Women's Equality Day!

 

Happy Women's Equality Day!  Today we celebrate the 124th year of women's right to vote.  

In case you are new to the blog, I'm an historian and spent most of 2020 writing about the struggle for women's suffrage.  Beth and I had a program we offered for 2020 focused on the centennial.  

Because of the pandemic, I posted most of the information we had collected on the blog. 

Why is this so important?  Well some of the reasons now are exactly what suffragists cited in the early part of the 20th century:

  

Women's suffrage didn't occur overnight.  Many states like Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho had women's suffrage even in the 19th century. This study published in 1917, showed that the states where women voted have the best policies and protection for women and children.

Both Beth and I made quilts (as well as showing antique examples) to relay the story of suffrage.  This is one I made:

The number 7 was the last block and the audience would often question me about it.  "The age of consent" for women was often before a young girl reached puberty; one state's age of consent was 7 years old.

So today let us be grateful for the brave women who fought for our right to vote.  Many braved terrible things and even were incarcerated for expressing their opinion.  Most of all, let us all vote in November and use our hard won vote to make the world a better place.

My suffrage garden from 2020.

Have a safe and happy day!