Vigo County Historical Society

Women win fight for suffrage

"Vote for Women" on these campaign buttons takes us back to the 1920 election. This was the first national election in which women had the constitutional right to vote; the 19th amendment had been ratified less than three months before.

Activists had worked 72 years to gain these 28 words: "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." Aug. 26 became Women’s Equality Day.

The battle was won; it was time for a parade. The Terre Haute Star called the event "one of the most interesting motor car parades ever witnessed in Terre Haute" as Vigo County women celebrated the final ratification of their amendment.

The parade included about 60 automobiles, decorated with yellow banners and streamers and led by the fire chief, the chief of police, Mayor Charles R. Hunter, Emma May and Mae B. Helmer.

Captain B.E. Stahl brought two bouquets of yellow flowers from the Glenn Home garden and presented them to the chairwomen of the county Democratic and Republican organizations.

The parade moved in and out of the downtown streets, north up to Twelve Points, back to Wabash Avenue and then through the south side of the city.

The League of Women Voters, an outgrowth of the suffrage movement, took on the challenge of helping women gain a political education. One of the League’s slogans was "Every woman an intelligent voter in November."

Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, the Republican candidates for president and vice president, won an overwhelming victory over the Democratic candidates, James M. Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt.. It was reported that the women’s new vote had no noticeable effect on the election.

The involvement of women in the political process took time. It was not until after World War II that they became more active in using their "new" political power.