Today, August 26th, in 1920 the 19th amendment was passed giving women the right to vote, finally

August 26, 1920

The 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, officially became part of the U.S. Constitution: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” 

This day has been known since 1971 as Women’s Equality Day.

Editor's note: It dawned on me a few years ago that neither of my grandmother's could vote at the time my parents were born in 1918 and March 13, 1920. We have come a long way in terms of female equality during my life time. As I write this our Village government is staffed with 3 females and 2 males, something that would have been unheard of 90 years ago.

Take the NWHP Women's Equality Day Quiz!

To help celebrate Women's Equality Day, the National Women's History Project developed a quiz to use at your events, or just around your office, or in conversation with friends. It took 72 years for women to win the right to vote.

1. August 26th is celebrated as Women's Equality Day to commemorate

a. the work women did during the Second World War
b. the anniversary of women winning the right to vote
c. the flappers of the 1920's
d. the contemporary women's rights movement

2. In what year did Congresswoman Bella Abzug introduce legislation to ensure that this important American anniversary would be celebrated?

a. 1992
b. 1984
c. 1971
d. 1965

3. In what year did women in the United States win the right to vote?

a. 1776
b. 1848
c. 1920
d. 1946

4. How many years did it take for women to win the right to vote in the United States?

a. 72 years
b. 120 years
c. 20 years
d. 51 years

5. Women in most of the western states won the right to vote years before the Federal Amendment was secured. 2010 is the 100th anniversary of women in Washington State winning the vote. California will celebrate the 100th anniversary of women winning he vote in 2011. Oregon will celebrate the 100th anniversary in 2012. What other state will celebrate the 100th anniversary of women in this state winning the right to vote in 2012?

a. New York
b. Florida
c. Maine
d. Arizona

6. What was the name given to the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which guaranteed women's right to vote in the United States.

a. Abigail Adams Amendment
b. Sojourner Truth Amendment
c. Susan B. Anthony Amendment
d. Gloria Steinem Amendment

7. Women who worked for women's right to vote were called

a. radical
b. immoral
c. suffragist
d. all of the above

8. The term suffragist is derived from

a. one who suffers
b. a voting tablet in ancient times
c. the Constitution
d. the Bill of Rights

9. How many other countries had already guaranteed women's right to vote before the campaign was won in the United States?

a. 6
b. 2
c. 1
d. 16

10. What was the first country that granted women the right to vote?

a. Canada
b. Germany
c. New Zealand
d. United Kingdom

Answers:
1. b
2. c
3. c
4. a (from the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848
to 1920)
5. d
6. c
7. d
8. b
9. d (New Zealand (1893), Australia (1902), Finland
(1906), Norway (1913), Denmark (1915), USSR (1917), Canada (1918), Germany (1918), Poland (1918), Austria (1919), Belgium (1919), Great Britain (1919), Ireland (1919), Luxembourg (1919), the Netherlands (1919), Sweden (1919)
10. c (1893)