HER FUTURE: Two Suffragettes Showing Suffrage Banner to Young Girl. 

United States [Between 1910 and 1930] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2004669966/



Amendment XIX to the Constitution of the United States of America

 "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."

Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920

The League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County is pleased to offer this resource page for all those who would like to learn more about the fight for women's suffrage and the history of the League. Particularly in earlier histories, the suffrage movement was often romanticized, but more recent material has opened up new insights. Here are a couple of considerations before you begin to explore:

• The passage of the 19th Amendment was not just a significant event for the women of the United States, it was also a game-changer for our democracy. When the other fifty percent of the population suddenly had the potential to influence how the country was governed, all lives were affected. 
  
• Women who have been widely recognized as leaders in the suffrage movement, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, were white and usually affluent. This picture has long been incomplete. With the interest in the 2020 centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, women of color, such as Ida B. Wells and Mary Church Terrell, are finally taking their place in popular history as their stories are being researched and told. They represent not only the early battles for women’s rights but also the ongoing fight to ensure voting rights for all.
  
• It's important not to discount the contribution of men to the suffrage movement. True, many men opposed it and—what is less well known—many women were also against it. But the support of men was a critical part of the success of the effort. Remember, Congress had to pass the amendment before it could be ratified and made law. The 66th U.S. Congress did this in June 1919. There were no women in Congress at that time.
  
• Despite the passage of the 19th and other voting rights amendments, the struggle for voting rights goes on.  We'll continue to expand this page to include other voting rights and equality issues.