Edmunds County Tribune -

Editor’s Note: This story appeared in the August 26, 1920 Edmunds County Democrat.

The United States gets equal suffrage. Washington and Tennessee have ratified the constitutional amendment. This makes 38 states.

The legislatures of the states of Washington and Delaware met in special session March 22 to pass upon the ratification of the woman suffrage amendment to the Constitution as passed by congress June, 4, 1919:

“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.”

In general the situation as to the ratification of the amendment was as follows:

Ratification necessary by legislatures of three-fourth of the 48 states of the Union.

Amendment ratified by 34 states beginning with Wisconsin, June 10, 1919, and ending with West Virginia, March 10, 1920. Ratification in Ohio before United States Supreme court.

Amendment defeated by six states: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.

The situation in the remaining six states was as follows:

Connecticut and Vermont had no regular sessions until 1921. Govs. Marcus H. Holcomb and P.W. Clement had refused to call special sessions.

Florida and Tennessee could not vote in 1920 because of constitutional provision.

The Louisiana legislature was scheduled to meet in May.

The North Carolina legislature was to meet in special session in August. Gov. T.W. Bickett had declared his intention of asking for ratification.

Washington ratified in March. Delaware refused in June; Louisiana in July. Calls for special sessions were refused by the governors of Connecticut, Florida and Vermont. The United Stats Supreme court upheld the Ohio ratification, holding that the United States Constitution overrode state constitutions as to details of ratification methods. Under this decision Tennessee called a special session to act on ratification.

It is 70 years since the organized movement for woman suffrage was begun in the United States. In the first part of the nineteenth century woman suffrage was spasmodically advocated in print and from the platform. But it was not until 1848 that Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton called a woman suffrage convention at Seneca Falls, N.Y., which launched a “declaration of sentiments” and passed a resolution demanding equal suffrage.

These are two immortal names in American history. Lucretia Coffin Mott (1793-1880) was born in Nantucket, Mass., of Quaker parents. After teaching, she became an “acknowledged minister” of the Friends. She married James Mott, who worked with his wife against slavery.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) was born in Johnstown, N.Y. She married in 1840 Henry B. Stanton, a journalist and anti-slavery speaker. From 1869 to 1893 she was president of the National Woman’s Suffrage association.

Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) joined with Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in organizing the woman suffrage movement. She became in time the real leader of the movement; certainly she was its militant suffragist. Born in Adams, Mass., she came of Quaker stock, and early devoted herself to “temperance” (the prohibition of those days) and to the abolition of slavery.

For several years after the Civil War Miss Anthony endeavored to secure an interpretation of the 14th and 15th amendments which would allow women to vote. Finally, in 1872, at Rochester, N.Y., she tried to force an interpretation by voting at the polls. She was arrested and fined. She refused to pay the fine, but was not sent to jail.

In 1875 Miss Anthony drafted the amendment to the Constitution which has now been ratified. In 1878 the amendment was introduced in the senate by Senator Sargent of California. It was defeated in 1887 and thereafter was not even debated in congress until 1914.

During the years the constitutional amendment campaign was making no progress the women won many victories in the states. They received full suffrage in 15, presidential suffrage in 12 and partial suffrage in several others.

The National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1912 opened headquarters in Washington and began an active campaign for the passage of the amendment.

The National Woman’s Party, organized in 1910 by Alice Paul, established Washington headquarters in 1913 and introduced the militant into the campaign.

Alice Paul—the third Quakeress to immortalize herself—is the spectacular figure of the struggle. She is a practical politician and developed the deadliest card index on members of congress that practical politics has ever seen. Pretty soon she was serving notice through the White House pickets that the president was the “man higher up.” The arrest of nearly 500 of these pickets and the imposition of jail sentences had no effect. Incidentally Miss Paul herself served seven terms in jail.

In 1869 were formed two national organizations: National Woman Suffrage association, with Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony leaders and headquarters in New York; American Woman Suffrage association, with Mary A. Livermore, Julia Ward Howe and Lucy Stone leaders and headquarters in Boston.

The line of division between them was this: The former wished to concentrate on the passage of a constitutional amendment; the latter was in favor of obtaining the suffrage through amendments to state constitutions. In 1890 the two organizations were united under the name of National American Woman Suffrage Association, and work was pushed along both lines of endeavor. Mrs. Stanton was president until 1892. Miss Anthony served until 1900, resigning at the age of 80. Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt was its head, 1900-1904. Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, recently deceased and possibly best loved of all the leaders—a woman of transcendent gifts and eloquence—was president until 1915. Mrs. Catt was then again chosen. Mrs. Frank Leslie left a large legacy to Mrs. Catt to be used in the work.

The National association made arrangements at the St. Louis convention in 1919 to dissolve its organization and become the League of Women Voters. These arrangements became effective at the Chicago convention in February last. So the League of Women Voters now holds sway over something like 27,000,000 potential American women voters. Mrs. Catt, who is also the head of the International Woman Suffrage alliance, which she founded in 1904, is honorary chairman; Mrs.  Maud Wood Park is chairman; Mrs. Richard Edwards of Indiana, treasurer; Mrs. Solon Jacobs of Alabama, secretary, and there is a board of regional directors.