the 19th must ratify 100 years ago, giving people the right to vote. well spent several hours looking into the history of the suffrage movement and what it took to get states to sign on. next, the conversation with colleen chauvin and then a guided tour of the national portrait gallery exhibit

marking the centennial of the 19th amendment, an abolitionist harriet taubman and how she joined the suffrage movement later in her life. on august 18th, 1920, tennessee became the 36th and lasting to ratify the 19th amendment, granting women the right to vote. the decades long fight, and it's legacy.

>> the organized women movement dates when the convention to consider the rights of women devote wasn't cynical false, new york. a committee found their grievances against the government of men to be the same number that men have had and endured. it took george washington 60 years to make amends grievances by war. it took 72 years to establish women's rights by law. at least 1000 legal enactments were necessary, and everyone was a struggle against

abolition. women's suffrage is hard work and party, crowned by victory. >> colleen shogan it's the vice chair of the centennial commission, also the senior vice president of the white house historical association. joining us here in washington. thank you so much for being with. us >> thank, you and good morning. >> let's talk about the significance of the events of this week august 18th, 1920. the key role tennessee played in the 19th amendment. >> yes. in august of 1920, 35 states had ratified the 19th amendment, but the 36th state was elusive. they were 48 states in the united states at that time and according to the constitution, it was required three fourths number of states that had to ratify to make the 19th a mid part of the constitution.

and really, the last battle came down to tennessee. there was not another obvious state that could ratify the 19th amendment, and if women were going to have the right to vote in the 1920 election, it all came down to tennessee. >> tennessee and also one key vote. this is the headline from the washington post, a mother's letter, a son's choice and the incredible moment women won the right to vote. the letter that it was written by the mother of harry tea burr. who was he? >> yes, harry byrne was a legislator in the tennessee state house, and the youngest legislator in the tennessee state house. he represented east tennessee. his district was not particularly supportive of the 19th amendment. and the governor had called a special session for tennessee to consider the 19th amendment, so harry burn returned to nashville for that session. truth be told, on august 18th,

1920, the vote counters, the suffragists to where the vote counters really believe they did not have the votes to pass the 19th amendment and the tennessee state house. they were shocked when harry bryne, who had been voting against them from all the other votes, changed his vote unexplainable at that point and time to and "aye" vote, which pushed it over the top. they did not know that he received a letter from his mother that morning the liberty him at the tennessee state house floor that asked harry to vote for women's suffrage and to be a good boy and listen to mrs. cat, the leader of the suffrage movement there in nashville. so harry bryne decided to listen to his mother. he was supportive of women's suffrage but it was torn because, once again, his constituents were not. he decided, later on that he

would listen to his mother and devoted for women's suffrage, which was really would put the vote over the top and gave the suffragists the win. >> who was jerry chapman cat, what's her background and why did she play such a big role in this movement? >> she is one of the most important figures of american suffered history. carrie catt was the daughter of farmers, and it was to 1872 presidential election. her mother and father were both, as she thought, politically engaged. the day of the election came and her father got ready to vote along with some of the farm workers who worked on the farm for their father. she did not understand why her mother was not getting ready to go into town to vote, and she asked why are she going into vote. everyone lasted her and said,

don't be silly, carry, women don't vote. that was probably the moment in time when she was 13 years old that carrie chapman catt became a suffer just. she started her suffrage career in iowa, worked at the state level and eventually she was married and moved to the northeast and became involved with the national women's suffrage association. she became the protége of suzanne be anthony. susan bee anthony knew that she probably would not live to see women voting all across the united states. so at that point and time susan b. anthony decided she would recruit women to take her place. and carrie chapman catt was the person susan b. anthony recruited to take her place. she played a pivotal role several times in the women's suffrage movement, certainly as a strategist and definitely in nashville, tennessee for the

final fight. >> and those demonstrations came to washington d.c.. we have pictures from outside of the white house. what role did president woodrow wilson play in all of this? did he have a view? >> yes, he absolutely had a view. woodrow wilson, when he came to the white house in 1913 was not a supporter of women's suffrage. in fact, she tried to avoid the issue as much as possible. as time went on went on and would hurt the democratic party for a long time in the future. the suffragists led by alice paul we're the first citizens to protest in front of the white house, and they started in 1913. first, he was lukewarm in their presence. he would politely not at them when he would exit the north case of the white house and

