Stamps commemorate 19th Amendment

Saturday's release of a first-class stamp commemorating the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing all American women the right to vote marks the fourth time the notable achievement has been honored. This year's nondenominated (55 cents) stamp, printed in panes of 20, depicts women dressed in white carrying banners in purple, white and gold, the colors of the National Woman's Party. Three other U.S. stamps for the amendment have been issued in the last half-century. A 6-cent stamp marking the 50th anniversary in 1970 shows two scenes. At left are suffragettes in and around a vehicle, notably driven by a man, with banners. On the right a contemporary woman can be seen casting her ballot. For the 75th anniversary in 1995, a 32-cent stamp shows women marching for voting rights. An image of the U.S. Capitol is in the background of the mural-like image. The amendment also was the subject of one of the 15 stamps marking significant events in the 1920s in the Celebrate the Century series of 1998. The 32-cent stamp shows a woman dropping a completed ballot into a collection box. The campaign to achieve the right to vote for women was a long struggle. The first major push for the vote came in Seneca Falls, New York, when 300 women and men gathered for a convention on women's rights on July 19-20, 1848. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and other supporters issued a general declaration of the rights of women. The movement quickly coalesced, with rights advocates such as Susan B. Anthony, Oberlin college graduate Lucy Stone and others leading the way. It would take 70 years for their goal to be achieved. Movement leaders were more strongly motivated after the 1870 ratification of the 15th Amendment, which granted Black men, including former slaves, the right to vote. The suffrage campaign gained steam in the second decade of the 20th century. Almost all of the major suffrage organizations united behind the goal of a constitutional amendment by 1916. While several states had adopted woman suffrage, New York's approval of the right in 1917 and President Woodrow Wilson's reversal of his position on the amendment provided additional momentum for change. The 19th Amendment reads: "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." Anthony, who worked for 50 years to advance women's rights, appeared on a 3-cent stamp issued on Aug. 26, 1936. She also is depicted on a 50-cent definitive stamp from 1955 that is part of the Liberty Series. Another 3-cent stamp in 1948 marked 100 years of progress for women. It shows the portraits of Stanton and Mott flanking that of Carrie Chapman Catt, director of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and founder of the League of Women Voters. Stone appeared on a 50-cent definitive stamp in the Prominent American series released in 1968. Alice Paul is another suffragist who was featured on a 78-cent stamp in 1995 in the Great Americans series. She was instrumental in orchestrating the suffrage campaign and in March 1913 led the largest demonstration for women's rights as more than 8,000 women marched through Washington. The right to vote also drew support from the Black community. Crusading journalist Ida B. Wells led a group of women to the 1913 march only to be told to go to the back of the line. She took the group up the parade route and joined the throng at the front. Wells was honored in 1990 with a 25-cent adhesive. When Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, women finally could practice a basic right of democracy: choosing who will represent them on public policy matters. Dennis Sadowski can be reached at sadowski.dennis@gmail.com.