The Nineteenth Amendment

"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.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

Victoria Woodhull (Sept. 23, 1838 - June 10, 1927)

Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to address the Congressional committee to urge them to grant women the right to vote in 1871. She was famously nicknamed "Mrs. Satan" for supporting free love. She once declared herself a candidate for the presidency of the United States.

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (July 16, 1862 - March 25, 1931)

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a teacher. She accomplished many things in her lifetime including leading a national campaign against lynching, founding a Memphis newspaper, lecturing, protesting the exclusion of Blacks from the World's Columbian Exposition in 1894, and founding the Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago. She also marched in Washington, D.C. in 1913 and in Chicago in 1916 in the suffrage parades. Her pen name was "Iola". She refused to give up her seat for the colored section in a train car and sued the railroad in the 1880s.

Sojourner Truth (c.1797 - Nov. 26, 1883)

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery. She had five children and worked many jobs throughout New York City. Though illiterate, Truth was able to become very influential because of her speeches and ideas. She spoke out against prostitution and for abolition throughout Long Island and Connecticut. For the women's rights movement, she spoke at meetings during the 1850s. Her most famous speech was called "Ain't I a Woman?" and was delivered at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in 1851. She wrote Narrative in 1850, selling it and her photo (left) to raise money.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (Nov. 12, 1815 - Oct. 26, 1902)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton helped organize the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 with Lucretia Mott, Mary McClintock, Jane Hunt, and Martha Wright. Her speech, the "Declaration of Sentiments", declared men and women were equally created and proposed women's suffrage. She worked alongside Susan B. Anthony for fifty years, making speeches and drafting resolutions. She ran for Congress in 1866, edited The Revolution, and authored The Woman's Bible. She was the president of the National Woman Suffrage Association for twenty-one years as well.

Harriot Stanton Blatch (Jan. 20, 1856 - Nov. 20, 1940)

Harriot Stanton Blatch, daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, founded the Equality League of Self Supporting Women in 1907. The league's membership consisted of 20,000 working women in New York City. She worked tirelessly recruiting women to the suffrage movement, organizing parades in Albany, and urging women to go to work.

Lucy Stone (Aug. 13, 1818 - Oct. 19, 1893)

Lucy Stone married Henry Brown Blackwell but kept her last name, something that was never done before. She studied at Oberlin College, becoming the first woman to earn a Bachelor's degree in Massachusetts. She founded the Women's National Loyal League with the purpose of emancipating the slaves. She also founded the American Equal Rights Association, with members supporting both women's rights and abolition. Her speeches made her an in-demand lecturer.

Susan Brownwell Anthony (Feb. 15, 1820 - March 13, 1906

Susan Brownell Anthony met Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1850. They went door-to-door with their support of emancipation and women's suffrage. Anthony published The Revolution. She supported women's unions and equal pay and became an important force behind the National Woman Suffrage Association. She worked for more than fifty years fighting for women's right to vote, mostly through nationwide speeches and fundraising. She also served as the head of several committees and councils and wrote books on the subject.