WILSON FAVORS AMENDMENT GRANTING WOMEN THE VOTE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) A century ago, September 30, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson gave an address to Congress in support of the proposed 19th Amendment* which would guarantee the right to vote nation-wide for women.
The 19th Amendment had been approved by the House of Representatives, but at the time of Wilson's speech had not yet been approved by the Senate. In his first term, the President had been perceived as ambivalent on the issue of woman suffrage and the White House had been besieged by pickets protesting Wilson's lack of support. Many suffragettes were arrested and sent to jail.
On September 30, 1918, however, the President's support had been won. He said to the Members of Congress...
"I regard the concurrence of the Senate in the...extension of suffrage to women as vitally essential....Both of our great national parties are pledged...to equality of suffrage for the women of this country."
*19th Amendment (1920) prohibits states & the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex.
SOURCE
President Woodrow Wilson: Address to the Senate of the 19th Amendment, September 30, 1918, www.public.iastate.edu/
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President Wilson Speaks to Congress
Library of Congress Photo
