More Than A Magazine, A Movement
In “We Demand: The Suffrage Road Trip”, middle-aged lesbian Swedish immigrants Ingeborg Kindstedt and Maria Kindberg advocate for women’s suffrage in 1915.
I fell in love with Ingeborg and Maria when I retraced their route in 2015, and was astonished to find they’d gotten so little recognition for all they did—likely because they were older, working class women who spoke accented English.
The convention will continue two more days, and the struggle will go on for as long as may be necessary. But if future advocates of equality for women have the same dedication as those present today, there is no doubt that Elizabeth Oakes Smith’s prediction of victory will prove true, and those who can say they were among the first to begin the work of winning total equality for women will be especially honored.
Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation.
This week: We need to be laser focused on adding more women to the state legislatures; find out more about women’s representation in your state; Gov. Kathy Hochul has appointed two women to top leadership positions in her cabinet; the new woman head of the AFL-CIO; and more.
As we witness the renewed attacks on women’s fundamental rights in Afghanistan and remember how quickly women’s rights in this country were rolled back during the Trump administration, we are reminded how critical it is that we secure final ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S. Constitution.
On Thursday, Aug. 26, leaders and activists working for the Equal Rights Amendment will gather in front of the Supreme Court, across from the U.S. Senate, to rally for the ERA.
The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum is decades in the making. For more than 20 years, I have been working to pass a bill that would give women our rightful place in our nation’s history and capital city. As with so many advancements for women, this one was hard-fought.
“The flag is often associated with men and their accomplishments, and over the years has become associated with conservative Americans. But the flag is supposed to represent all of us,” said visual artist Marilyn Artus.
For the creation of Her Flag, Artus planned to travel to all 36 states that voted to ratify, in order of ratification, over a time span of 14 months to work with the state artists creating a stripe for Her Flag and sewing it onto the 18- by 26-foot flag.
Though all suffragists have the same goal of “Votes for Women,” some give priority to winning suffrage on a State-by-State basis, using conventional methods, while others focus on passage of the Susan B. Anthony (nationwide woman suffrage) Amendment, and take a more militant, though non-violent, approach.
It was clearly a difficult decision for the Rankin—the only woman ever to serve in Congress, and who was sworn in just four days ago. She was one of less than 12 House Members who did not vote on the first roll call. But on the second call she rose to her feet and said: “I want to stand by my country, but I cannot vote for war.”
Though nothing is ever certain in politics, there do appear to be enough votes in the new Congress to pass the Susan B. Anthony Amendment by the two-thirds majority required and send it to the states for ratification by 36 of 48. Regardless of whether that final step in the ratification process takes place before next year’s Presidential election or not, the end of the struggle is in sight, so it’s definitely appropriate to begin thinking about how women’s votes can best be used after the battle to win them is over.
The nine members of the suffragist Army of the Hudson continue on day six of their hike from Newark, New Jersey to Washington, D.C.
