b'Matters heart of thematterThingsthat Matter Since 1990 Another Reason to Featuring Local People, Places and PUBLISHER Like my Birthday& EDITOR IN CHIEFEllen Donker Even better than sharing it with Robert RedfordASSOCIATEEDITOR BY ELLEN DONKERRosemary MattsonSOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERRachael Entine Ichildren like to know with whom theyAssociation(AWSA).SusanB.AnthonyandElizabeth ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS think all Rene Conlon share their birthday. If its someone notable, it givesCady Stanton formed the more radical National Woman H. Leslie Gilman you bragging rights, as if you had anything to doSuffrage Association (NWSA) to challenge in court male-Amy Power with the day you said hello to the world. With anonly voting laws. Still others picketed, held silent vigils COPY EDITORS internet search, its easy to find this informa- andconductedhungerstrikes,sometimesenduring Nick Humez tion but as a kid in the olden days, it tookheckling,jailtimeandphysicalabuse.In1890, Tia Swanson somedigging.Atsomepoint,though,Ithe two organizations reconciled and became the CONTRIBUTORS heard that Robert Redford was born on AugustNational American Woman Suffrage Association.Donny Levit 18. I thought that sharing the day with a hand- By1919,thesuffragemovementhadfinally Olivia Mack McCool some movie star reflected well on me.gainedenoughsupport,andCongress,grateful Tami Steckler Years later, in 2020, I learned that my birth datefor womens help during the war, passed the 19th Tia Swanson was more notable than I thought: On August 18,Amendment on June 5, sending it to the states for Julia Maloof Verderosa 1920, the 19 thAmendment was ratified, grantingratification. By the middle of 1920, 35 states had vot-Allison Weiss women the right to vote. I was very surprised toed to ratify the amendment. Just one more state was have learned this so far into adulthood. I guess weneeded, and Tennessee decided to tackle the vote.dont memorize dates like this until a big anniver- Supportersfrombothsidescampedoutata sarylike a centennialcomes along and then weNashville hotel to lobby in earnest. Those in favor of take note. And to be honest, once you reach a cer- suffrage wore yellow roses while the anti-suffragists tain age, youre not necessarily focused on searchingwore red roses. Their efforts became known as the for other birth twins or momentous events. Case inWar of the Roses. point: I just discovered that Roman Polanski alsoWhen it was time to vote, Representative Banks Please address all correspondence to: shares my birthday. I would definitely NOT bragTurner switched sides during the roll call, thus dead-Visual Impact Advertising, Inc. about that. But the adoption of the 19 thAmend- locking the vote. To win, the suffragists needed one P.O. Box 198 ment? This was worthy news. more vote. They got it from Harry Burns, the young-Maplewood, NJ 07040973-763-4900 The womens rights movement in the Unitedest member of the statehouse at 24 years old, despite mattersmagazine.comStates is said to have officially begun at the 1848the red rose on his lapel. With that, the 19th Amend-info@mattersmagazine.com Seneca Falls Womens Rights Convention. Indig- ment became the law of the land, passing the final Matters Magazine is owned and publishednant over women being barred from speaking athurdle of obtaining the agreement of three-fourths of by Visual Impact Advertising, Inc., P.O.the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, Elizabeththe states and ending the 70-year-old battle for suffrage. Box 198, Maplewood, NJ 07040. MattersCady Stanton and Lucretia Mott brought some 300 peo- No one knows for sure why Burns switched his vote, but Magazine is free, with editions direct mailedple together and drafted The Declaration of Sentiments,a letter in his suit pocket from his mother asked him to be 7 times a year to the residents of Maplewood and South Orange and distributed to busi- calling for womens equality in every area of life, includinga good boy and vote for the amendment. nesses and surrounding communities total- suffrage.Despite the lengthy road to ratification, Black women ing 16,000. Subscriptions are available toIt wasnt until 1878 that the amendment to give wom- and other minorities were denied the right to vote long into non-residents for $30 (U.S.), $40 (Foreign) annually. No part of the publication may been the right to vote was first introduced in Congress, and itthe 20 thcentury due to discriminatory state voting laws. reprinted or otherwise reproduced withouttook 42 years for it to be ratified. During that time, cham- And our country is still reckoning with modernizing the writtenpermissionfromVisualImpact Advertising, Inc. pions of voting rights used different strategies to achievesystem to ensure broader voting access.their goals.As August 18 comes upon us, it makes sense to reflect CIRCULATION VERIFIED BY Some supporters worked to pass suffrage acts in eachon the importance of voting, a basic right and one of the U.S. POSTAL RECEIPTS.state.LucyStone,herhusbandHenryBlackwell,andkey freedoms of American life. And since its also my birth-READ & RECYCLE Julia Ward Howe founded the American Woman Suffrageday Ill take your good wishes as well. 10/ matters magazine / school 2023'