Senate Resolution 103 - Introduced SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 103 BY BROWN , COURNOYER , FEENSTRA , BEHN , SHIPLEY , MILLER-MEEKS , SCHNEIDER , SINCLAIR , PETERSEN , T. TAYLOR , GIDDENS , BOLKCOM , RAGAN , JOCHUM , BISIGNANO , BOULTON , LYKAM , R. TAYLOR , J. SMITH , KINNEY , MATHIS , DOTZLER , QUIRMBACH , CELSI , HOGG , WAHLS , LOFGREN , and NUNN A Resolution celebrating July 2, 2019, as the 100th 1 anniversary of the State of Iowa ratifying 2 the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States 3 Constitution. 4 WHEREAS, the fight for women’s suffrage, from the 5 first women’s convention to enfranchisement, lasted 72 6 years, with women from all walks of life, political 7 views, and demographic backgrounds asking for the right 8 to voice their opinions at the polls; and 9 WHEREAS, the first women’s rights convention 10 was held in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, where 11 Elizabeth Cady Stanton read “The Declaration of 12 Sentiments”, which set the agenda for women’s 13 activism; and 14 WHEREAS, Sojourner Truth fought for African American 15 women’s right to vote at a women’s rights convention 16 in Akron, Ohio, in 1851, delivering her famous speech 17 “Ain’t I a Woman?”; and 18 WHEREAS, Susan B. Anthony cast her ballot for United 19 States presidential candidate Ulysses S. Grant and was 20 arrested and tried in Rochester, New York, in 1872; and 21 WHEREAS, in 1894, Iowa women gained the right to 22 vote on ballot questions regarding bond or tax issues, 23 -1- LSB 5097XS (5) 88 ss/rn 1/ 3

S.R. 103 but continued to be denied the ability to vote on 1 candidates; and 2 WHEREAS, Iowa women’s suffrage leader Mary Jane 3 Coggeshall was elected to serve on the board of the 4 National Woman Suffrage Association in 1895 and she 5 gave speeches at the organization’s conventions in 1904 6 and 1907; and 7 WHEREAS, Council Bluffs, Iowa, was the site of a 8 women’s suffrage march in 1908, one of the first in the 9 nation; and 10 WHEREAS, Carrie Chapman Catt, who grew up in Iowa, 11 led the National American Woman Suffrage Association 12 from 1900 to 1904 and 1915 to 1920 and developed and 13 implemented the “Winning Plan” to gain support from 14 legislators at the state and federal levels for women’s 15 suffrage; and 16 WHEREAS, the United States Senate passed the 17 Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing women the right to 18 vote in 1919 and states began ratification; and 19 WHEREAS, the Nineteenth Amendment was signed into 20 law by the United States Secretary of State on August 21 26, 1920; and 22 WHEREAS, the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed the 23 right to vote to African American women in Iowa and 24 other states outside the American south; and 25 WHEREAS, 2020 is also the 55th anniversary of the 26 Voting Rights Act, which fully enfranchised African 27 American women in the American south; and 28 WHEREAS, daughters, granddaughters, and 29 great-granddaughters of the women who fought so hard to 30 -2- LSB 5097XS (5) 88 ss/rn 2/ 3

S.R. 103 vote have been making their voices heard at the polls 1 for nearly 100 years; and 2 WHEREAS, women are running for office in 3 unprecedented numbers and many current politicians, 4 both male and female, remember that they follow in the 5 footsteps of these great suffragists; NOW THEREFORE, 6 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That more than 100 7 years of women’s suffrage is recognized in light of 8 July 2, 2019, being the 100th anniversary of the State 9 of Iowa ratifying the Nineteenth Amendment to the 10 United States Constitution. 11 -3- LSB 5097XS (5) 88 ss/rn 3/ 3