On October 23, 1915, 30,000 women marched on Fifth Avenue, New York, to advocate for women’s rights. It was the country’s largest women’s suffrage parade at that time. Suffrage means the right to vote in political elections. Why did they march?
Beginnings
In 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s rights convention was held to discuss social, civil and religious condition and the rights of women. The first national suffrage organisations were established in 1869 by Susan B. Antony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and the other by Lucy Stone. In 1890, they merged to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association.
In the hope that the U.S. Supreme Court would rule in their favour, suffragists made many attempts to vote, in the 1870s. But they were turned away. In 1872, Susan B. Antony succeeded in voting but she was arrested and found guilty, in a widely publicised trial. This gave further impetus to the struggle. Suffragists began a long campaign for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to enfranchise women. The movement worked for suffrage on a state-by-state basis and had yielded results in 13 of them. The women now hoped that the progressive state of New York too would be the next to fall into line.
Since parades were not only popular but also influential, this was the method used to get the message across. The parade was held 10 days before the election, and the goal was to sway any undecided voters, just before they cast their vote.
Women taking to the streets made a strong statement, indeed. It completely challenged the picture often portrayed that women only belonged at home and not in the streets or other important places. In fact, some suffragists claimed that they could clean up the dirty world of politics, and wore white dresses to symbolise this. They carried heavy banners to reiterate that they were neither fragile nor incapable of handling this.
Showing solidarity for the cause, 2,500 men marched alongside the women. Around 2,50,000 supportive spectators lined the parade route to enjoy this spectacle that lasted until 7 p.m.
Though the referendum on November 2 failed, women of New York immediately began reorganising their efforts. On the eve of the election in 1917, the women marched once again, bearing a petition signed by one million supporters of women’s suffrage. The referendum passed this time, and New York became the 14th state to grant women the right to vote.
On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment became part of the U.S. Constitution. It states, “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.”
