Voting rights groups mark 100th anniversary of women's suffrage

A coalition of voting rights groups gathered Tuesday at the Tulsa Historical Society, wearing clothes period-specific to the later era of the suffragettes.

Sharon King Davis, who portrayed women’s rights activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, said that not long ago women voting was considered a “radical notion.”

“We vote today because of one vote,” Davis said. “And not only are we able to vote and celebrate that today, but we’re also able to run for office as women, which was absolutely unheard of during that time.”

During the Tuesday celebration, people donned yellow roses. The yellow rose has been a long-standing symbol used to signify support for suffrage, the right to vote.

Oklahoma was the 21st state, and the first Southern state, to adopt full suffrage for women. Despite an election rigged against them and despite an influenza epidemic — which bears a striking resemblance to contemporary times — Oklahoma voted for suffrage in 1918.

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would not win approval for almost two more years when Tennessee ratified the amendment. The one vote to which Davis referred was cast on Aug. 18, 1920, by a freshman representative in Tennessee’s government. Davis said representatives wore roses pinned to their lapels to demonstrate their support for the 19th Amendment: red roses for “no” and yellow for “yes.”

That representative, though he wore a red rose, voted for ratifying the amendment. He had reportedly received a note from his mother encouraging him to vote for women’s suffrage. Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the amendment, leaving only some bureaucracy left to certify it.

It was bittersweet.

“Today is the day that is traditionally celebrated as the passage of the amendment, and yet there were ... many other women of color that did not get the right to vote because states put issues in front of them where they could not vote,” Davis said.

The women’s suffrage movement, and a broader women’s rights movement, began in the 1800s. It was a 72-year fight by suffragists to get the amendment passed. It was first introduced in 1878, and re-introduced, word-for-word, annually until passage, according to a news release.

And it was another 45 years before people of color and other protected classes were guaranteed the right to vote in the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Oklahoma women could have had the right to vote much earlier. The first Oklahoma Territory Legislature, meeting in 1890, allowed women to vote in school elections and considered full suffrage. It remained an issue through the territorial period and was nearly included in the state constitution.

That proposal failed when the all-white male constitutional convention observed black women lined up to vote in a school election in Guthrie.

The suffragettes, a consortium of people representing all manner of organizations, meeting Tuesday were used as a springboard to draw attention to upcoming elections.

Chelsea McGuire Kester, chair of Tulsa’s Young Professionals, spoke on historically low voter turnout, advocating for people to get registered, informed and out to vote.

“Despite these and many other ‘get out the vote’ efforts, in general, America suffers from low voter turnout of both women and men,” she said.

In Tulsa County, 51% of eligible voters were registered, and even fewer voted in 2018, she said. Nationally, she said, only about 63% of eligible voters were registered.

Tulsa’s Young Professionals organization, Kester said, has orchestrated several campaigns to register voters and encourage utilization of the registration, including watch parties, candidate debates, providing information about candidates and offering reminder services.

“On this 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote, we hope to move more people to vote,” Kester said.

The suffragettes remarked that Tuesday was the last day to request an absentee ballot for the Aug. 25 election. The last day to register for that election was July 31.

Registration deadlines are a bit nuanced. One can register at any time; however, state law stipulates that to vote in a given election, one must submit their registration at least 25 days prior to that election.

Early voting in Tulsa County is scheduled for Aug. 20, 21 and 22 at the Tulsa County Election Board, 555 North Denver Ave.

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