SECRETARY OF STATE SIGNS PROCLAMATION GRANTING WOMEN RIGHT TO VOTE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) At 8 p.m. Eastern time, August 26, 1920, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the proclamation granting women of the United States the right to vote.
The Secretary signed the proclamation, legalizing the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, at his home "with a single steel pen."*
President Woodrow Wilson said...
"August 26th will be remembered as one of the great days in the history of the women of the world and the history of this republic."
The movement to achieve passage of the Susan B. Anthony (19th) Amendment began in Seneca Falls, New York in July 1848 where the "Declaration of Sentiments" was signed.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon, by Proclamation 4147, designated August 26 as Women's Rights Day. The date was designated by Congress in 1973 & is proclaimed annually by the POTUS.
*The Proclamation reads...
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote should not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
SOURCE
"August 26, 1920," by David Dismore, Turning Point, Suffragist Memorial, www.suffragistmemorial.org/
19th Amendment (1920)
by Clerk of the House
NARA Image
