Women’s Suffrage Walk offers insight into American struggle for universal voting rights

(Plain Press, September 2020)       The Women’s Suffrage Walk, a self-guided tour by Our Neighborhood Votes, held on Professor Avenue in Tremont on Saturday August 20^th, offered a history of efforts toward universal suffrage from the organizing of the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848 up to the present day. The event celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the ratification of the 19^th Amendment to the United States Constitution which granted women the right to vote. It also featured the continued struggle by African American women to secure voting rights which led to Congress voting to approve the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Eight stations along Professor Avenue featured story boards depicting various eras of the struggle for universal suffrage. The stations also included photos and paintings to go with the story boards. Story Boards offered lessons in the history of the women’s suffrage movement, Ohio’s critical role in the fight for women’s right to vote, the contributions by African American women to voting rights both before and after the passage of the 19^th Amendment and some thoughts on current issues involving voting rights.

Neighborhood volunteers and volunteers from the League of Women Voters were stationed along the Walking Tour to offer participants assistance in registering to vote, applying for vote by mail applications, and updating their voter registration information by checking at 443vote.com.