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Robyn Muncy To Present At The Smithsonian's Art Of Living Series

May 24, 2017 History

Historian Robyn Muncy At Art Of Living Series At Smithsonian On June 7

Join Professor Robyn Muncy at the Smithsonian's S. Dillon Ripley Center on Wednesday, June 7th, 2017, at 6:45pm for a discussion on women's suffrage.

Check out this podcast for a preview of Professor Robyn Muncy's event on June 7th as part of the Art of Living series from the Smithsonian Associates!

When the 19th Amendment was ratified on Aug. 26, 1920, the status of many American women didn’t change much. For one thing, women in many states had full voting rights well before the federal amendment passed. For another, many American Indian and Asian immigrant women remained disenfranchised because they were denied citizenship. African American women in the South were still subject to voter-suppression laws. And because women did not vote as a bloc, their influence didn’t sway many elections. 

However, the amendment quickly allowed millions of women to register to vote. The National American Woman Suffrage Association became the League of Women Voters.  Male elected officials hoped to appeal to this new voting population. And reform-minded women made their social priorities known by advocating for their issues in the public sphere. This had a huge impact on the national agenda, including child welfare, women’s health, access to education, divorce and inheritance equality, labor reform, and more.

The Women's Vote: The 19th Amendment

Historian Robyn Muncy outlines the amendment's tumultuous history and impact, and how American women of the 1920s "changed the meaning of womanhood." Join Professor Robyn Muncy at the Smithsonian's S. Dillon Ripley Center on Wednesday, June 7th, 2017, at 6:45pm for a discussion on women's suffrage.

For more information about the event, see the Smithsonian's website here.

View C-SPAN's coverage of the event here.