Suffrage Anniversary

Thursday August 26th was the anniversary of the day in 1920 when American women were granted the right to vote, and the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified.  The Sewall-Belmont Museum in D.C. outlines the history of the suffrage/feminist movement.  They have Susan B. Anthony's desk, banners from the suffrage marches, and notecards woman made after lobbying on Capitol Hill for the ERA.  On one card I read, the Senator said "I never hire a married woman because she belongs in the home.  As soon as one of my girls get engaged, I fire her."  Can you believe that!!!!   My grandmother was actually fired when she became pregnant.  Outragous.  It makes me very grateful to my foremothers who fought for progress.  Now the mantle rests on my generation to continue the fight and work for wage equality, mandatory paid maternity leave, breastfeeding in the workplace, reforming social security for mothers, and stopping domestic violence, among many other things.

The next time you are in the district, I highly recommend visiting this museum. Here are some beautiful cards I purchased there:

Today is the anniversary of Martin Luther King's historic speech.  It serves as a reminder that the suffrage movement really meant suffrage for white women.  This blog post outlines the sad fact that black women were mostly excluded.