Early 1900s: The Fight to Be Heard

By the turn of the 20th century, women were done waiting.

They had been silenced in law, in church, in politics—and they were ready to speak for themselves. The women’s suffrage movement had been gaining momentum for decades, but now it had a deadline. And that deadline was the vote.

Women marched, lobbied, protested, picketed. They were arrested, force-fed in jail, and mocked in public. But they didn’t stop.

In 1920, they won the right to vote with the 19th Amendment. For the first time, women had a say in who made the laws that shaped their lives.

But not all women were heard. The amendment didn’t guarantee voting access for Black women in the South, Native women, Asian immigrants, or Latinas. Many were blocked by racist laws for decades longer.

Still, the message was clear: women could organize, strategize, and change the law. And while voting wasn’t the end of the fight, it was a public declaration: we matter, and our voice belongs.

During World War I, women also entered the workforce in larger numbers. They served as nurses, factory workers, and government clerks. Society saw they could handle more than housework. Some even saw themselves differently.

This era showed girls something powerful: being strong doesn’t mean being loud—it means standing firm, even when the world tells you to sit down.

Sources:

• National Archives: The 19th Amendment — https://www.archives.gov

• Smithsonian Institution: Votes for Women — https://www.si.edu

• Ware, Susan. Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote

• Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn. African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850–1920