after the united states was involved in the war effort and the suffragists remained outside of the white house protesting, which are will soon became very angry. at a certain point in time, he ordered from the white house that they be removed. so the d.c. police started arresting women outside of the white house. as it ended up, 100 168 women were arrested outside the white house for the two years in which they protested in serve prison time in the d.c. jail or in the aqua juan workhouse, 22 miles south of washington d.c.. >> prison for? what what was the charge? >> it was obstructing traffic. of course, they weren't obstructing traffic. they were standing in front of the white house on the sidewalk. it was a false charge. they were acting on the orders of the administration to remove the women from the area outside of the white house. they were not breaking any laws. they were exercising free speech.

just because they could not vote at the time did not mean they were not citizens and had the right to free speech. >> and i'm curious, as we look at this movement that really began in earnest in early 1910, 1912. demonstrations reaching a fever pitch in 1915 in new york city, and there's pictures of that as well. what was the argument against giving women the right to vote? >> there were numerous arguments. there was opposition from many men, as you might imagine. but there was also a number of anti suffrage women's organizations as well. well, what it was, was that a lot of men and women viewed women's role as being head of the family, being involved in some civic organizations, but private civic organizations. they did not view women as having a role in the public sphere. many women opposed to suffer started women did have the right to vote and move into the public sphere and into voting,

they would lose their power and authority within the private sphere and family. and those women did not want to give up that status. it's hard for us to understand, but at that time period, 100 years ago, there was not really the conception that women could play a role and both fears. that women could be -- half powerful positions within government, but also play a role within the family and the private sphere. that was not viewed as being an alternative for the women and the anti suffrage movement. they thought of it as either or. >> colleen shogan is the vice president of the women's suffrage. our phone lines are open and we're dividing them recently. those watching on c-span three, (202) 748-8000 for those of you in the eastern half of the country. and if you're out west, mountain or pacific time zones,

(202) 748-8001. suffragists forces suffragette. there's a difference. >> that's one of the first things you learn when you start to start to study the woman suffrage movement. suffragette is a british term. the reason i came into being was in the early 1900s a british journalist for the uk male wrote a very negative article about women who were advocating for the right to vote. he came up with the term suffragette, adding that we -ette to the end of it to make them sound small and diminutive. that is really a way to say the efforts are to be minimized of these particular individuals. well, what the women did was a spouse that term. they took it on. they made it their own, they made it their own powerful term. alice paul, who was an american

living in great britain at the time and became part of the british women's suffrage movement really did not like the term suffragette. she thought it did make women seem diminutive and not as powerful as they should be. so when alice paul left great britain and returned to the united states and became a leader in the women's suffrage movement in the united states, she said it was only ever be suffragists and never suffragette. when she created her own publication for the national women's party. it was called the suffragists. when we talk about american women who advocated for the right to vote, we use a term stuff for just. when we talk about british women, the correct term is suffragette. >> tennessee became the 36 states to ratify the constitution but 19th amendment. what happened next? >> well, limited vote in the

1920 election. they voted probably -- the turnout we can estimate between 33 and 36%. of course, women's turnout increased overtime. and by 1980, the proportion of women voting in the united states surpassed the proportion of men voting in the united states. >> 100 years ago, one of the editorial cartoons with the caption sky is the limit. as women look at the right to vote, what that means for them politically. now and, in 2020, an african american woman on a major party ticket. the third time that there has been a woman on the ticket since 1984. your reaction? >> well, i think it's all and the continuum of history. that's why i like that cartoon so much. it's those women moving up the ladder. certainly, we have seen a historic nomination with vice president candidate kamala harris. she really stands on the shoulders of many women who came before her, not only the

suffragists, but many black women who advocated for the right to vote, fought for the right to vote, even after 1920, up until 1965. of course, all the women who have served as members of congress, and have ran for president as well. >> let's go to your phone call. carol is first up from oregon. good morning, welcome to the conversation. >> good morning. i'm really enjoying this conversation! i'm a daughter of the revolution. we talk about these things we have our meetings. and the one subject that you just happened to mention was to african women. but there was one thing that i would like to see if you could point out, and that was the fact that when african women wanted to join the other women's group, they actually said, well, you might hurt us a little bit. they still went on and got the right to vote. so, i want to hear a little bit more of that. that be really great. and thank you very much for bringing this up, i just love all this! this is so great! >> carol, thanks for that call.

