Centennial of Women’s Right to Vote Celebrated at Tulsa Historical Society
VOTING CHAMPIONS: Celebrating the Women’s Right to Vote at the Tulsa Historical Society are, front row from left, Sharon King Davis as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Penny Painter as Susan B. Anthony. Standing in the back row from left, Rebecca Marks Jimerson as Ida B Wells and Megan Cruz as Alice Paul.
On the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution that gave women the right to vote, a coalition of local groups and individuals held an event at the Tulsa Historical Society and Museum to urge all eligible voters to register and vote. The August 18 event celebrated the centennial of the 19th Amendment and also discussed the state of voting and offered local resources available to make voting as easy as possible to encourage voting.
The event was organized by Sharon King Davis with assistance from Chelsea McGuire Kester, chair, TYPROS; Lynn Staggs, president, League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Tulsa; and Tommy Yap, co-founder, Tulsa Voter Van.
One hundred years ago in Tennessee, on August 18, 1920, one male legislator cast the deciding vote that gave women across the country the right to vote. Tennessee was the necessary 36th ratifying state required to secure adoption of the constitutional amendment. The amendment was officially certified a week later on Aug. 26, 1920, enshrining into the U.S. Constitution a woman’s right to vote.
It was a 72-year struggle to get the amendment passed. The amendment was first introduced in 1878. And, it was introduced every year after, word for word, until it was ratified. The struggle for voting rights didn’t end in 1920 though. It would be another 45 years before all women of color, and men, were guaranteed the right to vote through the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Tulsa Historical Society and Museum is located at 2445 S. Peoria Ave.
