Social Movements / Women’s Voting Rights

100 Years of Women’s Voting Rights

The legacy of the 19th Amendment, women's political participation, and the continuing struggle for equal rights.

Women's political power · 1920–2020 and beyond

One hundred years of women's voting rights. And the unfinished work.

The 2020 centennial of the 19th Amendment was an opportunity to celebrate the movement that changed the law and confront the exclusions that remained. Ratification prohibited denying the vote on the basis of sex, but many Black women and other women of color still faced discriminatory barriers to voting.

For Christine, women's political participation connects to grassroots organizing, reproductive freedom, campaign leadership and survivor advocacy. These selected photographs are from her wider women's-rights and reproductive-justice archive.

We've Only Just Begun placard carried at a women's march
Women's march archive The movement continued well beyond the legal victory of 1920.
Women's rights marchers carrying a Together We Fight for All banner
Solidarity and reproductive rights Activism for the rights women exercise today.
Television news frame identifying Christine as an abortion justice advocate
Advocacy in the public record Christine identified on television as an abortion justice advocate.

Historical context: 100 years of the 19th Amendment

The Museum of the City of New York examines the centennial and its incomplete legacy. This is a historical reference, not an article about Christine.

Read the centennial history

A continuing movement

Winning the vote was a beginning, not an ending.

1848

Seneca Falls

The women's rights convention adopted the Declaration of Sentiments and made political equality an organizing demand.

1917

New York women win the vote

New York's referendum extended voting rights to women before the federal amendment, following decades of organizing.

1920

The 19th Amendment

The amendment barred vote denial on account of sex. In practice, discrimination still prevented many women of color from voting.

1965 AND BEYOND

Access remains contested

Voting-rights legislation and organizing challenged discriminatory barriers. Modern voter education, registration and political engagement remain essential.