Most of what's known about the women's suffrage movement has been reduced to a photo and caption of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, key players in the suffrage movement. In fact, the movement involved tens of thousands of on-the-ground activists. As the 2017 suffrage centennial celebration appraoches in New York, and the 2020 national suffrage centennial, we'll be hearing much more about Votes for Women and what it took to win the franchise.
The extensive suffrage organizing of Long Island, NY started in 1912 and continued until the passage of the 19th amendment to the US Constitution that extended the franchise to American women. The Long Island grassroots organizing included the use of a suffrage campaign wagon called the "Spirit of 1776" used by Edna Kearns that was presented to the New York State Woman Suffrage Association in July of 1913. The centennial for the suffrage wagon's maiden voyage (1913-2013) is something special to celebrate. Suffrage Wagon News Channel highlights the wagon's travels starting in July of 1913 when the wagon left Manhattan and headed to Long Island for a full month of organizing. The campaigning continued to 1920 and the ratification of the 19th amendment.
Pass on this video to someone you know: a woman voter, a student, someone passionately interested in American history. It's an introduction for many to the sacrifices made by our grandmothers' and great grandmothers' generation --people who sacrificed for basic rights. The entire movement took 144 years from the Declaration of Independence and 72 years from the Declaration of Sentiments at Seneca Falls in 1848 to the ratification of the19th amendment in 1920. More information about the national suffrage centennial at: http://votesforwomen2020.com Photos in this video from the Library of Congress and the archives of Edna Buckman Kearns. Music: Kevin MacLeod.
For more information:
http://suffragewagon.org
http://womenssuffrage.org
http://suffragewagonnewschannel.com
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