Women Get the Vote!

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (certified 26 August 1920)

Those darn women! Always wanting things. Like the right to vote. Here's the text of the amendment that finally extended the franchise to women:*

1. 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.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this Article by appropriate legislation.

Passed by the House of Representatives on 21 May 1919 and by the Senate on 4 June 1919, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on 18 August 1920, when Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to approve it. 

Alice Paul, 1920,
raising a glass (of juice) in victory

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was certified on 26 August 1920.

Just over two months later, on 8 November 1920, some eight million American women voted in the first national elections for which they were eligible to vote. 

(It took more than sixty years for the rest of the states to pass the Nineteenth Amendment--Mississippi didn't get around to ratifying that pesky amendment until 22 March 1984. Go, Mississippi!)

Of course extending the franchise to women by amending the constitution did not go unchallenged--for the Supreme Court case Leser v. Garnett (1922), unanimously upholding the constitutionality of the Nineteenth Amendment, click here.

And here's a bonus note for the day: on the fiftieth anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, on 26 August 1970, women across America conducted a Women's Strike for Equality. Here are a few images from the march in New York City, headed by Betty Friedan:

Betty Friedan at the march

I hope somebody's planning a kick-ass celebration for 26 August 2020!!

*If you consider the Seneca Falls convention of 1848 as the start of the women's suffrage movement, it took more than seventy years for women to achieve this goal. If you missed them, here are posts for the first and second days of the Convention. And if you ever wondered what happened to the Equal Rights Amendment, click here.

Update, August 2019: And the centennial begins! Check out Jennifer Schluesser's "The Complex History of the Women's Suffrage Movement." The New York Times piece notes three exhibitions on the subject of women's suffrage that complicate and expand the discussion of the movement. Schluesser's piece contains links to exhibitions opening at the National Portrait Gallery, the Library of Congress and the National Archives (all in Washington, D.C.).

Update, 26 August 2020: Well, because of the pandemic there were no kick-ass celebrations. At least there was a PBS documentary.  And a postage stamp. For more, click here.

Mary Ritter Beard Takes on the Encyclopedia Britannica

Mary Ritter Beard (born 5 August 1876)

Political activist and historian Mary Ritter Beard

There are many reasons to post about the American historian, suffragist, and activist Mary Ritter Beard: 

While in England with her husband at the turn of the twentieth century, she became involved in the labor movement and with the suffrage movement and suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst; 

When she returned to the United States, she continued her labor activism as an organizer for the National Women's Trade Union League and the Wage Earner's League;

She worked with Alice Paul in the last years of the campaign for women's suffrage, 1913-1919; 

She began to write and publish, first editing journals like The Woman Voter and The Suffragist, then producing articles and reviews, and then contributing a number of volumes on women’s history, including Women's Work in Municipalities (1915), Understanding Women (1931), America Through Women's Eyes (1933), A Changing Political Economy as It Affects Women (1934), and Woman As Force In History: A Study in Traditions and Realities (1946); 

She published on the topic of labor as well, including A Short History of the American Labor Movement (1920) and, co-authored with her husband, a social, cultural, economic, and political history, The Rise of American Civilization (1927).

After the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, she advocated for the Equal Rights Amendment. 

But what's particularly interesting to me, especially today, as I negotiate its judgments, peculiarities, and omissions, is Mary Ritter Beard's project analyzing the Encyclopedia Britannica and its treatment of women. Beard was asked to undertake this project by the Britannica's editor in chief, Walter Yust. She assembled a group of three scholars--Dora Edinger, Janet Selig, and Marjorie White.

The group had a small budget, but Beard herself worked for free. After eighteen months of study, they published A Study of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in Relation to its Treatment of Women in 1942. And, perhaps not a surprise, the Britannica's "treatment of women" was not good. Beard and her co-authors included a list of suggestions for improvement along with their analysis, but they were ignored. By 1947, Ritter was advising women not to write for Britannica. 

For Beard's Encyclopedia Britannica report (as well as her other work), see Ann Lane's Making Women's History: The Essential Mary Ritter Beard. (To read a sample of the report, click here.)

For an updated view of gender bias in our reference works, you might be interested in Joseph Reagle and Lauren Rhue's "Gender Bias in Wikipedia and Britannica" (International Journal of Communication), which you can read by clicking here. You can also read what I've posted on this subject by clicking here.

Mary Ritter Beard died in 1958, aged eighty-two. There's an excellent biographical essay posted at the Sophia Smith Collection website, which houses many of Mary Ritter Beard's papers.