>> yes, african american women, unfortunately, were often shut out of the leadership positions in the two major women's suffrage organizations and the united states: the national women's party run by alice ball, and the national american women's suffrage association run by carrie chapman catt. they could be involved, they spoke, they were members but they were not powerful within these organizations and institutions. however, that did not mean they stop advocating for the right of all women to vote. in fact, they formed their own clubs, their own organizations and were heavily involved. some african american women even picket in protest in front of the white house. alice paul would call upon them to do so. >> let's go to patrick from louisville, kentucky. good morning. >> yes, i wanted to reveal a story to you. back in 1992 or 93, i know a lady named lucy stephens.

she was a bug suffrage, if i'm saying that right? i apologize. i found myself homeless, i was 52 years old. i see her on the street every morning walking to the neighborhood grocery store. she would carry her groceries. i would, say hello ms. lucy, how are you this morning? and to be so spry, angela talked just what you're talking on tv right now. she was very alert, very intelligent. and she was a cantillion lady. she was a little lady about five foot five, 110 pound, and he was a sweetheart. i wanted to relate that to you. she would talk about the time when she was a young woman and when she was in that movement.

i was so blessed to know her. she was a wonderful, st. louis person. i just wanted to reveal that to you. >> any reaction? >> this is part of the reason why we have the centennial celebration celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, really to recall the stories of these women. there may be a little bit of a mythology with the women's suffrage movement if it's tuck at all and americans history, and might be women advocated for the right to vote. they held their signs, they donned their parasols and pantaloons, and before that they were granted the right to vote. that it's not really the accurate history that we are trying to tell at the women's suffrage centennial commission or the white house historical association. these women really had to fight hard for the right to vote.

the movement lasted seven two years, from 1848 until 1920. and there was a lot of bumps along the way. there were a lot of men in power who told him no. and they figured out a way. they will go back, russia dies and figure out a way to come back at it again. i think it is a tremendous point in american history that we can all learn from. why did it reach that crescendo from, say, 1912, 1913 until the summer of 1920? >> there's a number of reasons. other countries were starting to brand women the right to vote, so there was a worldwide pressure that this was coming. and also, in that particular era, world war i ended up helping women in the united states because women participated in the war effort as nurses and also taking over jobs from men who were deployed over in europe. it was very hard for woodrow

wilson and for others to advocate for democracy abroad and then realize that they were disenfranchising over 20 million americans at home. they epoxy of that became apparent. in fact, which wilson had to acknowledge that we can not have full rights as citizens, given have they participated as leaders in the war effort. >> he had three daughters from his fuller strife. they put pressure on him to support the 19th amendment? >> not to evidence of that. although one of his daughters was a very few supportive of the suffrage movement. not a record whether she partitioned and for one woman that was not supportive of

women's suffrage was woodrow wilson's second wife, edith wilson. she was actually an anti suffragists and not think that women should have the right to vote. she was not supportive of the 19th amendment she would not have been a force in favor for winter wilson. for >> and the president was in poor health, having suffered a stroke. >> at that period of time, carry with catt, who had a relationship with him, actually had to go to him to enlist which are wilson and with other democratic governors to call them into session so the ratification's to move forward. and she had to go and work through it with wilson to do that. at that point in, time they had stated publicly she was in favor, so it is wilson but.

>> good morning, welcome to the conversation. >> thanks for taking my call, i have a question for the first woman to break ground electing to congress and as the u.s. governor fly. understanding is jeannette rankin for, the first woman elected to congress. that happened in 1916, before the 19th amendment was ratified. so are you saying that all men voted for her, and also the same thing for the first woman governor, which i believe was in my wyoming. your comment? >> yes, let's talk about another rankin. as a statue of her and the u.s. health of representatives, elected before women had the right to vote. >> yes, she was. she only served one term in the house at that point in time and then she came back to the united states congress after she lost the bid to become a senator. tonight rankin did serve in another role for suffrage when

