Although the nineteenth ammendment wasn’t ratified until August 1920 there were several states who granted some voting rights to women prior to 1920. These rights usually consisted of rights to vote on school elections. A few states also allowed widows or femal property owners, which were few at the time, to vote.

The first convention for Women’s Rights was held in 1848 at Seneca Falls, New York. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and other Quaker women organized the event.

In 1869 Wyoming became the first Territory to grant full voting rights as well as ability to run for office to all women. Part of the reason was the hope it would attract more women to Wyoming which had a population of only 1,000 females at the time. It wasn’t until 1893 the next State, Colorado, did the same. With a few exceptions most States that followed suit during the next several years were in the western U.S.

Not until World War I did the tide begin to turn. Thanks in large part to Florence Nightengale and her nurses did women begin to receive acceptance in their abilities. When Woodrow Wilson became president in 1913 he was less than enthusiastic about Women’s Suffrage. However, after acknowledging their  contirbutions during the war he made a speech in 1918 in support of the ammendment.

The seventy-two year struggle culminated in August 1920 by the ratification of the ninteenth ammendment. However, as we know only white women truly had the ability to vote due to Jim Crow laws that required literacy tests and polling taxes that excluded most of the non-white people prior to 1964.

We all need to celebrate our hard-won right to vote by doing exactly that during this election year.