Are Women "Equal"? Of Course Not

The Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (passed Congress, 22 March 1972)

First proposed as the "Lucretia Mott Amendment" by Alice Paul in 1923, the Equal Rights Amendment was so radical that its audacity terrorized all who considered it: "Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

This shocking amendment to the U.S. Constitution was introduced in every Congress between 1923 and 1972. It finally passed the Senate and then the House of Representatives in 1972--on 22 March, the proposed 27th Amendment was sent to the states for ratification. 

Obviously, since the ERA is still not part of our Constitution, it was never ratified. Why not? Well, because it's still so horrifically scary and clearly unfair. Who could possibly accept these crazy three propositions:

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification

The ERA has been reintroduced in every session of the U.S. Congress since 1982. It is still not part of the U.S. Constitution.

Update, January 2017: An Equal Rights Amendment was introduced into the 115th Congress shortly after it was convened in January. In the Senate, on 20 January 2017, Robert Menendez (D-NJ) once again introduced the amendment; in the House, on 24 January 2017, the bill was once again introduced by Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). In both houses, the resolution was sent to committee. Where, once again, it died.

For the text of the bill, a history of "all actions," and list of the resolution's co-sponsor's in the House of Representatives, click here.

Update, 20 April 2018: Could it be that there is some movement on passage of the Equal Rights Amendment? The New York Times Editorial Board suggests that there might be. To read "A Rebuke to Trump, A Century in the Making," click here. (Wish I could be as hopeful . . . )

Update, 2019: An Equal Rights Amendment was introduced into the 116th Congress shortly after it was convened. On 29 January 2019, Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced the amendment in the House, and on 27 March 2019, Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced Senate Joint Resolution 15 in the Senate. Both resolutions proposed a "fresh start," removing the 1972 deadlines for ratification of the amendment.

Update, January 2020: On 15 January 2020, Virginia became the 38th state to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. As NPR reports,

Under the U.S. Constitution, amendments become law when they're ratified by at least three-fourths of U.S. state legislatures — or 38 out of 50. However, the ERA's original deadline for ratification expired in the 1980s, putting its future on uncertain legal ground. That didn't stop backers in Virginia from welcoming a long-awaited day.

In the 117th Congress, a renewed effort was made to pass the Equal Rights Amendment with the introduction of "Three-State Strategy" bills:

Current efforts are in support of Congress removing the deadline originally assigned to the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, and extended in 1979 by members of Congress. Legal scholars have stated that if Congress has the legal standing to instate a deadline for a constitutional amendment, they also have the legal standing to remove a deadline. Legislation has been proposed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to officially remove the deadline for the ERA. If passed by both houses, legal scholars state that the ERA could potentially be ratified when the 38th state votes to ratify the amendment.

The potential legislation to remove the deadline was debated on April 30, 2019, the first hearing on the Equal Rights Amendment on Capitol Hill in 36 years.

Update, March 2021: Could we finally be on the verge of passing the ERA? Perhaps--as Rebecca Wolf writes in the Washington Post, "2021 Could Finally Be the Moment for the Equal Rights Amendment": "The turmoil of the coronavirus pandemic could push the amendment across the finish line after a century of work." Could it be that all it took was a deadly plague? 

Senate Joint Resolution 1 was introduced by Senator Benjamin Cardozo (D-Maryland) on 17 March 2021. On 23 March, by a roll-call vote of 222-204, the House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution 17, removing the deadline for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Astonishingly, four Republicans joined Democrats to approve the resolution that was introduced by Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier and Republican Rep. Tom Reed.  Oh, yay.

And then, nothing.

Update, 22 March 2023: Still waiting . . . 

Legislation for removing the deadline for ratification of the ERA was introduced in both houses of the 118th U.S. Congress in January 2023--Senate Joint Resolution 4 was introduced on 24 January 2023 by Senator Benjamin Cardozo (D-Maryland) and House Joint Resolution 25 on 31January by Representative Ayanna Presley (D-MA). The House bill was referred immediately to the House Judiciary Committee, which is now chaired by Gym Jordan. Need I say more?

Of course it is languishing in the U.S. Congress--it's only been 100 years since the ERA was first proposed and only 51 years since the ERA was passed by both Houses of Congress in 1972 . . . 

Update, 1 May 2023: Okay, just in case you thought you might not be living in a new hellscape, one in which women are no longer regarded as full human beings, judged to be incapable of reason and having no right to bodily autonomy, here's the bad news. The ERA is once again dead. On 27 April, "Senate Republicans blocked a procedural measure on a joint resolution to remove an expired deadline for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which has never been added to the Constitution, a century after it was first introduced to Congress." The measure failed by a vote of 51-47--it needed a super-majority of 60 votes to pass. (All the no votes were by Republicans--two Republicans, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, voted yes.)

