The Nineteenth Amendment 

 

It has only been 88 years since the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment of our U.S. Constitution gave women the right to vote.  The wording is simple enough:  

"The rights of the citizens of the United States shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."  

But the passage of the amendment came at a cost to the brave women who fought to ensure women's participation in our democracy.  

Throughout the winter of 1917, a group led by Alice Paul protested in front of the White House to urge President Woodrow Wilson to support the amendment.   When bystanders harassed them, the police arrested the women for obstruction of justice and hauled Alice Paul and some of her fellow protesters to the Occoquan Workhouse in Fairfax County, Va., where the Workhouse Guards humiliated them and forced the women to perform prison work in conditions of squalor.   

We met Dottie O'Rourke, First V.P. of the Western Fairfax Republican Women's Committee, to talk about the current election and discovered her passion for history and talent for acting -- Dottie travels throughout the state reenacting the plight of the suffragists.   Casting her eyes to the cloudy skies above, she reminded us of the rough treatment these brave women suffered in their efforts for voting equality.