We Demand: Women’s Suffrage in Virginia (Exhibit)

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“A long step” in the Complicated History of Equal Rights for Women in Virginia

One hundred years ago this month, the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in Congress. After women had succeeded in their fight for voting rights…

Mari JulienneDecember 8, 2023

Digital Projects Manuscripts & Special Collections

“So that later a history of the movement can be written”: Equal Suffrage League of Virginia Records Are Now Online

In celebration of Women's History Month, the Library of Virginia is excited to announce that the records of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia are…

Mari JulienneMarch 1, 2023

Education & Programming

“Why should not women vote?” – Virginia Men Who Supported Woman Suffrage

Public opinion polling did not exist in the 1910s when members of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia and the Virginia chapter of the National…

Brent TarterApril 21, 2021

Archives Education & Programming

“Her prospects of election”: Virginia Women Run for Office

"The political woman will be a menace," warned anti-suffragists during the campaign for women's voting rights. Not only would women in politics threaten the family…

Mari JulienneMarch 3, 2021

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“Banded together for civic betterment” : The Virginia League of Women Voters

With the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment and the achievement of woman suffrage, the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia closed down its operations in the…

Mari JulienneDecember 16, 2020

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“A day of triumph and dignity”: Virginia Women Vote in 1920

Virginia women went to the polls for the first time on 2 November 1920, a cool and cloudy day across the commonwealth. After the Nineteenth…

Mari JulienneNovember 2, 2020

Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“On the list of those who will vote for Woman Suffrage”: Virginia Women Lobby the General Assembly

Visitors to the Library of Virginia's exhibition, We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia, have been drawn to a large display of index cards filled with…

Brent TarterSeptember 30, 2020

Archives Education & Programming

“Really and truly a citizen”: Virginia Women Register to Vote in 1920

After Tennessee ratified the Nineteenth Amendment in August 1920, Virginia women began registering to vote. As a result of the "Machinery Bill" passed by the…

Mari JulienneSeptember 16, 2020

Education & Programming

We Demand Complete Realization: The Slow Legal Fight for Enfranchisement

CONTENT WARNING: Materials in the Library of Virginia's collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and…

Jessi BennettSeptember 11, 2020

Archives Education & Programming

“On Account of Race”: Disenfranchisement of Black Voters in Virginia

The history of African American disenfranchisement and exclusion in Virginia is a lengthy one. This blog post is meant to serve as an introduction and…

Jessi BennettSeptember 9, 2020

Education & Programming

Unfinished Business: Barriers to Voting

Even after the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1920, many people in the United States continued to be denied the right…

Sonya ColemanSeptember 2, 2020

Education & Programming

“When Victory Really Came” : Virginia Women Who Fought for the Vote

On 18 August 1920, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, which was officially proclaimed on August 26. Although Virginia's General Assembly…

Mari JulienneAugust 19, 2020

Manuscripts & Special Collections

“Shoulder to Shoulder on the Picket Line”: Virginia Women Fight for Voting Rights

"I have been kept from the privilege of incoming or outgoing mail for over the past week and am now locked in a small cell…

Mari JulienneJuly 22, 2020

Archives Education & Programming Manuscripts & Special Collections

“Woman Suffrage — The Vanguard of Socialism”

"DANGER! WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE THE VANGUARD OF SOCIALISM" blared a broadside published around 1913 by the Virginia Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage. It warned women that…

John DealJune 17, 2020

Archives Education & Programming

“Freedom, justice and true democracy”: The Virginia Branch of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage

Thousands of Virginia women joined the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia to fight for their voting rights after it was organized in 1909. A few…

Mari JulienneJune 10, 2020