Again, here's what is too scary for the ERA to pass: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

Update, 13 July 2023: Okay, time for something new? Equally doomed, I'm sure, but here's a New York Times piece outlining a "novel tactic" that might "revive" the ERA (click here). 

Update, 22 March 2024: Just in case you were wondering, there are no updates . . .

Update, 17 January 2025: Just three days before the end of his term, President Joe Biden said that “he believes that the Equal Rights Amendment has met the requirements of ratification and therefore is now part of the Constitution." The problem? Biden "declined to order the government to finalize the process by officially publishing it.” So, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Here's my favorite comment, from writer Elie Mystal: "Biden had FOUR YEARS to try to move the needle on this. Making this ERA statement now, with a foot literally out the door, and shifting the focus to a humble government functionary, is not courage and is not progress. It’s cowardice, from a party that has gotten all too used to it."

Update, 22 March 2025: Under the current misogynist regime (also racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and depraved), there is little hope for the ERA. As this piece in Axios  describes the current situation, “Weeks into Trump 2.0, Equal Rights Amendment advocates see a bleak political landscape.”

Update, 22 March 2026: In a new court case, Equal Means Equal v Trump, “plaintiffs demand a federal judge finally recognize [theEqual Rights Amendment] as part of the U.S. Constitution”:

In Equal Means Equal, plaintiff Jacqueline Fenore and two other women were turned away when attempting to register for the draft because they were female. EME is now suing on their behalf, arguing that under the ERA, “equality of rights shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” The plaintiffs say that the ERA became part of the Constitution when Virginia ratified the amendment in January 2020.

 I wish I could be more hopeful . . . 

Alice Paul and the Fight for Women's Suffrage

Alice Paul (born 11 January 1885)

Alice Paul, c. 1917

The American feminist and activist Alice Paul lived a long and full life--she died in 1977, aged ninety-two. Over the course of this long life, she succeeded in many of her political and civil rights goals, credited as one of the early twentieth-century strategists who finally achieved the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, in 1920, granting women in the United States the right to vote.

Paul continued her work on behalf of women even after the passage of the women's suffrage amendment, ensuring that women were included as a protected class in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

But she was unable to accomplish the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Along with Crystal Eastman, Paul first proposed the amendment in 1923 and presented it as the "Lucretia Mott Amendment" at the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention: 

Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The ERA was introduced into every session of Congress between 1923 and 1970. After decades of debate, discussion, study, revision, and clarification, the ERA was finally adopted in 1970 by the 92nd Congress. It was never ratified. It has been reintroduced in Congress every session since 1982, most recently, in the U. S. Senate on 7 May 2015, by New Jersey's Robert Menendez, and in the House on 14 May 2015, by New York's Carolyn Maloney.*

There are many online resources available for Alice Paul, and many excellent books. I like Mary Walton's A Woman's Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot.

You might also enjoy the HBO film, Iron Jawed Angels, which focuses on the last decade of the fight to gain the right to vote for women.

Alice Paul, second from left, 1920

This photo shows Alice Paul (second from left) with members of the National Women's Party, protesting the Republican Convention of 1920 with a banner quoting Susan B. Anthony.

*Update, January 2017: An Equal Rights Amendment was introduced into the 115th Congress shortly after it was convened in January. In the Senate, on 20 January 2017, Robert Menendez (D-NJ) once again introduced the amendment; in the House, on 24 January 2017, the bill was once again introduced by Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). In both houses, the resolution was sent to committee. Where, once again, it died.

Update, January 2019: The Equal Rights Amendment was again introduced into the 116th Congress. In January, "Three-State Strategy" legislation was proposed by Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) in the Senate and by lead sponsor Jackie Speier (D-CA) in the House. In March, "traditional" legislation was proposed by Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and by Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).

Update, January 2022: Nope. Introduced in the 117th Congress. Still not passed.

Update, 12 January 2024: Dead in the 118th Congress too. For more on this, click here. 

Updat, 17 January 2025: Just three days before the end of his term, President Joe Biden said that “he believes that the Equal Rights Amendment has met the requirements of ratification and therefore is now part of the Constitution." The problem? Biden "declined to order the government to finalize the process by officially publishing it.” So, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Here's my favorite comment, from writer Elie Mystal: "Biden had FOUR YEARS to try to move the needle on this. Making this ERA statement now, with a foot literally out the door, and shirting the focus to a humble government functionary, is not courage and is not progress. It’s cowardice, from a party that has gotten all too used to it." 

Update, 22 March 2025: Under the current misogynist regime (also racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and depraved), there is little hope for the ERA. As this piece in Axios describes the current situation, “Weeks into Trump 2.0, Equal Rights Amendment advocates see a bleak political landscape.”