One hundred years ago, the West Virginia Legislature ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which extended voting rights to women. WVU Libraries and the West Virginia and Regional History Center will mark this milestone with the exhibit “Votes for Women – 100 Years of Suffrage in West Virginia” opening Monday (Nov. 2).
After being passed by Congress in 1919, the Nineteenth Amendment needed to be ratified by at least 36 states to become law. Success in the Mountain State required conquering multiple hurdles, including assorted anti-suffrage protests. Despite such challenges, on March 10, 1920, West Virginia became the 34th state to approve the amendment.
Located in the Downtown Campus Library’s Rockefeller Gallery, the exhibit will include correspondence of national, state and local leaders of the suffrage movement, government officials, and anti-suffrage organizations. Also on display will be state documents, political cartoons, ephemera, artifacts, and photographs including those of six women who played vital roles in West Virginia’s suffrage movement.
All exhibit visitors will receive a complimentary copy of a commemorative poster celebrating the centennial anniversary of women’s suffrage.
An online version of the exhibit will launch on Dec. 2. For more information contact WVRHC director John Cuthbert at jcuthber@wvu.edu or assistant director Lori Hostuttler at lohostuttler@mail.wvu.edu.