HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-10-20; 4-a - Proclamation Recognizing 100th Year Anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 10, 2020
Action Agenda
Item No. 4-a
SUBJECT: Proclamation Recognizing the 100th Year Anniversary of the 19th Amendment to
the United States Constitution
DEPARTMENT: Human Rights and Relations
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Proclamation Commissioner Renee Price, 245-2130
Annette Moore, (919) 245-2317
PURPOSE: To approve a proclamation recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment
to the United States Constitution.
BACKGROUND: On June 4, 1919, both chambers of United States Congress approved the 19th
amendment to the United States Constitution, which guaranteed American women the right to
vote. The amendment was ratified into the United States Constitution the following year on August
18, 1920.
The first reported attempt to introduce women's suffrage legislation in North Carolina was led by a
group from Asheville, the North Carolina Equal Suffrage Association ("NCESA"), in 1894. In 1913,
the NCESA, an affiliate of the National American Woman Suffrage Association elected Barbara
Henderson of Chapel Hill as President, who initiated suffrage legislation in 1915 and 1919.
However, the legislation failed to pass.
Once Congress approved the 19th amendment in 1919, 36 states needed to ratify the amendment
in order for it to be included in the United States Constitution. In June 1919, Wisconsin, Illinois and
Michigan were the first to ratify the amendment. Within the following year, 32 additional states
ratified the amendment, with North Carolina or Tennessee poised to become the 36th state.
Southern States were adamantly opposed to the amendment, and seven of them - Alabama,
Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia - rejected it prior to it being
considered by the North Carolina General Assembly. On August 11, after rejecting ratification of
the amendment, a majority of the members of the North Carolina House of Representatives sent a
telegram to their counterparts in Tennessee telling them that they had not ratified the amendment
because it interfered with states' rights and urging the Tennessee legislators to reject ratification
too. On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment by a
margin of one vote. North Carolina would not ratify the 19th amendment until May 6, 1971.
If not for Gertrude Weil, and the legions of suffragettes before her, the march toward the women's
right to vote may have stalled again. Weil's organization, the North Carolina Equal Suffrage
2
League launched the North Carolina Chapter of the League of Women Voters, a non- partisan
organization that educates people on the political process. Gertrude Weil served as the
organization's first president.
Women in the United States were not the first women to gain the right to vote. When the 19t"
Amendment was ratified, women in New Zealand, Finland, Norway, and Sweden already had the
right to vote.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with consideration of this
proclamation.
SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The following Orange County Social Justice Goals are applicable to
this item:
• GOAL: FOSTER A COMMUNITY CULTURE THAT REJECTS OPPRESSION AND
INEQUITY
The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race or color;
religious or philosophical beliefs; sex, gender or sexual orientation; national origin or ethnic
background; age; military service; disability; and familial, residential or economic status.
• GOAL: ENABLE FULL CIVIC PARTICIPATION
Ensure that Orange County residents are able to engage government through voting and
volunteering by eliminating disparities in participation and barriers to participation.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: There is no Orange County Environmental Responsibility Goal
associated with this item.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve and authorize the
Chair to sign the Proclamation.
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS 3
PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING THE 100T" YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE
19T" AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
WHEREAS, an organized movement to enfranchise women began in July 1848 at a
convention in Seneca Falls, New York; and
WHEREAS, through the efforts of brave and courageous women referred to as suffragists
who sacrificed family, personal life and financial resources for over seventy years to gain equal
rights for women, especially the right to vote; and
WHEREAS, women and men of all colors and cultures supported the women's suffrage
movement in order for women to gain the Constitutional right of having a voice in making the laws
that govern them; and
WHEREAS, Chapel Hill resident Barbara Bynum Henderson, UNC class of 1902 (AB &
MA), Phi Beta Kappa, organized and was elected president of the Equal Suffrage League of North
Carolina in 1913, and was unanimously re-elected for a second term in 1915; and
WHEREAS, Barbara Bynum Henderson carried the battle for women's suffrage to the North
Carolina General Assembly when a special session was called to consider woman suffrage; and
WHEREAS, the woman's suffrage movement led to the passage of the 19th Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States in 1919, with ratification by the states by the summer of 1920;
and
WHEREAS, North Carolina delayed ratifying the 19th amendment until 1971; and
WHEREAS, the National Woman Suffrage Association dissolved in 1920 to create the
League of Women Voters of the United States in order to register voters and educate all voters;
and
WHEREAS, the League of Women Voters of North Carolina was launched on October 7,
1920 on the steps of the Guilford County Courthouse by Gertrude Weil, a politically active and
tireless young woman from Goldsboro, North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, more than 120,000 women were registered to vote in North Carolina by 1920;
and
WHEREAS, women today constitute a majority vote in the State of North Carolina and the
United States and are running for office in higher numbers and more active in the election process
than ever before in history;
NOW THEREFORE the Orange County Board of County Commissioners does hereby
recognize the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote; and
FURTHERMORE that Orange County Board of County Commissioners does hereby
recognize the 100th anniversary of the founding of the League of Women Voters in the United
States and in North Carolina and applauds the members of the League of Women Voters for the
impact its historic accomplishments have made on public engagement and the civic life of the
community, the state and the nation.
This the 10th day of March, 2020.
Penny Rich, Chair
Orange County Board of Commissioners