The Suffrage Movement, on the 93rd Anniversary of Its Biggest Success

Posters from more than a half century of political activism

Change is slow.

Wyoming women won the right to vote in 1869. Illinois was the tenth state to extend the vote to women... 44 years later. And it wasn't until August 26, 1920 that the 19th Amendment to the Constitution passed. It read, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

Between Wyoming and the 19th amendment, that's 51 years of campaigning by dedicated women of different classes, creeds, and colors. That's more than half a century, longer than the average life expectancy for a woman born in 1869.

One of these campaigners was Alice Park, a Californian who fought for women's rights. Park kept suffragette posters, a collection that was purchased by fellow activist Mary Winsor of Philadelphia, who donated them to Harvard's Schlesinger Library in 1950.

The library has since digitized the collection, and today, in honor of the 19th amendment's 93rd anniversary, they posted highlights from it. I've posted them below. I'd recommend entering Zeega's full-screen mode, so you can see the posters at a larger size.