Anniversary of the 19th Amendment Ratification

The 19th Amendment, which gave women in the United States the right to legally vote in elections, was ratified on this day in 1920.

The History Center of Olmsted County currently has an exhibit titled “The Onward March of Suffrage” that highlights historic women in Rochester, Minnesota who were advocates for suffrage. I conducted research for the exhibit, providing exhibit creators with information about the many local Rochester women who were involved in the suffrage struggle. I uncovered lots of interesting stories! Make sure to visit and check the exhibit out! The title is taken from a paper written by a Rochester suffragist and presented at a local Woman’s Christian Temperance Union meeting. Sadly, we didn’t uncover the paper’s content. However, the title was a great discovery and it rings true even today. We are still marching on, fighting to achieve equality for all.

Check out the new flag the History Center of Olmsted County erected in honor of the suffrage cause. The purple, gold and white flag was a symbol of the woman’s suffrage movement. Each time a state ratified the 19th Amendment a new star was added.