by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College will be the host of Women’s Equality Day later this month.
The event is from noon to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 26 in Upper Jewell. It is free and open to the public.
Women’s Equality Day commemorates the granting of women the right to vote in the United States. First proposed in 1878, women known as suffragettes worked for more than 40 years to gain equal voting rights. Some would try to pass suffrage acts in individual states. Others organized parades, vigils or even hunger strikes. New York was the first state to adopt women’s suffrage in 1917.
After that, President Woodrow Wilson changed his position and started supporting a woman’s right to vote. Other politicians soon followed his lead. On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was certified as law, and since 1972, every president has issued a proclamation for Women’s Equality Day.
“Women worked for 72 years to win the right to vote,” said Jennifer Gieschen, coordinator of Women and Gender Advocacy at KCKCC. “They lectured, lobbied, marched, protested, landed in jail, refused to eat and even died for the cause. On the 96th Anniversary of Women getting the vote, we will recognize the hard work it took to get there.”
During KCKCC’s Women’s Equality Day event, attendees will have the chance to learn about the history about women’s right to vote as well as the most current legislation. Among the speakers is Superintendent Cynthia Lane of the Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools. She recently defended school funding before Gov. Sam Brownback. In addition, a Courageous Voice Award will be given to Jensen Walcott, a student at Basehor-Linwood High School and speaker at the Democratic National Convention. She is being recognized for her courage in asking for equal pay.
The co-host of the KCKCC Women’s Equality Day event is Women and Gender Advocacy Services of the Counseling and Advocacy Center, the American Association of University Women and the Intercultural Center.
For more information, call 913-288-7193.
Kelly Rogge is the public information supervisor at Kansas City Kansas Community College.