
Here it is—the cover of my forthcoming book The Vote: Women’s Fierce Fight! I chose today—June 4, 2019— to share it with you because on June 4, 1920, the U.S. Senate did what the House of Representatives had done on May 21, 1920—approved the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that had the same 28 words it had when it was first introduced as the 16th Amendment in 1878: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United State or by any state on account of sex.” Women’s battle for suffrage is a gripping, transformative story teeming with political intrigues and betrayals, pageantry and parades, pickets, violent mobs and forced-feedings. In writing The Vote, I realized over and over again how the battle resonates with key current issues, including race, class, voting rights, and women’s participation in the governance of America. Rose Bower, a suffrage lecturer and lobbyist from the Black Hills of South Dakota, is featured on the cover. A skilled trumpeter and whistler, she used her musical talents to announce open-air meetings and raise money.
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