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Adopt and present a resolution honoring the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote for the month of August 2020 (Chairwoman Hannigan)
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
Supervisor Hannigan requests the Board of Supervisors recognizes the month of August 2020 as the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote.
SUMMARY:
The 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote, was ratified on August 18, 1920, by two-thirds majority. The Solano Commission for Women and Girls (SCWG) is requesting the Board of Supervisors proclaim August 2020 as Women's Right to Vote month.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the department's FY2020/21 Preliminary Budget. The costs associated with preparation and purchase of the resolution materials are included in the Board's FY2020/21 Preliminary Budget.
DISCUSSION:
The 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote in the United States, was ratified on August 18th, 1920, and unceremoniously signed into law on August 26th, 1920 by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. The amendment was a culmination of more than 70 years of struggle and protest by women suffragists.
The Women's Suffrage movement started in July 1848 at the first women's rights convention in the United States, known as the Seneca Falls Convention. The convention had 300 attendees, including about 40 men - most notably Fredrick Douglas - and focused on the social, civil and religious rights of women.
The goals and purpose of the convention was best articulated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the meeting's organizers when she said: "We are assembled to protest against a form of government, existing without the consent of the governed-to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give...
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