News Release

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Participating in Nationwide "Forward Into Light" Celebration

News Release Date: August 21, 2020

Contact: Heather Brown, 620-273-8494

Strong City, KS: On August 26, 2020 at approximately 8 p.m., Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve will join other landmarks around the United States in celebration of 100 years of the 19^th Amendment and women’s constitutional right to vote. The campaign, named Forward Into Light in honor of the historic women’s suffrage slogan, is asking national and historic landmarks and buildings to light up the night with gold, purple and white, the colors of the suffrage movement.
At sunset, Tallgrass Prairie will illuminate both the historic house and barn with the colors of the suffrage movement so that it can be seen by those passing by on Kansas Highway 177. Women will be dressed in historic costume, holding signs, and demanding their place at the ballot box. Rangers will be on site for at least one hour after the illumination to answer questions and help celebrate this monumental occasion. The lights will remain on for the entire night.

The passage of the 19^th Amendment was a culmination of 72 years’ worth of organized pickets, marches, protests and lobbying campaigns beginning in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. With women like Lucretia Mott and Susan B. Anthony helping to lead the charge, they made progress by convincing states to pass legislation allowing women to vote. In 1878, suffragists managed to get an amendment in front of Congress in the hope of allowing women the right to vote only to have it stall and eventually fail in 1887. The suffragists did not allow this defeat to dissuade them and eventually in 1919, an amendment was again put in front of Congress to allow women to vote. This time, the amendment passed both the House and the Senate. After Tennessee became the 36^th state to ratify the amendment, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed a proclamation on August 26, 1920, officially adding the 19^th Amendment to the United States Constitution and forever protecting a woman’s right to vote.
 
While the women of Kansas did not have as many opportunities to campaign or picket, they still made their mark on the Women’s Suffrage movement. In 1867, Kansas became the first state to hold a referendum on women’s right to vote. While it ultimately failed, it did inspire other Western states to hold referendums on the issue. In 1887, Kansas recognized a woman’s right to vote in local elections. Later that same year, Susanna Salter was elected mayor of Argonia, KS. She was not only the first female mayor of Kansas, but the first female mayor in the whole United States. Eventually in 1912, Kansas recognized a woman’s right to vote. In 1920, Kansas was one of the 36 states that ratified the 19^th Amendment.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve is located two miles north of Strong City on Kansas State Highway 177 (the Flint Hills National Scenic Byway) and is a unique public/private partnership between the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy. For more information, visit the preserve’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NPS.TallgrassPrairie , website at www.nps.gov/tapr , email e-mail us , or call the preserve at [phone]. To learn more about The Nature Conservancy in Kansas, visit the Conservancy’s website at www.nature.org/Kansas or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TNCKansas.
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