FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 14, 2020
CONTACT: Heather Hope-Hernandez
[email protected]; 918-607-2923
MEDIA ADVISORY
It’s the Centennial of Women’s Right to Vote: Get Out There and Be Heard!
Tulsans Encourage Everyone to Exercise Their Rights
TULSA—On the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution that gave women the vote, a coalition of local groups and individuals urges all eligible voters to register and vote.
WHAT: Press conference celebrating the centennial of the 19th Amendment that also discusses the state of voting and offering local resources available to make voting as easy as possible to encourage voting
WHEN: 10:30 a.m., Tuesday August 18th
WHERE: Tulsa Historical Society & Museum, 2445 S. Peoria Ave., Tulsa
WHO: Sharon King Davis, Organizer
Chelsea McGuire Kester, chair, TYPros
Lynn Staggs, president, League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Tulsa
Tommy Yap, co-founder, Tulsa Voter Van
Background
One hundred years ago in Tennessee, on August 18, 1920, one male legislator cast the deciding vote that gave women across the country the right to vote. Tennessee was the necessary 36th ratifying state required to secure adoption of the constitutional amendment. The amendment was officially certified a week later on Aug. 26, 1920, enshrining into the U.S. Constitution a woman’s right to vote.
It was a 72-year struggle to get the amendment passed. The amendment was first introduced in 1878. And, it was introduced every year after, word for word, until it was ratified. The struggle for voting rights didn’t end in 1920 though. It would be another 45 years before all women of color, and men, were guaranteed the right to vote through the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Early this year about 55 women, some representing diverse Tulsa organizations, came together to plan a year-long celebration of women’s voting rights. Several events were planned, but those events were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
We held a kick-off in February with a rally and march at the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum to coincide with the opening of an exhibit on the struggle in Oklahoma for women’s voting rights. More than 400 people gathered to hear historic figures from the suffrage movement talk about the long struggle for women’s right to vote. Oklahoma ratified the constitutional amendment in February 1920.
100 Years of Voting Women Consortium
Partners
American Association of University Women, Assistance League of Tulsa, Association for Women in Communications, Booker T. Washington Alumni Foundation, City of Tulsa, Junior League of Tulsa, League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Tulsa, Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women, Tulsa City-County Library, Tulsa Historical Society & Museum, Tulsa Women Lawyers Association, University of Tulsa Women’s and Gender Studies Programs, Women for Responsible Government
Individuals
Sharon King Davis, chair; Alicia Andrews; Amy Bailey; Barbara Bannon; Rep. Meloyde Blancett; Amanda Clinton; Megan Cruz; Ellen Cummings; Julie Davis; Nikki Dennis; Cindy Driver; Ebony Easiley; Judy Eason McIntyre; Nicole Eubanks; Dr. Pamela Fry; Karen Gaddis; Dr. Anne Ghostbear; Gwen Hampton; Priscilla Harris; Carmela Hill; Maggie Hoey; Kathy Horne; Emily Hutton; County Commissioner Karen Keith; Stephanie LaFevers; Juana Lozier; Rebecca Marks Jimerson; Kimberly Marsh MacLeod; Rosa Martinez Harris; Donna Mathews; Jilda Motley; Kristen Oertel; Elaina Osteen; Penny Painter; Kiley Roberson; Sara Jane Rose; Martha Rupp Carter; Mayor Susan Savage; Paula Settoon; Amanda Swope; Mayor Kathy Taylor; Pamela Vreeland; Tamara Wagman; Julie Watson; Meredith Webber; Jan Doolittle Wilson, PhD; Judge Jane Wiseman
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