National Heritage Areas Commemorate 19th Amendment Centennial

(September 17, 2020) –

2020 marks 100 years since the 19^th Amendment was ratified, granting many women the constitutional right to vote. National Heritage Areas commemorated the equal rights victory with 19^th amendment programming, sharing some of the many stories of the bravery, grit, and sacrifice it took for suffragists to secure their constitutional right to vote at a time when women were considered the property of men.

A participant of the Fort McHenry workshop writes on a poster as part of a collaboration exercise.

Peter Samuel / NPS

Last December, Baltimore National Heritage Area hosted a conference and workshop at Fort McHenry National Historic Monument & Historic Shrine. The National Park Service regional office staff led the workshop that focused on, “Sharing Women’s History in Baltimore.,” Theparticipants who representedarea museums, universities, historical organizations, and other NHA partner groups came together to share and provide information on their organizations’ women’s rights and civil right’s projects. During the day-long facilitated session people were inspired to find various ways to connect and collaborate on current and future projects. Another workshop that was to be held in Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area in the beginning of 2020 had to be postponed first due to bad weather and then the COVID-19 pandemic Discussions are underway to reschedule this.

Starting on May 19^th, Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area started a countdown until the exact date of the centennial, August 26^th. For each of the 100 days leading up to August 26^th, Freedom’s Way shared one fact about the suffrage movement, leaders, and history on Instagram and Facebook.

The 100th Fact in the 100 Years, 100 Days, 100 Facts Countdown created by Freedom's Way National Heritage Area.

Freedom's Way National Heritage Area

Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor developed a pair of documentaries highlighting the impact of the Erie Canal on the suffrage movement. Notably, many suffragists used the Erie Canal to travel to the historic Seneca Falls convention. For one documentary, the Erie Canalway NHA partnered with PBS WCNY to explore both how the suffrage movement began in Seneca Falls, and the ways in which equality still needs to be advanced today. The National Park Foundation awarded the NHA a $20,000 grant to complete this documentary. The second documentary will be a shorter version of the other, and made specifically for an elementary school audience. Due to COVID-19, the documentaries’ release has been delayed until March 2021.

Other NHAs addressed the fact that women of color in America could not vote, due to racist policies, until well into the 20^th century. Through their #LiftingVoices media campaign, Cache La Poudre National Heritage Area called attention to the fact that Native American women could not legally vote until the Snyder Act, passed in 1924, gave Native Americans full U.S. citizenship. Some states continued to deny Native voters their right to vote as late as 1962. The NHA held a panel about Native American women’s perspectives on voting rights, past and present, this summer.On the exact date the 19^th Amendment was ratified, 100 years ago, social media accounts showed National Park Service Sites and the National Heritage Area program “lit up” in purple and gold, the colors of the women’s suffrage moment in America, using a purple and gold filter made by the 19^th Amendment Centennial Forward Into Light Initiative.

Independence Hall, in the Schuylkill River Greenways National Heritage Area, was featured on the NHA Instagram account with the Forward Into Light filter applied to it.

National Park Service

Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area participated in the Forward Into Light initiative with a post about the Lithonia Woman’s Club, formed as a way to allow women to take part in civic life even when they could note vote, and one of their civil rights activist, Maggie Woods. Though the Woman’s Club, like many others, was formed to empower women in their communities, it and others were also segregated in the Jim Crow era. Arabia Mountain NHA posted: “It took activists such as Maggie Woods, who became the first Black woman to sit on the Lithonia City Council, to make the promise of the 19^th Amendment available to all citizens in the United States. These stories are part of the complicated and powerful tapestry of American History.”

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