she was in the house. they made her the chair of the committee that would consider the 19th amendment. even though she was only a freshman member of congress at that time. she did throw her support behind the amendment so women all across the united states would have the right to vote. >> from dover planes, new york fujian, you are next. welcome to c-span three. go ahead. i have a story to tell about my grandmother, who was born in 1869. so she was 50 years old when the 19th amendment was ratified, and my mother was talking to her. she was from north carolina, as was my grandfather. he was quicker, she was baptist. even if republican, she was a democrat. and my mother asked her outright on election day saying,

why are you going down to vote? you're only canceling each other out. and she said because i waited too long to get the right to vote and i am going to exercise it. so, just a word from my grandmother. >> thanks for sharing the story with us. >> that's a terrific story. i think this is a good occasion to share those stories for mothers, grandmothers if you're able to leave that. i was looking at my grandmother's birthday and i have just learned about the 19th amendment in school, and i learned that she was born before women had the right to vote. even as a little girl, that really befuddled me. what would it mean to be born into a society that you did not have the right to vote. >> arlene is next from lexington park, maryland.

>> good morning. i have a question as to the native american women at that time, and their involvement with the 19th amendment. was there any? >> yes, there was. i'm not an expert in that particular history, but there was a native american involvement and there are many historians who rode upon native americans women and the right to vote. native american women did have the right to vote within their communities, so there are some of the earliest examples of women being politically active and having a say in what their communities decide to do and how they operate. >> you talk about carrie chapman catt, but what about shoe sultan and the role she played? >> sue shelton in tennessee --

>> i talk about sue white? >> yes. >> she was a national woman's party and alice paul was the head of the national women's party, but did not come down to tennessee for that final battle. the national women's party was struggling for money and donations at the time, so alice paul actually stayed back in washington d.c. and get more donations so that they could support the efforts and tennessee, so she felt like she could play the role as a fund-raiser. the other reason was that sue white had been born in tennessee and had roots in tennessee. what alice paul correctly concluded was that it would be better to have tennessee women advocating and directly interfacing with legislators down in tennessee rather than

outsiders. ivan carrie chapman catt, who was very involved in nashville, stayed in her hotel room. she did not interface directly with legislators who were deciding how to vote on the 19th amendment. she had her supporters from the national americans women's suffrage association who actually had tennessee ties during that. >> we talked about elizabeth katie stanton and susan bee anthony who are both pioneers and all of this. how old were they at the time? what role did they play? >> unfortunately, both susan p anthony and elizabeth katie stanton, other earlier supporters of the women's suffrage movement were not alive when this happened. they had died earlier in the 20th century. the women's suffrage movement is an example of three generations of a movement. the movement of susan b.

anthony and lucretia mosh, sojourner truth, those women. and the next generation which would be those who were involved in that sign of time is the lucy burns and alice paul generation who was a little bit younger. three generations of activism and women to get the 19th amendment over the hump and hurdle to make it part of the constitution. >> and she was house there again for disrupting society, correct? >> that's correct. she was actually the american suffragists and she spent the most time than any other american suffer just.

she was jailed and six second and serve more time in prison than anyone else. that's a great photograph of lucy burns that you have. it was likely a staged photograph. these women were very resourceful and whether it was in the d.c. jail or in the workhouse and alert, and virginia. and then they had that photograph taken to the outside and published in newspapers all across the united states. to draw more support and sympathy for their cause. they were masters of political spectacle, imagery and they knew that was an effective way to garner more public support across the united states. >> phone calls in silver spring, maryland. gayle, you're on. >> hello. i know you spoke earlier and

regards to african american women marching alongside even know they thought that possibly they were bringing harm to these demonstrations, but i was wondering if you are familiar with a book by martha jones, a presidential professor at johns hopkins university called vanguard, birthright citizens. he speaks about the role that african american women played in the suffrage movement. and also i'm heard you spoke about quinn brown, she wrote a book called -- in 1926. and also are african american women going to be represented in the celebration. thank you. >> yes, great question.

