CLEVELAND — One hundred years ago today, American women got the vote.
The 19th Amendment was ratified Aug. 18, 1920. It reads: "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. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
In honor of the occasion, President Trump issued a pardon for Susan B. Anthony, who was arrested in 1872 for voting in Rochester, New York, and convicted a year later.
"She was never pardoned," said the President at a ceremony at the White House. "She got a pardon for a lot of other women, and she didn't put her name on the list."
Locally, some Northeast Ohio women had already been voting for several years. East Cleveland was one of the first places in America to grant women suffrage, doing so on June 6, 1916.
“East Cleveland yesterday became the first city east of the Mississippi River to grant by home rule suffrage to women in municipal elections," read the next day's edition of The Plain Dealer. "The proposal carried in every one of the four wards of the city, the total vote being 936 to 508."
Gov. Mike DeWine marked the occasion on social media Tuesday morning:
More on Ohio suffrage movements can be found at ohiosuffragecentennial.com. Fascinating information on the site includes the fact that the 1848 National Convention of Black Freemen, held in Cleveland, was the first national convention to allow women's participation.
Locally, the Cuyahoga Board of Elections is commemorating the momentous occasion with voter registration drives at Rocky River City Hall, South Euclid City Hall, Lincoln-West High School and Friendly Inn Settlement in Cleveland from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. More can be found at boe.cuyahogacounty.us.
Earlier today, the National Park Foundation released the results of a new study of 1,000 American adults that highlights the lack of women’s history knowledge in the country. "Sixty-four percent wish they knew more about women in U.S. history, and nearly two in three (60%) expect they would get a C or lower if they took a test on U.S. women’s history."
To help address the problem, the foundation announced 23 inaugural grants through its Women in Parks initiative, totaling more than $460,000, for national parks and online content nationwide.