Votes For Women! And Five Facts You Should Know About Women's Suffrage

Happy Election Day -- Let’s make history!

In 1872, nearly 50 years before women had gained the right to vote by way of the 19th Amendment, Victoria Woodhull, of Ohio, became the first woman to run for president as the Equal Rights Party candidate. She championed causes such as the eight-hour workday, an end to the death penalty, and of course, women’s suffrage - my kind of gal. While there was virtually no chance she could win, and even if she had, she was only 34 and would have been constitutionally too young at the time of her inauguration to take the office, she marked the beginning of incredibly long and hard fought journey to this very moment. Hillary Clinton is the first woman of a major party to receive the nomination as their candidate for President of the United States. Even more exciting, if we all get out and vote today, her chances of winning and becoming the 45th president of the United States of America, the first woman in our country's history to do so, are very good.

My emotions have been running exceptionally high the last few days. I’m scared, angry, anxious, but more than anything else, I am hopeful and excited. Today, November 8, 2016, we could finally smash that hardest and highest of glass ceilings we have been hammering away since the earliest days of our nation’s history. So while we head into this day with trepidation, excitement, and hope, let us take a moment to be grateful. Let’s remember all the brave women before us that helped make it possible for us, as women, to walk into the voting booth, and cast our ballots to elect our first, Madame President.

My first, and rather naive, introduction to the suffragist movement was through the movie, Mary Poppins. A bit confused and uninformed (I was a child), I didn’t completely understand that the women were in England, not the United States, but I did love the song and I loved chanting “votes for women!” just as much as I still do today. Over the years, I have taken the time to learn a bit more about our movement here in the United States. While it is true that many American Suffragist’s learned from, and some even participated in the movement in England, we have a history that is very much our own.

Five Facts You Might Not Know About Women’s Suffrage in the United States

ONE: The first official gathering in the United States dedicated to women’s rights (including our right to vote) took place in upstate New York in July of 1848. That is 160 years ago!

TWO: Wyoming was the first state to grant women complete voting rights. The year was 1869. That is 51 years before the 19th Amendment was ratified.

THREE: In 1917, still three years before the 19th Amendment would be passed, Jeannette Rankin, of Montana, was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the national legislature as part of the 65th Congress.

FOUR: Women were the first to protest outside the White House as a way to garner attention and support for their cause. A tactic, that if you have ever been to Washington you would know, is still widely used today.

FIVE: In November of 1917, the “Night of Terror” saw the arrest and subsequent beating of 30 female protesters, one of whom was 73 years old. The women were jailed, some as long as seven months, where some participated in hunger strikes, were force-fed, and even subjected to solitary confinement. The nationwide publicity generated by this event would eventually help persuade President Wilson to support the 19th Amendment and ultimately help ensure its passage.

Sources: National Women's History Museum, US House of Representatives: History Art & Archives, History.com, America's Library, History.com, National Women's Party, Suffragist Memorial. All photos courtesy of the Library of Congress