August 26 Proclaimed As A Day To Honor 19th Amendment And 100-Year Journey Of Women Voting In St. Louis Park

Press release from the City of St. Louis Park:

August 18, 2020

The St. Louis Park City Council has proclaimed Aug. 26, 2020, as a day to honor the 19th Amendment and the 100-year journey of women voting. Aug. 26, 2020, marks the official 100th anniversary of the certification of the 19th Amedment and the constitutional right of women to vote. In honor of this anniversary, the Louisiana Avenue Bridge at Hwy. 7 will be lit in purple Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020.

The proclamation reads as follows:

Whereas on January 10, 1918, a constitutional amendment allowing women's suffrage was passed by the United States House; and

Whereas on June 4, 1919, the United States Senate passed the 19th Amendment and sent it out to the states for ratification; and

Whereas on August 26, 1919, the 19th Amendment was certified as part of our Constitution, assuring that "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"; and

Whereas on September 8, 1919, Minnesota ratified the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution; and

Whereas the 19th Amendment did not guarantee suffrage for all women. Black and Latina women did not gain their voting rights until passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and 1975; Native American women didn't gain the right to vote in every state until 1962; and for Asian Pacific Islander women it was 1952 before they could vote. Even so, barriers remain for trans women; and

Whereas women of every race, class, sexuality and ideology have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of our nation and our community in countless recorded and unrecorded ways; and

Whereas women have been leaders, not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and access to opportunity, but also in the abolitionist movement, the emancipation movement, the industrial labor movement, the civil rights movement, the LGBTQ Pride movement, the Black Lives Matter movement and today, in other important movements; and

Now, therefore be it resolved, that the Mayor and City Council of the City of St. Louis Park do hereby proclaim August 26, 2020, as a day to honor the 19th Amendment and the 100-year journey of women voting.

This press release was produced by the City St. Louis Park. The views expressed here are the author’s own.