The Awakening

The Awakening by Henry Mayer in 1915.⁶

The Awakening

Once again, the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA) took the primary role in rallying support for their cause as well as allowing ordinary women to believe that they deserved enough to have political power. So, why did it take forty-one years of fighting to establish an amendment for women to vote? It wasn’t until 1920 that the 19^th Amendment was finally ratified, and it was rare for the early supporters to see the ultimate victory. However, it is worth noting that some states individually declared voting rights for women before the amendment was passed at the federal level. As depicted in the image, you can see Lady Liberty spreading “votes for women” across the United States, west to east. The Western states typically granted women the right to vote before it was a federally recognized amendment, which is precisely why the Western states are drawn in on the art and the states towards the East are covered with women reaching out in agony. In the final exhibit, there is another portrait of the Western states taking the upper hand specifically toward granting the vote to women. This artwork is titled “The Awakening” because it truly was a revelation for women to earn their spot in politics. The illustration portrays Lady Liberty symbolizing awakening women in the United States to the desire for suffrage and spreading to the women who are reaching out to her. Below, there is also a poem written by Alice Duer Miller.

Although this image does not explicitly examine the hardships of getting the 19^th Amendment passed, it does highlight the positive feelings on the issue. Those who supported the cause believed that women of the United States were more than capable of casting votes based on their own beliefs. At this point in time, women have assumed the roles in many organizations as leaders. Regardless of the adversity being inflicted upon them they eventually merged with enough supporters to push the amendment through Congress.