A convention to consider the rights of women was helpin held. The Committee Found grievances against the government of men to be the same number that american men have had against king george. Yearsk George Washington to rectify grievances by war, but 72 years to establish womens rights by law. Amassmeantsss mean were needed. Womens suffrage is a long story of hard work crowned by victory. Host Colleen Shogan is the vice chair of the womens Suffrage Centennial womens Suffrage Centennial commission. She is also the vice chair of the White House Historical association, joining us here in washington and. Thank you so much for being with us. Guest thank you, and good morning. Host lets talk about the significance of this week, august 16, 1920, and the key role it played in the 19th amendment. Guest yes, in august of 1920, 30 five states had ratified the 19th but the 36th state was elusive. There w according to the constitution, three fourths number of states had to ratify to make the 19th amendment part of the constitution. Really the last battle came down to tennessee here and there was not another obvious state that could ratify the 19 amendment. If women were going to have the right to vote in the 1920 election, it came down to tennessee. And one keysee vote. This is the headline from the washington post. A mothers letter, a sons choice. The letter was written by the byrne. Of harry who was he . Guest the youngest legislator in the Tennessee State house. He represented east tennessee. His district was not particularly supportive of the 19th amendment. Ae governor had called special session for tennessee to considerately 90 the amendment. Consider the 19th amendment. Believed theyers did not have the votes to pass the 19th amendment in the Tennessee State house. They were shocked when harry burn, who had been voting against them for all the other procedural votes, changed his aye vote, which pushed it over the top. They do not know he had received a letter from his mother that morning delivered at the Tennessee State house floor that asked harry to vote for womens suffrage and to be a good boy and listen to the leader of the Suffrage Movement in nashville. Urn decided to listen to his mother. He was a supportive of womens suffrage, but before, his constituents were not. He said later on he will listen to his mother and voted for womens suffrage, which is what put the vote over the top and gave the suffragists the win. Who was Carrie Chapman catt . Guest one of the most import figures in womens suffrage history. She was growing up up in rural iowa. She was the daughter of foreigners. 1872 president ial election, and her mother and father were both politically engaged. The day of the election came. Her father got ready to go into town to vote along with some of the farmworkers, who worked on the farm for their father. Why hernot understand mother was not getting ready to go into town to vote. She asked, arent you going to town with dad to vote . Everybody laughed and said, you not be silly. Women do not vote. That is probably the moment, when she was 13 years old, that catt became an suffragist. She started her career in iowa. She was married and moved to the northeast and became involved with the National American womens Suffrage Association. She became the protege of susan b anthony. Susan b. Anthony knew she probably would not live to see women voting across the United States. Anthony decided she need to recruit women who would take her place, and carrie cha p b. N catt was the woman Susan Anthony recruited. She played a pivotal role several times in womens Suffrage Movement, certainly as a strategist and in nashville, tennessee. Host those demonstrations came to washington, d. C. We have pictures from outside the white house. What role did Woodrow Wilson play in this . Wilson, when he came to the white house in 1913, was not a supporter of womens suffrage. He tried to avoid the issue as much as possible. As time went on, he did grow and change his opinion when he realized it would hurt him. It would hurt the Democratic Party for a long time in the future if he did not change his opinion. Aliceffragists, led by or the first United States citizens to protest in front of the white house. They started in 1917. At first, Woodrow Wilson was lukewarm at their presence. He might tip his hat at them or politely not at them when he would exit the north gate of the white house, but things changed when the United States entered world war i. After the United States was involved in the war effort and the suffragists are made outside the white house protesting, Woodrow Wilson grew angry. Time, heain point in ordered they be removed. The d. C. Police started arresting women outside the white house. Up, approximately 158 women were arrested outside the white house for the two years in which they protested and served prison time in the d. C. Jail or occoquan workouts south work house south of washington, d. C. Host what was the charge . Guest obstructing traffic. They were standing in front of the sidewalk. It was a false charge. They were acting on the orders of the administration to remove the women from the area outside the white house. They were not breaking any laws. They were exercising free speech. Just because they cannot vote at the time did not mean they were not citizens and did not have the right to free