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Essay by Brad Balfour<\/p>\n
In this pandemic age, women have been shouldering much of the burden as essential workers like never before. As nurses, teachers, store clerks and more, they have been here for us and still have to fight for equality and respect.<\/p>\n
It seems somehow even more appropriate that we should celebrating the 100th anniversary of 19th amendment which gave women the right to vote in the wake of Kamala Harris’ nomination as the Democratic Party Vice Presidential nominee. The 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment has even further resonance.<\/p>\n
On August 18, 1920, Tennessee was the last of the necessary 36 ratifying states to secure adoption. Certified then on the 26th, the Amendment’s adoption was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women’s suffrage at both state and national levels. When the vote was given to white women, lots of other people were still disenfranchised.<\/p>\n
Shortly after the amendment’s adoption, Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party began work on the Equal Rights Amendment, which they believed was a necessary step to ensure equality. But African Americans, Native Americans, Asians and more were still shut out. Eventually they achieved parity but not without lots of anguish.<\/p>\n
So with this centennial, we are reminded of the inequities that have plagued this country from its start, inequities that have been slowly rectified through much stress and struggle over the years. This centennial offers the occasion for us to make up for all those years of false starts and incomplete victories. Maybe a viewing PBS\u2019s American Experience\u2019s production of \u201cThe Vote\u201d (screening throughout this September) can further enlighten audiences as to the depths of the struggle.<\/p>\n
Or maybe, a visit to the recently unveiled statue depicting real women \u2014 not fantasy figures \u2014 in Central Park will provide the inspiration. The first such monument in the park\u2019s 167-year history, it was sculpted by artist Meredith Bergmann and was commissioned by Monumental Women, a 14-foot-tall structure which honors three key figures in the women\u2019s rights movement \u2014 Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth. They appear to be organizing, writing, and speaking, respectively, so as to signify the three essential elements of activism. Each had roots in New York, but died before American women gained the right to vote.<\/p>\n
Now that it has reopened one should also visit the New York Historical Society, where there have been virtual events commemorating this benchmark in political history.<\/p>\n
But the most effective way to truly celebrate such a historical marker is for women of all ages to get out and vote on November 3rd. That will be the best way to celebrate \u2014 by making sure to fulfill all the work done by previous generations of women who never got to exercise that right.<\/p>\n
Yeah let\u2019s make this election one in which to celebrate \u2014 \u201cSuffragette City\u201d indeed.<\/p>\n