A Wednesday Vignette: Garden Of Stone And Hope

Woman voters place their "I voted" stickers on Susan B. Anthony's gravestone in Rochester, New York on November 6, 2018.  Anthony was arrested for voting in the 1872 presidential election.  Though she did not live to see it, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, recognizing women's right to vote, was ratified on August 18, 1920, 99 years ago this Sunday.   

My Grandmother was of the age to remember that day in 1920 very clearly.  She always took great pride in voting, and never missed an election.  

More Wednesday Vignettes at Flutter And Hum.

Comments

  1. A wonderful photo and an even more wonderful tradition. I imagine Susan B. Anthony would be very proud of the increasing number of women stepping up to take a stand against the new forms of idiocy prevalent in our current political environment.

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    1. The more people involved and paying attention, the better off we are! Sad not everyone would agree with that, but all voices should be able to count.

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  2. Wonderful - love it! Yes, we women should NEVER forget the fact that if it weren't for the gutsy, anti-establishment, rebellious act of Susan B. Anthony, we might still be regarded as some human halfstep, located somewhere between child and adult. I'm sorry she didn't live to see the 19th Amendment. This should convince us all that what we do (and don't do) matters.

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    1. Well said. The women of that era sacrificed much. I hope that is never forgotten.

      It is a very inspiring and touching photo. I saved it from last November to post it near the 19th Amendment anniversary. If I lived in Rochester NY my sticker would be there after every election.

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  3. I don't miss voting in elections either. I can hardly wait to vote in 2020.

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    1. I've missed just once, an off year primary election quite a long time ago--still embarrassed about missing one--just plain forgot!

      Should be a big turn out in 2020. This is good, not bad.

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  4. About fifteen years ago, I went through microfilm copies of the local papers in 1920 to get a sense of the scale and coverage of women voting for the first time in my small town. Learned that my grandfather ran for mayor (and won; the biggest issue was prohibition enforcement, he was with the turn-a-blind-eye "wets"), and that my grandmother didn't vote (not surprised, she was pretty socially conservative).
    Almost as many black women as white voted, a huge difference proportionally because the town was 15% black at most. This surprised me at the time but less now, as I've learned more about the level of activity by black women for the vote and the degree to which they were written out of suffrage movement history.

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    1. Fascinating history! No one in my family was American back then, so no experience with Prohibition. The Ken Burns series was re-run lately. Has some interesting parallels with immigration today, in some ways.

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  5. I'm from Rochester! I wish I had asked any of my great-grandmas about voting for the first time (and they died before I was 18 and could vote.) The cemetery (Mt. Hope) has since put up a sandwich board around elections to encourage people to place their stickers there, instead of on the actual gravestone. Frederick Douglass, is also buried there. Highly worth a visit if you're in the area (even Niagara Falls, it's about 90 min away.) Since this is a plant-person blog, there's a lovely Frederick Law Olmsted Park and Arboretum across the way (Highland Park.)

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    1. Small world! The closest I've ever been to that area is Toronto, for work. Not much of a traveler.

      That's a good idea about putting up a board for the stickers. The stone is historic, after all. Fredrick Douglass, another great American.

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