Dept. of Veterans Affairs: WDVA celebrates the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment

Recognizing the Role of Women Veterans in the Suffrage Movement

MADISON — One hundred years ago, on August 26, 1920, the 19^th Amendment, which protected women’s right to vote, was signed into law. It came after decades of work by many women’s rights groups and an organized fight for women’s suffrage that included lobbying, marching, picketing, and protesting.

While the women’s suffrage movement did not guarantee voting rights for everyone, the passage of the 19^th Amendment was the beginning of the fight for voting rights for all. Today, millions of women vote in elections because of the courageous suffragists who never gave up the fight for equality.

Women WWI Veterans and the Right to Vote The women’s suffrage movement was greatly impacted by women veterans and the participation of women in World War I. Thousands of women worked in munition factories and industrial plants, on farms and on street railways, in the Red Cross, and in the military and in other war organizations. Women did their share of the work and gave abundantly of their service. In this blog and original video, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum shares how women in service during WWI fueled the final push for women’s right to vote.

Bell Ringing and Celebration

When the 19^th Amendment was signed into law, bells and whistles were sounded to celebrate. Join Wisconsin’s Governor and First Lady, along with WDVA Secretary Mary Kolar and others around our state and nation, to recognize the 100^th anniversary of this important date, and 100 years of women’s suffrage, by ringing a bell (or sounding any noisemaker) today at noon.