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Portland Alumnae Panhellenic celebrates the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote! In 1848, a women's rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. While this was not the first meeting supporting women's rights, many believe it was the meeting that launched the suffragette movement. Some states in the west had already included women voters as early as the late 1800s, however, women were still not allowed to vote in the southern and eastern states. The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA, founded in 1890) and the National Women's Party (NWP, founded in 1916) both had a significant impact in the fight for women's votes. Months before the 19th amendment passed, the NAWSA had its last conference and created the League of Women Voters. The NWP still exists today as an educational organization.
On August 18th, 1920, the 19th amendment was passed which states that the right to vote shall not be denied based on a person's sex.
Women's Equality Day is on August 26th.
Some good websites for further reading:
- League of Women Voters: www.lwv.org
- womenshistory.org/resources/general/woman-suffrage-movement
- nationalwomenshistoryalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/gazette_How-Women-Won-Vote-.pdf
All proceeds go towards the Portland Panhellenic Scholarship fund benefiting alumnae continuing education.