Women’s suffrage envoys from many states brought petitions to Congress on May 9, 1914. Five thousand women massed on and about the east steps of the Capitol singing Ethel Smyth’s “Hymn of the Women.”

By Susan Smith
Pittsburgh WILPF

City of Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto held an event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Pennsylvania. Mayor Peduto read a proclamation to commemorate June 24 as the day in 1919 that the 19th Amendment was ratified in Pennsylvania, the seventh state to do so.

WILPF Pittsburgh members Edith Bell and Susan Smith were present as were many other organizations such as the League of Women Voters. Ann Mason, biographer, spoke about Daisy Lampkin, a local activist who worked for women’s suffrage and with the NAACP for many years.

The mayor mentioned that Pittsburgh is a CEDAW city, an initiative started by WILPF Pittsburgh before it grew and took on a life of its own.

View a video of the event here.

You can find out when your state ratified the 19th Amendment here.