and you are absolutely right. martha jean this book vanguard, i can't recommended enough. martha is the expert on african american women, black women in the suffrage movement and in the history of american politics in general. so i heartily recommend that book, and also anything that martha writes. yes, absolutely. one of the things for the commission, whenever we were first organizing talking and planning for the centennial celebration, one of the things he wanted to do was to tell the full story of the women's suffrage movement. and that is an inclusive history, which would include the stories of african american women, native women, chinese women and other women involved in the movement who typically and previous commemorations were not fully given their. do.

you cannot understand the history of the suffrage movement without understanding the role that race plays at various times. if you are not taking the role of race seriously and not including that in the analysis or the history, you're not telling the full story of the american's women's suffrage movement. certainly, that's part of our initiative and i would say that if you go to our website, women's vote 100 that order we have a terrific block series and you will get all kinds of information and profiles at various women who play roles in the suffrage movement, including the role black women. >> this week marks the start of two weeks back-to-back political conventions. let's go back to 1920, because the republican convention was held in chicago, of course

nominating warren harding and calvin coolidge. they nominated james cox and franklin roosevelt as vice president. did this issue play out and either party convention back then? >> yes, it did. at the republican convention, there was a lot of photographs and images of the national women's party, including alice ball herself. actually going to the convention and protesting outside of the convention. you might ask, why were they protesting? because republicans, historically were more supportive of women's suffrage earlier than the democratic party. well, the reason was that they were marching toward trying to find this elusive 36 state to ratify. and there were two states that were potential ratification possibilities, but they were

both headed by republican governors. and that was vermont and connecticut. so what they did was go to the republican convention and protest outside to try and get warren hearting to strong-arm or force or convince those two republican governors to take up women's suffrage in the state legislature and call a special session. they thought correctly that if the special session was actually called the state legislators would vote for the amendment. and they also wanted to make sure that suffrage was included in the party platform. they were successful in having suffrage included in the party platform, but were not successful in convincing warren harding to put the pressure on those two governors to have them take up suffrage debate in the state legislatures. they also went to the democratic convention, as you mentioned and san francisco and the main goal there was to make sure that the 19th amendment

and support for women's suffrage was included in the platform. and they were successful. >> this is a what if question. had tennessee not ratified the 19th amendment, what would've happened next? what was the next state airline? >> the two possible next states in line where those northeastern states. and that is where it would have gone. but it would have never happened with enough time to have women vote in the 1920 election. so most likely, that would not have happened until 1921. and it might have been favorable. you would think that it would've been favorable after tennessee actually voted to become the 36th state. both of those states did fall in line and ratify subsequently, but it would've never happen for women to vote. >> this happened 100 years ago, this week. august 18th, 1920. alicia is on the front,

columbia, maryland. >> good morning. good morning america. and did not become recognized would not become citizens of their own country, so the women could not have been in the suffrage marching. and also the native women were free and help the standard as well as the men to do the job. but only when we became under the government where we >> i'm sorry, i get the senior moments. will be snow freedom. today, i own native women and

girls are still being raped and killed and u.s. government cannot cover us. we've been asking for this. how about that? thank you. >> the caller is correct. about 1924, so that's an important larger point about the 19th amendment. the 19th amendment, we often use the verbiage that it gave women the right to vote or enfranchised women, it really did not give women the right to vote. what it did was prevent the united states or prevent the states from creating laws or barriers that are related to gender or sex. that would prevent citizens from voting, right? gender was no longer a reason why the vote could be denied. but there were other reasons for why the vote could be denied as the caller outlined.

so that is why the 19th amendment, unfortunately did not result in all women having the right to vote in 1920. >> >> i want to go back to your point. this is a photograph from france as the french movement was well underway. how did the u.s. compare with other countries in europe or elsewhere? >> the first country to give women the right to vote is new zealand. i'll show you follows soon after that. the first european country to enfranchise women it's finland, and then it's followed by a number of other countries, norway and the netherlands. great britain gives women the right to vote in 1918, but only in a limited sense. it's phased in by age, so it's not until 1928 that all women are able to vote in great britain. germany and russia and franchise women before the

united states. canada in 1917. the united states in 1920, and then subsequently france and the 1940s, italy in the 1940s. south africa. so when you look at the list of all the countries and the dates in which they in franchise women, the united states is the middle of the pack. they were not the leader, but were not the last country to enfranchise. >> next, ron, thanks for waiting. >> good morning. thank you so much for what you are doing their. oddly enough, i have a little big not story of my great grandmother. many hazel ten who happen to be a socialite from kansas city, missouri. and one of the things you might mention, what happened to people that were of upper class that were involved in this women's suffrage union?

