TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—One hundred years ago Thursday women marched through the halls of the Indiana Statehouse to music as lawmakers ratified the 19th amendment, giving them the right to vote after decades of struggle.

On Thursday, dozens of women and men filled a wing of the Statehouse to celebrate and commemorate that milestone with music and speeches led by the Capital City Chorus, an all-women’s choir.  The chorus, singing “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” as well as other encouraging songs, got a standing ovation.

“It’s so important to pause, and remember this important milestone in our state’s history,” Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch told the crowd. “To remember where we have been, and where we are going.”

Crouch chairs the Indiana Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, which has organized a year’s worth of events to celebrate the passage of the 19^th Amendment.

The House and the Senate both adopted resolutions that honored the passage of the 19^thAmendment and the people who worked for it. The resolution passed in each chamber by unanimous votes.

Sen. Jean Breaux, D-Indianapolis, acknowledged the work of minority women in the suffrage movement.

“I am proud for all the work African American women did to work to get the right to vote,” she said.

Anita Morgan, a senior lecturer in history at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, described some of the successes and setbacks women endured as they campaigned over 72 years for the right to vote.

One of the first steps in that journey began in 1848 at the first U.S. women’s rights convention. She also described how in Indiana a bill granting women voting rights passed in 1881, but all information about it disappeared from official records.

At the time, Morgan said one member of the General Assembly was asked about why he voted for women’s suffrage and he replied, “The women were persistent.”

In 1917, lawmakers passed a bill that would allow women to start voting in some state and local elections. The Indiana Supreme Court, however, shut them down because they believed extra poll workers and separate ballot boxes to accommodate women workers would cost too much.

Sherry Watkins, co-president of the Indianapolis chapter of the American Association of University Women, attended the event in a 1920s costume. She wore a large white hat that was covered with feathers and a long lace dress.

At the height of the suffrage movement, women wore white to show they were feminine and as a defense against critics who said they were trying to be masculine by obtaining the same rights as men, according to the CR Fashion Book blog.

More than a dozen women joined Watkins in wearing similar costumes standing with her for the same cause.

“I had a mother who was not given the same kind of accommodation when she was working, and when she was working in World War II and when the men came home women lost their jobs,” Watkins said. “She really enjoyed being a homeworker, but she still had that sense that it wasn’t right.”

Watkins said that the Statehouse will be seeing more of her, as she continues to advocate for women’s rights.

Laura Tolbert, a resident of Indianapolis, attended the event with her seven children; four of which are girls. She said she wanted them to see the moment commemorating 100 years of women voting.

“Women have the same ability and interest in contributing to our political and governmental environment that men do,” she said.

Even though women are slightly more than 50 percent of the state’s population, they hold 24% of the seats in the General Assembly. While Indiana has some women in leadership roles, especially in the courts where Loretta Rush serves as the first female Indiana Supreme Court chief justice and five other courts are led by women, the state has never elected a female governor and the top leaders in the House and Senate have always been males

Crouch, when asked when Indiana would see its first female governor, replied, “Hopefully in the near future.”

The year-long celebrations will continue with events across the state, including free admissions to local museums, Crouch noted. More information can be found at indianasufferage100.org.

She ended the program on an upbeat note: “You here today, and women all across our great state, know that when we come together, and we work together, we can accomplish great things and build a better tomorrow.”

FOOTNOTE: Haley Pritchett is a reporter with TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.