Votes for Women?

American women achieved the right to vote on August 26, 1920, when the Secretary of State signed the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution into law after the thirty-sixth state (Tennessee) ratified it.

The 17-minute Her Own Words® DVD, Votes for Women?! 1913 U.S. Senate Testimony, presents the arguments for and against woman suffrage in the words of Progressive activist “Fighting Belle” Case La Follette and author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Kate Douglas Wiggin.

This is a great discussion-starter; it brings up both very dated and amusing ideas and some that sound disturbingly contemporary. Speakers might include a law librarian, an election official, or a female politician. (When women’s voting rights were restricted, their right to hold office was also.)

Closed caption