"Votes for Women" Pennant, Early 20th Century

Presented is a rare, early 20th century American “Votes for Women” pennant. The pennant field is yellow, with black printed block text. "Votes for Women" was one of the most frequently used slogans throughout the woman's suffrage movement and yellow was the National American Woman Suffrage Association's official color. The organization created a variety of pennants, banners, and sashes, similar to this example, to be used at rallies, marches, and protests. Often handmade, these pennants reflect the grassroots nature of the suffrage movement. But as a result of the temporal nature of parade and protest pennants, very few of these exist on the market today. 

In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first women’s rights convention of abolitionist activists in Seneca Falls, New York. As a result of that meeting, the document containing a demand for women’s suffrage, right to education, and right to employment was drafted. Modeled after the "Declaration of Independence," their “Declaration of Sentiments” proclaimed “that all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

Over the next 50 years, numerous women’s groups were formed and conventions were hosted to bring strength to the suffrage movement. In May 1869, a group called the National Woman Suffrage Association was founded by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. They fought for a universal-suffrage amendment to the U.S. Constitution and even opposed the 15th Amendment because it excluded women. In contrast, the American Woman Suffrage Association, founded in 1869 by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, supported the 15th Amendment and concentrated on gaining women’s access to the polls at state and local levels. They believed that smaller victories on the local level would gradually build support for national action on women's suffrage. 

In 1890, the NWSA and AWSA merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). It became the largest woman suffrage organization in the country and led much of the push for the vote through 1920, when the 19th Amendment was ratified. Stanton was named president, Anthony was vice president, and Stone was named chairman of the executive committee. In 1919, the NAWSA reorganized into the League of Women Voters.

While a handful of Western states granted women the right to vote in the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries, many Northeastern and Southern states refused suffrage. The NAWSA recognized that only an amendment to the Constitution would grant all women the right to vote. For 42 years, the women’s suffrage amendment had been introduced at every session of Congress, but ignored or voted down. But by 1918, both political parties were committed to women’s suffrage, thanks in part to the major role women played in World War I. The amendment was passed by two-thirds majorities in the House in January of 1918 and in the Senate in June of 1919. On August 18th, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, giving the two-thirds of state legislators necessary to ratify the amendment.  On August 26th, the Nineteenth Amendment became part of the Constitution, and stated the following: “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.”

CONDITION:

Good condition. Color is vibrant, printed text legible without fading. Two very small losses to the pennant along the top.

The pennant was mounted and displayed in a carved wood frame in an antique gold and black finish by a previous owner. 

Framed Dimensions: 10 1/8” H x 19 3/4” W x 1” D.

Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.