On this day in 1915, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to give women the right to vote by a vote of 204 to 174. This vote was an important moment in the long struggle for women’s suffrage. The galleries were packed with suffragists who watched a 10-hour debate on the proposal. The defeat highlighted the challenges faced by activists who sought a federal amendment, leading many to continue their efforts at the state level as well as pushing for national action.
In 1914 the constitutional amendment proposed by Sargent, which was nicknamed the “Susan B. Anthony Amendment”, was once again considered by the Senate, where it was again rejected. In April 1917 the “Anthony Amendment”, which eventually became the Nineteenth Amendment, was reintroduced in the House and Senate. Picketing NWP members, nicknamed the “Silent Sentinels”, continued their protests on the sidewalks outside the White House. On July 4, 1917, police arrested 168 of the protesters, who were sent to prison in Lorton, Virginia. Some of these women, including Lucy Burns and Alice Paul, went on hunger strikes; some were force-fed while others were otherwise harshly treated by prison guards.
The suffrage amendment did not pass the House of Representatives until May 21, 1919, which was quickly followed by the Senate, on June 4, 1919. It was then submitted to the states for ratification, achieving the requisite 36 ratifications to secure adoption, and thereby went into effect, on August 18, 1920. The Nineteenth Amendment’s adoption was certified on August 26, 1920.
Suffragist Helena Hill looks out from her cell.
women installing an engine in a Douglas Aircraft Plant in 1942
Today is the birthday, in 1993, of Zayn Malik from English-Irish pop boy band One Direction who formed after finishing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010. Scored the 2011 UK No.1 single ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ and the 2013 No.1 ‘One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJO3ROT-A4E