speech. Host as we look at this movement that really began in 1910, 1912,arly demonstrations reaching a fever pitch in 1915 in new york city, what was the argument against giving women the right to vote . Guest there were numerous arguments. There was opposition from many men, as you might imagine, but there was also a number of antisuffrage womens organizations as well. What it was was that a lot of men and women viewed womens role as being head of the family, being involved in civic organizations but private civic organizations. They do not view women as having a role in the public sphere. Many women opposed to suffrage thought if women did have the right to vote and moved into the public sphere that they would lose their power and authority within the private sphere and family. Want to giveid not up that status. It is hard for us to understand, but 100 years ago there was not really the conception that women could play a role in both eres, that women could be have powerful positions in government but also play a role in the family and private sphere. That was not viewed as being an alternative for the women in the antiSuffrage Movement. They thought of it as either or. Host Colleen Shogan is the Senior Vice President of the our phone lines are open and we are dividing the phone lines regionally. 202 7488000 for those of you in the eastern half of the country. If you are in mountain or pacific time zones, 202 7488001. Suffragists versus suffragettes. There is a difference. Guest it is one of the first things you learn when you start to study the womens Suffrage Movement appearance suffragettes is a Suffrage Movement. Suffragette is a british term. A british journalist wrote a negative article about the british women who were advocating for the right to vote. He came up with the term teffragette, adding that et to the end of it to make them sound small and diminutive. That is really a way in which to say the efforts are to be minimized of these particular individuals. What the women advocating for the right to vote in britain did was they espoused that term. They took it on they made it their own. They made it their own, powerful term. Alice paul, who was an american living in Great Britain at the time and became part of the british womens Suffrage Movement, really did not like the term suffragette. She thought it did make women seem to menu to and not as powerful diminutive and not as powerful as they should be. Alice paul left Great Britain and returned to the United States and became a leader in womens Suffrage Movements in the United States. She said it would only ever be suffragist and never suffragette. When she created her own publication for the National Womens party, it was called the suffragist. When we talk about american women who advocated for the right to vote, we use the term suffragist. We talk about british women who advocated for the right to vote, the correct term suffragette. 36th tennessee becomes the state to ratify the 19th amendment to the constitution. What happened next . Guest women did vote in the 1920 election. They voted probably the turnout we can estimate between 33 and 36 . Womens turnout increased over time. By 1980, the proportion of women voting in the United States menassed the proportion of voting in the United States. The editorial cartoons with the caption skys the limit. In 2020, an africanamerican woman on a major party ticket, the third time there has been a woman on the ticket since 1984. Guest it is all in a continuum of history. That is why i like that cartoon. It shows women moving up the ladder. We have seen a historic nomination with Vice President candidate Kamala Harris. She stands on the shoulders of many women who came before, not only the suffragists, but many black women who advocated for the right to vote even after 1920, up until 1965. And of course all the women who have served as members of congress and have run for president as well. Guest host carol is first up from oregon. I really enjoyed this conversation. I am a daughter of the revolution, and we talk about these things will we have our meeting. The subject you just happened to mention was the African Women. There was one thing i would like to see pointed out my the fact that, when African Women wanted to join the other womens group they actually said, well, you might hurt us a little bit. They still went on and got that right to vote. If we could hear more about that, that would be great. Thank you for bringing this up. This is great. Host thanks for the call. Guest africanamerican women unfortunately were often shut out of leadership positions in the two major womens suffrage organizations in the United States, the National Womens party run by alice paul, the National American womens severed association run by Carrie Chapman catt. They spoke. They were members, but they were not powerful within these organizations and institutions. That did not mean they stopped advocating for the right of all women to vote. They formed their own club, their own organizations and were heavily involved. Evenafricanamerican women protested in front of the white house. Alice paul would call upon them to do so. Host from louisville, kentucky. I wanted to reveal a story to you. I knew a lady3, named lucy stevens. Suffragist, if i am saying that right. I found myself homeless back onn, and i used to see her the