The Women's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote
- Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics
- Humanities Iowa
- Ames Convention & Visitor Bureau Community Grant
- Hard Won, Not Done Committee (19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration Committee)
- Ames League of Women Voters of Ames and Story County
- Iowa Office on the Status of Women
- Iowa State University College of Liberal Arts and Science
- Iowa State University Department of History
- Iowa State University Department of Music and Theatre
- Iowa State University Department of Political Science
- Iowa State University Office of the President
- Iowa State University Student Government
- Iowa State University Women's and Gender Studies
- Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)
Elaine Weiss is an award-winning journalist and writer whose latest book, “The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote,” chronicles one of the greatest political battles in American history: the ratification of the constitutional amendment that granted women the right to vote. It tells the story of American women’s seven-decade struggle to win the ballot, as it all came down to a pitched battle in Nashville, Tennessee, to gain the final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment. The central character is Iowa State alumna and national suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt. As part of her visit to Iowa State, Weiss will speak about the lessons of the woman suffrage movement and the relevance of its themes in 2020, as the nation marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Weiss holds a graduate degree from the Medill School of Journalism of Northwestern University. Weiss’ keynote is part of the larger celebration of the commemoration centennial. Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics
Let's celebrate 100 years of women's suffrage!
19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration Statewide Kickoff
This event is the kickoff of a whole year of events that are being scheduled across the state of Iowa to celebrate 100 years of women's suffrage.
Join us for a half-day commemoration of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which will celebrate the diverse voices of the women’s suffrage movement in Iowa and note other important landmarks in the American journey to universal adult suffrage. Although the vote was hard won, the work is not yet done.
Click Here for more information and schedule of events.
WHY CELEBRATE ON VALENTINE'S DAY?
In her presidential address at the National American Woman Suffrage Association’s 50th convention in St. Louis in 1919, Carrie Chapman Catt proposed the creation of a league of women voters to “finish the fight” and aid in the reconstruction of the nation. On Feb. 14, 1920, the national League of Women Voters was formally organized by Catt at NAWSA’s convention in Chicago, six months before the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote was ratified.
This event is free and open to the public.