Women’s Equality Day is August 26 each year and commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted the right to vote to women. This year, we commemorate 100 years of women’s voting rights in the United States and we invite you to help us!
The deadline to submit your photos and videos is Thursday, September 10, 2020 at 4 p.m.
Option One – Join our video celebration
Ask your parent or caregiver to help make a video of you answering one or more of the questions below. Your video submission will be included in a special video to premiere during GSCO’s Civics Month in October 2020.
What makes you wish you could vote? (If you are not 18 yet and wish you could vote!)
What would you do first if you were an elected official?
What is something you believe in enough to advocate or march for?
Please wear your Girl Scout vest or sash in your video, if you have one. Videos should be made horizontally ONLY and uploaded at: https://www.dropbox.com/request/u5ZkyaABV8J3ysQwXMkg.
By uploading a video, you are providing consent for Girl Scouts of Colorado to share your video publically.
Option Two – Make a sign showing your passion for women and girl’s equality
People fighting for women’s right to vote 100 years ago made signs that said things like, “Equality for women!” and “Votes for Women!” Consider decorating your sign with the colors of the women’s suffrage movement in the United States: purple, white, and gold.
Ask your parent or caregiver to snap a photo of you in your Girl Scout vest or sash holding your sign and email it to girlsexperience@gscolorado.org. Please include the Girl Scout’s first name only, city, and troop number in the email. By emailing your photo to us, you are providing consent for Girl Scouts of Colorado to share the photo publically.
Option Three – Color a suffrage cat
“Did you know that the cat was a symbol of the women’s suffrage movement? In April of 1916, suffragists Nell Richardson and Alice Burke started a cross-country road trip. Setting out from New York, these two women stopped in cities and towns across America to talk about the importance of women’s suffrage. Along the way, the women adopted a cat that became their unofficial mascot. The cat became a symbol of suffrage!”- National Parks Service, https://www.nps.gov/articles/suffrage-cat.htm
Color and decorate your own suffrage cat and send us a photo of your completed artwork! Ask your parent or caregiver to email your completed cat to girlsexperience@gscolorado.org. Please include the Girl Scout’s first name only, city, and troop number in the email. By emailing your photo to us, you are providing consent for Girl Scouts of Colorado to share the photo publically.
Please note: While we celebrate 100 years of women’s voting rights in the United States, we also need to take a closer look at the history of women of color’s voting rights. Did you know . . .
Full exercise of Black voting rights was intended with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Native American women were largely excluded from voting before the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924; some states and localities still passed laws effectively barring Natives from voting until the late 1940s.
Not until the late 1940s and 1950s were restrictions on Asian American voting removed.
Interested in learning more about the Women’s Suffrage Centennial? Check out the following:
Resource: 2020 Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative – https://www.2020centennial.org/faq#q6
Questions? Email aimee.artzer@gscolorado.org.
We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.