street every morning walking to the Neighborhood Grocery store. She would carry groceries. I said, how are you this morning . She would be so spry and talk just the way you are talking on tv now. She was very alert, very intelligent. She was a cotillion lady. She was a little lady, about pounds, and she was a sweetheart. I wanted to relate that to you. She talked about her times when she was a young woman and when she was in that movement. I was blessed just to know her. She was a wonderful person. I wanted to reveal that to you. Host any reaction . Guest this is part of the reason why we have the centennial celebration celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, to recall the stories of these women. There may be a little bit of a mythology with the womens Suffrage Movement. If it is taught at all in American History, it might be Something Like women advocated for the right to vote, they politely held signs, they donned their parasols. Before you know it, they were granted the right to vote. That is not really the accurate history that we are trying to tell at the womens Suffrage Centennial commission or the White House Historical association. These women had to fight hard for the right to vote. The movement lasted 72 years, from 1848 to 1920. There were a lot of bumps along the way. There were a lot of men in power who told them no, and they figured out a way. They would go back, restrategize, and come back at it again. It is a tremendous point in American History that we can all learn from. Did it reach that crescendo from 1912 until the summer of 1920 . Guest there were a number of reasons. Other countries are starting to grant women the right to vote, so there was a world red worldwide pressure. In that particular era, world war i ended up helping women in the United States because women participated in the war effort as nurses and took over jobs from men who were deployed in europe. It was hard for Woodrow Wilson forothers to advocate democracy abroad and then realize they were disenfranchising over 20 million americans at home. The hypocrisy of that rhetoric became apparent. In fact, Woodrow Wilson had to admit there is no way we cannot acknowledge women should have the right full rights as citizens given how they have participated as leaders in this war effort. Had threerow wilson daughters from his first wife. Did they put pressure on him to support the 19th amendment . Guest there is not too much evidence for that, though one of his daughters was supportive of the Suffrage Movement and did appear at several womens suffrage conventions. There is not much of a record whether she petitioned Woodrow Wilson or asked her father to support the movement. One woman that was not supportive was Woodrow Wilsons second wife. She was an antisuffragist. She did not think women should have the right to vote. She was not supportive of the 19th amendment. She would definitely not have been in favor for Woodrow Wilson. Host the president at the time was in poor health, having suffered a stroke. Time, carrie catt had to go to him during helpication to enlist his with other democratic governors around the United States so they would call their legislatures the ratification could move forward across the United States. Edithd to work through wilson to do that. Woodrow wilson head stated he was in favor of the amendment. From florida, good morning. Caller thank you for taking my call. I have a question about the first women to break ground as far as congress and the u. S. Governor. The first woman elected to congress happened in 1916, before the 90 the amendment was ratified. Are you saying all men voted for her . The first woman governor i believe was in wyoming. Host lets talk about jeanette rankin. She was elected before women had the right to vote. She was an only served one term in the house. Then she came back to the United States congress after she had lost the bid to become senator. Jeanette rankin did serve an Important Role when she was in the house. They made her the chair of committee that we consider the nine to the amendment, even though she was only a freshman member of congress at the time. She did throw her support behind the amendment so women across the United States would have the right to vote. Jan, you are next. I have a story to tell about my grandmother, who was born in 1869. She was 50 years old. Ratified. Mendment was my mother was talking to her. She was from north carolina, as was my grandfather. She was baptist. He was republican. She was democrat. My mother asked out right on election day, why are you going down to vote . Wn to vote . You are only canceling each other out. She said, because i waited too long to get the right to vote and i am going to exercise it. From my grandmother. Host thanks for sharing the story with us. Guest that is a terrific story and this is a good occasion to share those stories from others, from grandmothers, from greatgrandmothers if youre able to do that. When i was looking at my grandmothers birthday, i had just learned about the 19th amendment in school. I realized she was born before women had the right to vote. Even as a little girl, that befuddled me. What would it be like to be born into a society that you did not have the right to vote . From arlene is next lexington park, maryland. Caller i have a question as to andnative american women