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Virginia showcases a variety of events, activities and exhibits to honor the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
“Remember the ladies,” Abigail Adams told John Adams in a letter written on March 31, 1776, as he and other delegates drafted the founding principles for our nation.
“Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands,” she continues in the letter.“Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.”
His response? “As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh ... Depend upon it, We know better than to repeal our Masculine system.”
(He also called her “saucy,” but we won’t get into that just now.)
The next century continued to deny women political power, but that wouldn’t stop them. They continued their path as suffragists, abolitionists, public speakers and activists. A national movement began in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, while Senator Aaron Sargent became the first member of Congress to formally propose a constitutional amendment to extend voting rights to women in 1878.
Four decades and several failed attempts later, the Senate approved an amendment for woman suffrage on June 4, 1919; ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment granted women the right to vote after decades of protest and struggle. The amendment was only 39 words – two sentences to represent the work of generations of activists:
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”
One hundred years later, we celebrate the momentous and hard-earned win with another major victory: in January 2020, Virginia became the 38th and final state needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
There are several groups, both nation- and statewide, that will honor the anniversary in 2020.
The Roanoke Women’s March will celebrate this accomplishment, as well as commemorate International Women’s Day, on March 7. In addition to marching through downtown Roanoke, they also register voters and showcase exhibitors who share their experiences about community organizing.
The event, now in its fourth year, hosts between 3,000 to 4,000 people, and includes people who spend hours making creative signs, musical acts, stiltwalkers and more.
Described as “an energizing experience,” the march focuses on celebrating the considerable achievements of women who channel their energy into new passions for civic life and politics in Roanoke, Richmond and Washington, D.C.
“[The centennial] means everything to us,” says Ivonne Wallace Fuentes, a Roanoke Women’s March board member and organizer. “The struggle to get the ERA ratified … has made us all aware that we are part of a historical process … to ensure that our own granddaughters live in a future where discrimination on the basis of sex is something they only learn about in history books and not have to experience themselves. It is important for everyone to join us in this because it can energize us all to become more aware of our power as constituents, voters and citizens.”
You can learn more about the Roanoke Women’s March, including their mission, route, schedule and volunteer opportunities, at womensmarchroanoke.com.
The centennial celebration continues throughout the state in 2020. Head to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture in Richmond, where you’ll see their exhibit, “Agents of Change: Female Activism in Virginia from Women’s Suffrage to Today.”
Organized with the statewide Women’s Suffrage Centennial, the exhibit features artifacts celebrating women’s social and political activism in the Commonwealth (runs March 7 to September 27).
To learn more about the Women’s Vote Centennial, including state-wide and national news, events and initiatives, visit womensvote100.org.
Virginia Events from Women’s Vote Centennial:
March 7-September 27, 2020: “Agents of Change: Female Activism in Virginia from Women’s Suffrage to Today,” an exhibit focused on women’s social and political activism throughout the history of Virginia at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond.
March 1-August 17, 2020: “100 Years of Women’s Suffrage in Lynchburg,” an exhibit telling the little-known stories of Lynchburg suffragists and featuring two traveling exhibits: “Agents of Change: Female Activism in Virginia from Women’s Suffrage to Today” from the Virginia Museum of History & Culture and “We Demand: Women’s Suffrage in Virginia” from the Library of Virginia.
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