because my great grandmother married an alcoholic. as a result she joins the women's christian temperance union, and that was part of their flow back from world war i. we're all the guys came back home and we're all drunkard's. so there was a combination, that's got the women really inspired to go forward with their suffrage process. they got people outraged and, one of the things that my great great grandmother did later and her life were to write cabin novels. the reason that was was that we were third cousins, and they were on a train when we were in the seventies. that was in the 18 seventies that i'm talking about.

they were robbed by jesse james on the train, and when jesse james came there he said, okay, are you my cousin? he said to my great grandmother's mom and said yes and he said, and he gave the money back to her. so there's a lot of things going there at that time. i think the impact of suffrage was and women disenfranchised over a long period of time. even the salem witch trials were at risk because their husband died and left them as people want to take the money from them. >> you have to write a book. talk about some connections. >> it's even worse than that. we were related to rutherford behaves, that's our second and

third cousin. and also to woodrow wilson, a further reach but the incestuous part of this whole process was that there were a lot of socialites that were involved in that despite -- my great grandmother came from kansas city, missouri. >> what a great story. six degrees of celebration. >> one more thing. and her later years, she was writing cowboy novels. women just get disenfranchised, when she's first started writing cowboy novels about her life, she would send it in with her name on it, and no one would publish a woman author, so she changed her name to her son's name, robert hayes wilson in order to get the publisher to publish these cowboy novels. >> now you have the right to book, okay? will feature it on book to the.

>> yes, there's a lot there. the first point the caller makes is about class, and the interesting part about the women's suffrage movement is there were women who were working class, industrial workers, teachers who became part of the movement, and then they were also, as the caller said, there were wealthier women who became very involved in movements. some of them became thunders to the movement, in washington d.c. we have the bell month paul house, next to the united states capital. and that is named after val moment, who was the major funder for the national women's party. some of them did not write the checks, they went to jail slid outside. and, in fact, this is what draws a lot of woodrow wilson's attention when some of these women are being arrested who are more prominent in society.

their husband are friends with woodrow wilson and complain, saying what are you doing? why is my wife in jail 20 miles south in a workhouse, so that starts to get wilson's attention because of their spouses that were coming to complain to wilson about the treatment. but there was also working class women. women that worked in factories. women that worked in education that will travel across the united states to come for alice ball and participate in the pickets. the other thing was about the antecedent to the women's suffrage movement, and the caller is correct about that. there are two movements that are antecedents to the women's suffrage movement. first, the abolition movement, many of the early suffragists

gained their organizational and political skills, how to give a speech, how to write a speech, how to write an article for a newspaper all through the abolition movement. later on, also the temperance union. the temperance movement and the temperance union, which was the major organization. now, the two heads of the major organizations, carry captain alice paul were sympathetic, but they tried to keep it is a foot from the movement because they did not want to offend others that maybe weren't supportive of temperance. they wanted to make sure they had the widest net antenna possible. >> one of the many things that we've been showing. 1913 as women from foreign countries marching here in washington d.c., pushing for women's right to vote. how often where these parades and demonstrations, and based on your research, what is the

reaction by the general public? >> that is the famous parade that took place on march 3rd, 1913. it is the first major social protest that exists in washington d.c.. the first parade of its. time the first march on the capitol that takes place. and at that parade, actually, alice paul who was the organizer, they did not know how many people would show up. historians disagree of the number of people, but it was somewhere between hundred and 50,000 and 200,000 people. what happened was the crowd got rowdier and rowdier as the day went on. they were actually a lot of bars and solutions that lined the parade route at the time. and then we go in and out of the solutions and get a drink and come back to the parade. most of them in, unfortunately,

were intoxicated. they rushed out onto the parade route. there was a lot of physical abuse upon the women, the d.c. police unfortunately were not helpful to the suffragists who were marching. and the secretary of war, and re-stimson at the time was watching the parade. you literally had to call out the cavalry nearby fort myers to come in and break up the mob that existed so that the women could continue down pennsylvania avenue and finish at the treasury department, the in point of the parade. so this took place in major cities. and the reason why and this could happen in 1913, which seems like a little bit of a disaster. the reason why was that it brought great attention to the cause. and alice paul's a whole strategy was, the more i can create a spectacle, the more i

