The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. — United States Constitution, Amendment XIX, Ratified August 18, 1920
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the last state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Finally, after 72 years of campaigning for the right to vote, women achieved their goal, but these seven decades were fraught with immense challenges. Opponents of the cause were determined to prevent its success, yet women persisted. This list of Further Reading, presented by the Harris County Law Library, connects you to resources that trace the fight for women’s suffrage from its origins at the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 to the full ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
Shortlisted: Women in the Shadows of the Supreme Court — Renee Knake Jefferson & Hannah Brenner Johnson
Author Renee Knake Jefferson discusses her book, Shortlisted: Women in the Shadows of the Supreme Court, co-authored with Hannah Brenner Johnson. Learn more and order at www.ShortlistedBook.com.
Find a review of Shortlisted: The Women in the Shadows of the Supreme Court from Sabrina Davis, Digital Outreach Law Librarian at the Harris County Law Library, in “Keeping Up with New Titles” in the Fall 2020 issue of Law Library Journal - a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries.
Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote — Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
At the link above, Houston Bar Association President, Benny Agosto, Jr., reads Bold & Brave for Law Day 2020.
Shall Not Be Denied
Read the official illustrated companion to the Library of Congress exhibition which details the story of the long campaign for women’s suffrage — the largest reform movement in American history — lasting over seven decades.
Rightfully Hers
The National Archives Museum celebrates the centennial of women’s suffrage with a special exhibition. Featured are photographs, audiovisual recordings, educational resources, articles, blog posts, lectures, and more that document the women’s rights movement in the United States.
Women’s Vote Centennial
In April 2017, Congress passed legislation to create the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (S.847) “to ensure a suitable observance of the centennial of the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing for women’s suffrage.” This website is, in part, the product of that effort.
Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative
The mission of the 2020 Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative is to serve as a central organizing and information-sharing entity for programs, projects, and activities that commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, educate the public on the legal and social advances resulting from the amendment, and stimulate dialogue to address the ongoing fight for women’s rights.
Finish the Fight!:The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote
This publication by Veronica Chambers and the staff of The New York Times presents biographies of diverse women who fought for women’s suffrage but have been less recognized and celebrated, including women from marginalized backgrounds who worked to secure voting rights for women. Read an excerpt here.
Crusade for the Vote
This online exhibition is a rich collection of resources that document the history of women’s suffrage in the United States. Included are Primary Sources, Educator Resources, Recommended Readings, and a Timeline of historical events.
American Experience: The Vote
One hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, The Vote, a documentary film from PBS, tells the dramatic culmination story of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote — a transformative cultural and political movement that resulted in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. Trailblazers is another PBS resource worth exploring.
Suffrage at 100
To mark the anniversary of the 19th Amendment, The New York Times is revisiting the stories of how women won the right to vote in the United States. Featured are stories about the roles that Black women, Native women, and Queer women played in the suffrage movement, as well as the stories of women who fought against the vote.
Women’s History 19th Amendment
Signed into law on August 26, 1920, the passage of the 19th Amendment was the result of decades of work by tens of thousands across the country who worked for change. Use this site from the National Park Service to discover some of the stories of women and men who fought for women’s suffrage rights.
Rough Road to Justice: The Journey of Women Lawyers in Texas — Betty Trapp Chapman
Recounting experiences from the women who lived the journey, author and historian Betty Trapp Chapman details the history of women lawyers from the first woman believed to have acted as an attorney in the United States to the first woman to be appointed to the country’s highest court.
Texas and the 19th Amendment
The emblem for Women’s Suffrage in Texas depicted the state outline in purple, white, and gold (the colors of the National Woman’s Party suffrage flag) to indicate that Texas was one of the original 36 states to ratify the 19th Amendment.