Suffrage100MA In the News

Ayanna Polk of Dorchester was among those who gathered at the Boston Public Garden on Aug. 26 to mark Women’s Equality Day, the anniversary of the day in 1920 when the 19th Amendment was added to the US Constitution after decades of activism to enfranchise women.

Three suffragists —Ida B. Wells, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Boston-born Radcliffe College alumna Maud Wood Park— were memorialized at the event. Polk helped to unveil a panel that focused on Wells.

Quotable quotes

Suffrage100MA celebrated Women’s Equality Day at the Boston Public Garden last week to commemorate Aug. 26, 1920 — the day the 19th Amendment was added to the U.S. Constitution after more than 70 years of an intense battle to give women the right to vote. The State Department of Transportation illuminated the Zakim, Longfellow, Fore River and Burns Bridges in purple in recognition of the day.

Here are some of the quotes from the event…

State Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) stressed the importance of electing more women to statewide office and the legislature as she helped celebrate the anniversary of women’s suffrage at a Women’s Equality Day event at the Boston Public Gardens alongside Massachusetts Women’s Legislative Caucus co-chair Rep. Pat Haddad and other community members.

During her opening remarks, Suffrage100MA Founder and President Fredie Kay highlighted the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, recently adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives, which she said is a critical piece of legislation that fills the gap left by the U.S. Supreme Court decision gutting previous voting protections…. Kay said it was validating for Suffrage100A to have Lovely and Haddad among those at the Public Gardens event.

“Rep. Haddad, Sen. Lovely and our other distinguished speakers are tireless champions for women and voting rights, and we are honored that they are joining us to commemorate Women’s Equality Day and pay tribute to the legacy of three suffragists, whose voices were critical in passing the 19th Amendment,” she said.

TODAY — Suffrage100MA and Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators Co-Chairs state Rep. Pat Haddad and state Sen. Joan Lovely commemorate Women’s Equality Day at noon at the Boston Public Garden.

Happening Today: 12 p.m. | Mass. Caucus of Women Legislators co-chairs Rep. Patricia Haddad and Sen. Joan Lovely join Suffrage100MA and other voting and women’s rights advocates to commemorate Women’s Equality Day.

Randolph town councilor Katrina Huff-Larmond will speak at the Suffrage 100MA event, along with co-chairs of the Massachusetts Women’s Legislative Caucus, to commemorate the anniversary of the 19th Amendment, on Women’s Equality Day, at noon Thursday, Aug 26, near the Swan Boats at Boston Public Garden.

Katrina Huff-Larmond, vice president of the Board of Directors for Suffrage 100 MA (suffrage100ma.org), expanded on these points, noting that some of the white suffragists we honor might best be remembered as heroes (or perhaps “sheroes”), but not saints. While the 19th Amendment finally passed, the language of the amendment granted all women the right to vote, but as a practical matter, this was far from reality. It did not benefit all women, especially Black women in the South, where Jim Crow laws and deeply seated racism still prevented them from voting.

Huff-Larmond stressed the importance of understanding the intersection of the abolitionist and the suffrage movements. Activists borrowed many of the techniques of abolitionists to advance the cause of suffrage, but women such as Sojourner Truth and Harriett Tubman go largely unrecognized for their role in advocating for women’s rights.

Suffrage100MA, a coalition commemorating the centennial of the 19th Amendment, tweeted that it will host a premiere of a film titled “The Fight for Women’s Suffrage: Looking Back, Marching Forward!” on Aug. 26.

Exercising your right to vote in the 2020 election won’t always be easy, so it’s time to follow the lead of the courageous women who fought for the 19th Amendment.

“Women were not supposed to speak in public. Women were not supposed to address a group of people that was both men and women — that was considered a ‘promiscuous’ audience,” said Fredie Kay, founder of the nonprofit Suffrage100MA. “Women were frequently pelted with rotten food, sometimes until they had to get off the stage.”