can be in the media, the more i can be in the news about women's suffrage, the more people will learn about the fact that women did not have the vote all across the united states. the more people that will become sympathetic to the cause. so she was a master at expanding the scope of the conflict. >> it's also an organization called the men sleek for women 's suffrage. who was behind that and what was the mission? >> it's also a method to say that this was men versus women. in this movement. there were many men along the way who were very supportive of women's suffrage, and organize along with the women that we don't see in a lot of the photographs because that was on purpose. alice ball wanted to have the actual members of her party's photographed in front of the white house, showing them advocating for the right to vote. there were many main along the

way who were supportive, her husband was very supportive. carrie chapman catt husband, who was quite wealthy, bankrolled her participation in the movement because they were able to support all the travels. >> michael's next. good morning. >> good morning, it's so fitting this topic that you guys are talking about today with women's rights and the right to vote and whatnot. everything that's going on in the world. as we reflect back, we look back into the abolitionist movement and how instrumental women were than. where harriet tuchman helped free slaves. now, we have to look at women as being very instrumental in

this whole process of getting right to vote. it's so fitting that you guys have this on and the way things are going on with the post office and right to vote. it is so important to exercise our right and the women saw that back in the day. i love history. i love to see this stuff come up that reminds us of where we came from. so as i look back here locally, the birthplace of the women's suffrage movement, and the historical feature. every time i drive through the town, it is a sight to see. we have a special museum up there, i don't know if you ever been there. >> that's a good question. i was scheduled to go there, we had a very big celebration planned for cynical falls as part of their convention day celebrations every july. but, unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we were unable to

make the trip. however, the commission has decided in lieu of what we had planned in july, we had been working with a sculptor and commemorating diverse women in the movement and those plans are underway. we hope to have the statues erected next year. >> you mentioned edith wilson, who was the second wife of which are wilson after the death of his first wife. opposed to the women's right to vote. was there an effort either by her or other women that did not want to see women have the right to vote? >> absolutely. it is wilson was not involved in the anti suffrage movement. she was just personally anti suffrage and made her opinions very known to woodrow wilson. and to others in the white house. but there was organized anti suffrage clubs, just as there were women's suffrage

organizations to promote the 19th amendment. there was organizations that were constructed to stop the 19th amendment. you see this very clearly in tennessee, in nashville at this final fight in august of 1920 because all of the organizations descend upon nashville. the pro suffrage organizations, but also the anti suffered organizations. also, we have not talked about this yet but there were corporate influences. that were opposed to women's suffrage. the manufacturing industry, the railroad industry and the liquor industry. they played a very important role at that last fight in nashville. they descended upon the hermitage hotel, set up shop and essentially engaged in aggressive logging of all of

the tennessee state legislators. >> in case you are interested, this editorial, the milestone and the mid-called the 19th amendment. lauren is next, annapolis, maryland. go ahead. >> i was the curator at the winter wilson house museum in washington d.c. in 1995 for a celebration of the 75th anniversary. i led a team of three of our other guides, and i would like to mention a couple of things if you will indulge me. first, there is a gigantic, rich wealth and archives of artifacts and documents across the country for all 50 states researching this or would be looking up what your family might have done. among the things that we

borrowed were lena al under cartoons from what was then the bell one house in washington, home of the national women's party. there are songs, there was a woman and wonderful song based on the 1920 song called oh dear, what is the matter? it went oh dear, what can the matter be. women are wanting the vote. and then they used sticks from the brandy wine battlefield sent by pennsylvania to recognize what liberty was. the women who would picket wilson would use his own words against him as they burnt his words in capitals and cauldrons on the sidewalk outside at washington. i would also like to mention that there's this clothing that exists, stacks of women handing

out the various newspapers. and then i would just encourage every woman of eight to vote this year, because when you do study the history, women were jailed. they were given jail fans if they had gone to jail, and we have those in the exhibit. but they were force fed. some of those women could never eat well again for the rest of their life. alice paul included because there were stars in the damage from that. so it is very much a hard one battle in this country, one that i hold close to my heart and vote every year. i encourage everyone to do so. but we named it again, an active right and justice because when he did turn the tide, that was part of his speech to congress. but i have to tell you, but we started going to archives

