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Woman's Suffrage Centennial
2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution guaranteeing women the right to vote. This centennial offers an opportunity to commemorate a milestone of democracy.
Suffrage History & The Garden State
New Jersey has a rich history in the suffrage movement, joining a federal pursuit of women’s right to vote.
In 1776 the New Jersey State Constitution allowed women property owners the right to vote. This was unique in the nation at the time. However, in 1807, the New Jersey Legislature stripped women of their voting rights, limiting the ballot to white males.
For more than century New Jersey women fought for the reversal of the 1807 legislation. In 1912 New Jersey held legislative hearings lead to a suffrage referendum. Although the state referendum was soundly defeated, a corner was turned for the local suffrage movement.
A second referendum was pursued in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts in 1915. Active campaigns included the “Passing of the Torch of Liberty” via tug boats on the Hudson River. In October 1915 the referendum was defeated in all four states.
Earning the Vote, Moving Foward
New Jersey became the 29th state to ratify the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote on February 9, 1920.
Shortly after, Margaret Laird and Jennie Van Ness were the first two women elected to the New Jersey Assembly in 1921.
Four years later Rebecca Estelle Bourgeois Winston of Estell Manor was elected New Jersey’s first woman mayor.
- NJ Women Vote: The 19th Amendment at 100 resources and information from Discover NJ History
- Library of Congress general collection copy text of "Woman Suffrage in New Jersey" by Lucy Stone
- Copies of newspaper articles on the Fight for Woman's Suffrage in NJ collected by New Jersey State Library
- New Jersey Women's Heritage Trail information from The Alice Paul Institute (from a special project grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State)
- Downloadable PDF from the NJ DEP of the Women's Heritage Trail book
- The National Archives' "Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote" exhibition information and related documentation
- National Constitution Center's Interactive Constitution: Common interpretation and matters of debate regarding the 19th Amendment
- 2020 Women's Vote Centennial Initiative website with information and learning center
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New Jersey delegates in front of Congressional Union headquarters
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Suffrage envoys from San Francisco greeted in New Jersey
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Suffrage campaign days in New Jersey
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Mt. Laurel-NJ based Alice Paul. Suffragist, founder of the National Woman's Party (NWP), and author of the Equal Rights Amendment
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Suffrage Tugboat
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Sen Freulinghysen congratulates Suffragist Betty Gram on ratification
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Silent Sentinel Allison Turnbull Hopkins at White House on New Jersey Day
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Suffragist Lillian Feickert c. 1912