage: Women's Long Battle for the Vote" at https://www.amightygirl.com/suffrage-women-s-long-battle
For our favorite t-shirt honoring women throughout history who fought for their rights, check out the "Well behaved women seldom make history" t-shirt -- available in a variety of styles and colors for all ages -- at https://www.amightygirl.com/well-behaved-women-history-shirt
