Rebecca Greenhaw's 100th Annversary Interview

Rebecca Greenhaw's 100th Annversary Interview

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Rebecca Greenhaw, president of the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma County, recognizes the historic contributions made by women of color toward the movement.
 

"There were members of the Native American women's organizations and also African American women's organizations that worked shoulder to shoulder with the suffrage movement, and we couldn't have done it without them," she said. "But then when the final negotiations were made, the decision had been made to give Black men the right to vote under the 14th Amendment and many of the suffragists supported that because they were led to believe that then they would be next, but then that didn't happen. And so, then when negotiations were ongoing in the period of 1918 to 1920, unfortunately decisions were made that it would be better to get suffrage for part of some women if we couldn't get them for all."

A hundred years later, the 19th Amendment hasn't lost its significance.

"I'm so grateful that this amendment was passed and added to our Constitution, and I work with the league to try to inform and educate women and members of the public about the right to vote is something we can't ever take for granted, because forces are always arrayed against it to try to erode it," Greenhaw said. "And so I would say my attitude is one of extreme gratitude and working to protect that right for myself and everyone else."

Click here to read the full article.

League to which this content belongs: 
Oklahoma County