Her Vote, Her Voice

By the time the United States entered World War I in 1917, 15 states had passed women’s suffrage, allowing American women the right to be elected to office and to vote in local and state elections. Montana had already elected Jeanette Rankin to the U.S. House of Representatives, highlighting the reality that some women could run for and win national office, but not cast a ballot in federal elections.

Community organizing and activism were long established traditions in Black communities that found a heightened sense of urgency in 1917. In addition to supporting African American soldiers in training camps, they served in organizations such as the NACW (National Association of Colored Women's Clubs), YMCA and the Red Cross – both in the U.S and abroad – while continuing to fight for social reforms on the home front.

More than 11,000 women served in the U.S. Navy, including Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee, who was later awarded the Navy Cross. Over 200 more took on roles as Signal Corps operators, providing critical communication support. Despite not serving in direct combat roles, some women who served overseas were killed by shells and bombs during their service.

For both the U.S. government and a variety of humanitarian efforts, women led the way in fundraising. At home, they were encouraged to can food, grow their own vegetables, limit their consumption of meat and boost and maintain morale through the family unit.

The election of 1918 also brought new members of Congress more amenable to suffrage. Using language from an amendment introduced in 1878, the 19th Amendment was introduced to and passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Jan. 10, 1918 and, after failing on a Senate vote, again on May 21, 1919. The Senate passed the legislation on June 4, 1919.

This came nearly 18 months after the U.S. entered World War I. Wilson recognized the important sacrifice and service of women during the war, and equally understood that in order for the U.S. to “lead the world to democracy,” action, not just words, was required.

By the end of 1919, 22 states had done so, but anti-suffragists had defeated the measure in Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia, with many fearing a disruption of legal segregation.

Tennessee was the last state needed to obtain ratification of the amendment — as the story goes, a 24-year-old representative received a last-minute note from his mother urging him to vote yes. Eight days after the state of Tennessee voted to ratify the amendment, it was delivered via mail to the Secretary of State, becoming law on Aug. 26, 1920.

The 19th Amendment was a milestone – but not the finish line. The struggle for voting rights continued long after 1920, particularly for women of color. Indigenous women, for example, were denied full citizenship until 1924 – and in some states, the right to vote until 1957. First-generation Asian American women remained ineligible for citizenship, and thus the vote, until 1952. Generations of African American women faced poll taxes, literacy tests and voter intimidation that kept them from the ballot box until the 24th Amendment in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 began to dismantle these barriers. The long road to the vote reveals that the promise of democracy was neither immediate nor equal – and that many women had to fight on more than one front to claim it.