PROVIDENCE, RI – Secretary of State Ralph Mollis reminds the public that they have until this Friday to visit a free exhibit celebrating the 90th anniversary of Rhode Island women winning the right to vote.
“Votes for Women” commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The exhibit includes the records of the R.I. Suffrage Association, photos of prominent suffragettes and an original McTammney Voting Machine, which was in use when women first cast ballots in 1920.
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“It is important to preserve and discuss the history of women’s struggle for equality. This future generation of citizens must know our past in order to have the insight they will need to be tomorrow’s leaders of our state and our country,” said Mollis.
The exhibit is on display through April 30 at the State Archives, 337 Westminster St., Providence. The facility is open to the public weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. Free parking is available at the In-Town Parking lot across Snow Street from the State Archives.
In 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment, which was originally written by Susan B. Anthony and introduced in Congress in 1878. Congress then sent the amendment to the states for ratification, as required by law.
Rhode Island ratified the amendment on Jan. 7, 1920, and by August it was the law of the land. But the Ocean State did not wait for her sister states to act. The General Assembly enacted its own version – “An Act Extending the Right to Vote to Women Citizens” – which was signed into law April 22, 1920.
“I think many people will be surprised to learn that not so long ago women were not allowed to vote. My generation had grandmothers who were denied the right to vote when they came of age,” said Mollis.
In addition to presenting exhibits, the State Archives is also home to thousands of historic documents, such as the 1784 law that granted slaves in Rhode Island their freedom and Roger Williams’ handwritten copy of the original 1638 deed buying Providence from the Wampanoag tribe.
Secretary of State Mollis is committed to making it easier to vote, helping business grow and making government more open and accessible. For more information about the “Votes for Women” exhibit, call 222-2353 or visit sos.ri.gov.
