Above: California women were powerful voices in the fight for national women’s suffrage. Charlotta Bass, pictured at left, wrote many pro-suffrage editorials in her influential newspaper, the California Eagle, the largest African American newspaper in the state; In 1918, Californians elected women to the California Assembly for the first time: Anna Saylor (pictured, lower right). Material courtesy of the California State Archives.
On August 26, we will celebrate Women’s Equality Day and mark the enactment of the 19th Amendment, which said, among other things, that “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”. This historic event was the culmination of the decades-long struggle of courageous suffragists, many with roots in California.
Even though the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, many women of color were unable to exercise their right to vote. Though these women rallied alongside white suffragists, many women of color remained disenfranchised until the mid-20th century. As late as 1962, some states still prevented women of color from voting on contrived grounds, such as literacy tests, poll taxes, voting ID requirements, and intimidation. It was not until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, that Black women were able to exercise this right without restrictions. Additional measures have been taken more recently to protect voting rights against gerrymandering, voter suppression, and other forms of infringement. While we celebrate the progress that has been made over the past century, we are keenly aware that the struggle for reaching equality in representation continues.
