Civil war. Next karen hill of the Harriet Tubman house talks about her lesser known role as an activist in the women suffrage movement. The Woodrow Wilson house in washington, d. C. Hosted this as part of a series commemorating the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Welcome. Good evening. Im the executive director here at the Woodrow Wilson house. And it is really truly my pleasure to well you to the first of a series of speaking events that were going to have on a suffrage series. So the wilson house if you havent been here before its part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Wilson and his wifeedeth lived in this house and edith turned it over to the National Trust upon her death and its been lovingly cared for until tonight. I wanted to tell you about this speaker series. Said to me this summer when i first started there is a commission on the suffrage and i think we should go to that meeting. It is the womens Suffrage Centennial commission, and i said
Took until 1920, over 72 years later for women to earn the right to vote. During those years, organizations would form creating a national movement, yet it was women in every community who led the effort in their towns and states to demand rights. Through the work of cspans cities tour, we will introduce you to some of these women who dedicated their lives to this cause. From a Newspaper Agency to a woman for protesting on the white house lawn. You will learn how western territories and states were on the leading edge of the movement and you will hear how a letter from a mother to her son would lead to the ratification of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. We begin syracuse, new york, where an author talks about one of the movements lesserknown figures. Lucretia mott is the most important female white abolitionists and one of the most important women in American History, yet she has not received the same amount of historical attention as others. She is not a household
Welcome, good evening. My name is elizabeth, and im the executive director here at the Woodrow Wilson house and its my pleasure to welcome you to the first of a series of speaking events that were going to have on suffrage. So the wilson house, if you havent been here before, its part of the National Trust for historic preservation. Wilson and his wife edith lived in this house and they turned edith turned it over to the National Trust in 1961 upon her death and it has been lovingly cared for and so we welcome you tonight. I wanted to tell you a little bit about how we started this suffrage speaker series. Asantewa boakyewa, our senior manager of collections and interpretations, said to me this summer when i first started the job, there is a commission on the suffrage and i think we should go to that meeting. Its the womens Suffrage Centennial commission. And i said, okay, im going to go with you. And so we went down to the library of congress and we sat at a big table and there were a
And what was it that triggered off the movement . An interesting question. The traditional date we look at is 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention for womens rights. In truth, it started a little bit earlier than that with women who were interested in the Abolitionist Movement that were excluded from inventions in london and elsewhere deciding that they also thought it was important for women to talk about their own rights. And in fact, the question of the right to vote in 1848 was probably of the many items on the agenda was the most controversial. It was a very close vote. People were women at the convention were more focused on other aspects of womens rights at the time but that really is the date that we highlight as the start of the womens movement. What is happening in other countries at this time . To start i would say it is important to note that women in new jersey voted from 1776 until about 1807. Women in at least part of the United States had a right to vote. It was taken away
I represent michigans 14th congressional district. On august 26, the United States will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment which guarantees and protects the constitutional right for women to vote. To commemorate this historic centennial, the house and the Senate Passed resolutions designating august 2020 as National Womens suffrage month. 172 years ago, 300 women and men gathered at Seneca Falls Convention to make the declaration that all men and women are created equal. That meeting initiated a generational struggle to secure the sacred right to vote. The roots of this movement stem from the fight to abolish slavery. With many of the early suffragists active in that resolution. 70 years later, women were still denied the right to vote. Women of their time did not wait for change, they demanded it. For generations, they marched, picketed, protested, and mobilized in the face of overwhelming challenges and adversity to be heard as a full and equal citizen in our democ