unidentified where we would go, we had women from our chives turn to us and almost a whisper go, did you know he was a bad guy? and we would just get it kicked out of that because we are trying to show the records. he did turn the tide and it was a speech in congress that helped the effort. >> some of that is on display at the wilson house and we have a photo of that, correct? >> thanks for the call. >> i agree with everything that was. said we have a terrific repository of archives and my former and employer has the most robust collection of manuscripts and prince, that's because a library of congress was friends with the suffragists, and donated the

materials to library of congress. given the history of living, and the smithsonian detail of the exhibit loop using portraiture to document many suffragists. even though we cannot visit those museums and archives, we candidates them digitally. >> in your website, this is what it looks like. women's vote, 100 which includes a breath of photographs about what happened in august of 1920, i centennial earning the right to vote. john is next, good morning. >> good morning. it's difficult to understand the point of view of women. can you talk about the fears are really thinks of the

positions? >> thank. you they simply -- women at that time opposed to the right to vote, there were a couple of reasons. first, they simply were afraid of giving up their statue within the family. they viewed the men in their lives, their husbands and they could represent them adequately at the polls. the politics was dirty business and it was not something that women have viewed in that notion of republican motherhood, they were viewed as pure and saying to find. if women entered into that public sphere of politics, they would be come down and dirty. many enjoyed that status of purity that was promoted at the time. even teddy roosevelt who was a

progressive until 1912, he did come out for women voting, but he was previously hesitant because he said, well, it would make sense for women to vote but why would they want to enter this fear of politics? it would damage the reputation. the woman's roles are really as mothers, mothers to their children and mothers to the entire nation. and they really shouldn't be advocating for this public sphere for the right to vote. in the last battle in tennessee, a lot of the women who were opposed to suffrage in tennessee, we are opposed for women voting because they did not want black women to have the right to vote. they thought that the 19th amendment would be more towards the enfranchisement of more african american women voting in tennessee. and also voting elsewhere in

the south because the 19th amendment would apply nationwide. he would not simply apply to tennessee. there was great concern about the role of race in that last battle. but >> john from virginia. good morning. >> good morning, i just had a question that i was curious about. after the civil war black men all had the right to vote, supposedly, even though democrats did their best to keep them from voting. when women got the right to vote, how did they separate the black women? why would they not have the right to vote the same as all women since the black men already had the right to vote? >> interesting point. >> they were subject to the same state laws or local laws that black men were subject to. so the common method in which they would prevent voting on

the basis of race was either literacy tests or poll taxes, which were applied throughout the south and in some places in the northeast, at least with literacy tests. the other method used, particularly in the south, was the rise of the ku klux klan. southern segregationists and white supremasists would use the extralegal method of intimidation to prevent black women and black men from voting. >> perspective. in 1920, and where are we today? >> the significance of women voting across the united states in 1920 was astronomical. the turnout was somewhere between 33% at 36%.

even that is extraordinary of how many more millions of americans at that point in time were voting in 1920 than had voted in the previous election. the 19th amendment did represent the largest single enfranchisement of american citizens in our nation's history. as we look to 2020, women now out vote men proportionally in numbers in the aggregate and also as a percentage. there is an interesting statistic as well. from what we have seen in the past couple elections, african-american women vote in higher percentages and proportions than white men in this country. when you think about the double disadvantage that african-american women have had both because of their gender or

sex and because of race, i think that is really extraordinary statistic to reflect a thing about. when those women cast their ballots in 1920, did they pray face any pressure at the ballot box? >> women largely voted republican in 1920, but the 1920 election was a landslide for harding. that was really no surprise. there is a lot of writing that says women simply voted the same way as their husbands or as their fathers. unfortunately, since there was no exit polling in 1920, there is no way for us to actually know whether that was the case. >> the story of women earning the right to vote 100 years ago. colleen shogan is the vice chair of the women's suffrage centennial commission. she also serves as senior vice president of the white house historical association. thank you for being with us here on c-span's washington journal and on history tv.

>> thank you very much.