Suffrage Centennial Celebration

Date: February 21, 2013
Contact: Merrith Baughman, 402-223-3514

In recognition of Women's History Month and the Suffrage Centennial Celebration, Homestead National Monument of America's Historian Blake Bell will give a special presentation on the relationship between the Homestead Act, Women's Rights, and the Suffrage Movement.This program will be held at the Monument's Education Center on Sunday, March 3 at 2 p.m.

The Homestead Act of 1862 provided unprecedented opportunity to individuals seeking land.In the mid-19^th century women could not vote and were struggling to obtain basic property rights.Owning property has historically led to economic and political freedom.The Homestead Act was a way for women to obtain these freedoms previously denied to them.

The women's suffrage movement has a storied history that gained significant momentum in 1913 when the pro-suffrage movement demonstrated their strength by marching down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. on March 3, 1913 demanding the right to vote.Universal suffrage would not be realized until 1920 with the ratification of the 19^th Amendment, however, 23 of the 30 homesteading states had granted suffrage to women prior to the landmark constitutional amendment.Western women homesteaders had a substantial impact on the universal suffrage movement.Mr. Bell will examine the history of the women's suffrage movement, the Homestead Act, and the fight for equality.