news-record.com

This year's election is starting to mount to a colossal finish with all eyes, both Republican and Democrat, witnessing history in full production.

It was not long ago that a women's place in America was not at the forefront as it is today. The term "suffrage" is sometimes used loosely, but it simply means "the right or privilege to vote."

Susan B. Anthony was one of those women who in 1872 voted illegally simply because of her gender. She was arrested and fined for voting because she was a woman. At her trial, which attracted nationwide attention, she made a stirring speech that ended with this slogan: "Resistance to Tyranny Is Obedience to God."

Soon organizations such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union made women's suffrage a goal.

In 1878, a women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress. It failed to pass but was introduced in every session of Congress for the next 40 years.

During the 1900s a new generation of leading women brought a fresh spirit to the women's suffrage movement. These women gained much support from middle-class women. This group of leaders devoted most of their efforts to marches, picketing and other active forms of protest. One of those, Alice Paul, along with her followers, chained themselves to the White House fence in an effort to bring about change.

With the efforts of women during World War I, support for a suffrage amendment increased. In 1918, the House of Representatives held another vote on the issue. Spectators packed the galleries, and several congressmen came to vote despite illness. One congressman was brought in on a stretcher. A congressman from New York left his wife's death bed, at her request, to vote for the amendment.

The House approved the amendment, but the Senate defeated it.

In 1919, the Senate finally passed the amendment and sent it to the states for approval. By 1920, the required number of states had ratified what became the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment says, "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."

Almost 35 years later, another woman, Gertrude S. Carraway, president general of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, submitted to the U.S. Congress a resolution to designate Sept. 17-23 as Constitution Week. After the passage of the resolution by both houses of Congress, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued his proclamation Aug. 19, 1955.

The first observance of Constitution Week was so successful that on Jan. 5, 1956, it became an annual resolution, adopted on July 23, 1956, and signed into Public Law 915 on Aug. 2, 1956.

This coming Wednesday marks the seven-day observance of National Constitution Week. All across America, citizens are encouraged to contact churches, schools, courthouses, city governments and individuals and request them to ring bells at 4 p.m. in all time zones so that they are heard simultaneously from coast to coast. All across America, societies such as the Daughters of the American Revolution will be involved and assist school teachers with hands-on activities to enhance a lesson on the Constitution.

As of this writing, I know that the mayors of Greensboro, Jamestown and Summerfield will be making a public proclamation to commemorate the ratification of our Constitution in 1787.

Why is this so important to remember annually? This document is for the people.

In reference to the Constitution, Abraham Lincoln stated: "Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate (not violated). The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."

I am proud of the women who prepared a path of independent thinking that led to the privileges we hold dear to our hearts. The coming election in November is creating a "first" in both parties, one of which is a woman to be a presidential running mate.

No matter which party wins, let us join in prayer that our government, the two parties, will join forces to protect the very essence that has given us our freedoms today, the Constitution. And let us acknowledge that men and women, both, can leave a profound legacy.

Etta Reid, a local historian and educator, lives in Summerfield. She can be reached at etreid@aol.com.