League of Women Voters Lincoln/Lancaster County

By the time these women of the League of Women Voters of Nebraska went to the organization's second annual convention on June 9, 1921, Nebraskan women had held the right to vote for almost a year after the US Senate ratified the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920.

📷: Nebraska League of Women Voters posing in front of the Temple Building on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus on June 9, 1921. RG1987-3-7

Registering Voters at the Asian Community and Cultural Center Bazaar. 10-2 today, June 6. Join us.

Drive thru and sign the petition. Respect Nebraska Voters!!

Join League of Women Voters Lincoln/Lancaster County on Saturday for a drive-thru event to sign the petition to get Respect Nebraska Voters on the 2026 ballot!

🗓️ Saturday, June 6, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
📍 Unitarian Church of Lincoln (6300 A Street)

On this day in 1919, Congress approved the woman’s suffrage amendment and sent it to the states for ratification. Adding the amendment to the Constitution required ratification by three-fourths of the states, which at that time was 36 of 48.

The National Woman’s Party led by Alice Paul began sewing stars on a giant purple, white, and gold flag. Each time a state ratified the 19th Amendment, a new star would be sewn on the flag.

The 19th Amendment became law more than a year after Congress approved the amendment. The 36th state, Tennessee, voted to ratify on August 18, 1920. This image shows Alice Paul unfurling that flag from the suffrage headquarters on that day.

The Library of Congress is home to the NWP records and library collection.

Image: Photo shows a group of women waving their arms in celebration while the ratification banner with its 36 victory stars hangs from the balcony of the National Woman's Party headquarters. 1920. Photo by Harris & Ewing. National Women's Party Records, Library of Congress.

The 19th Amendment was passed by both houses of Congress in 1919, which began the state ratification process that would lead to the Amendment's certification in the Constitution on August 26, 1920.

But the battle for women's right to vote didn't end there. While it represented a major victory for the movement after nearly 70 years of activism, the 19th Amendment did not simply grant universal suffrage for all women.

Native American women were not considered US citizens until 1924, but until as late as 1962, individual states still prevented them from voting.

Asian American immigrant women were excluded from voting until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 allowed them to gain citizenship.

Black women faced Jim Crow-era barriers like poll taxes, voter ID requirements, and acts of violence that threatened their ability to cast a ballot until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Latina women faced literacy tests and other language-based setbacks that prevented them from voting until a 1975 extension of the Voting Rights Act.

As we celebrate this monumental achievement for women, we also recognize that only some of the women who fought for suffrage were able to exercise their newly-won right to vote. Despite being some of the movement's fiercest advocates, suffragists like Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, Zitkála-Šá, and Luisa Capetillo could not cast their first ballots in the 1920 election because of their race.

Today, we honor the women who not only fought for the 19th Amendment's passage, but also after it, as their efforts on behalf of their communities paved the way for the freedoms of all American women.

📷: Dora Lewis (seated), Abby Scott Baker (seated), Anita Pollitzer (standing), Alice Paul (seated), Florence Boeckel (seated), and Mabel Vernon (standing) conferring over ratification of the 19th Amendment at the National Woman's Party headquarters, 1919.

Members will be there to help you sign the petitions. Tell your friends, family and neighbors.

Join League of Women Voters Lincoln/Lancaster County on Saturday for a drive-thru event to sign the petition to get Respect Nebraska Voters on the 2026 ballot!

🗓️ Saturday, June 6, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
📍 Unitarian Church of Lincoln (6300 A Street)

I speak for all League members - men and women, long-time and new - when I say your thoughtful generosity for Lincoln Community Foundation's Giving Day is meaningful to us. It fuels our ability to maximize our volunteer-led mission and work. You are deeply appreciated.

Thank you for continuing to uphold our work to empower voters and defend democracy. - Tari

Kathleen, Jolanda, and Marianne understand why we do the work - and - they SHOW UP! You can rely on League of Women Voters Lincoln/Lancaster County members. Support us today, your gift will receive a match! https://givetolincoln.com/nonprofits/league-of-women-voters-of-lincoln-lancaster-county

We are grateful for each of these match sponsors, who make possible the funds that stretch each of your gifts of support into MORE.

We'd like to extend our gratitude to all of today's sponsors, including our Presenting Sponsor West Gate Bank.

Lois, Jean and I are having the BEST time at Tower Square celebrating Lincoln Community Foundation's Day of Giving! Please share a gift supporting our work: https://givetolincoln.com/nonprofits/league-of-women-voters-of-lincoln-lancaster-county