On August 26, 1920, after Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify, the 19th amendment was certified to the U.S Constitution. Although it did not grant political equality to all women, the event was an important victory in the long campaign to expand their rights and gain access to the political process. 

On both the national and the local level, women utilized new tactics and ideas to claim a political voice and influence for themselves. Many working-class and women of color participated in the movement, seeing suffrage as necessary to gain economic and social justice. Yet their contributions were frequently marginalized by the mainstream leaders and are largely absent from the historical record.

19th at 100 situates the campaign for suffrage in the longer narrative of the ongoing struggle for women’s rights, giving special attention to northeast Ohio and our University. Showing the complexities and limits, but also the creativity and possibilities of the movement, this website revisits the 19th amendment and its continuing legacies.