Political Quotes

“on a Spring day in April 1891 in Lombard, IL, Ellen Martin, an attorney, and 14 other women marched to their voting place at the local general store to do something most of us take for granted today. They demanded to be allowed to vote. The town charter enfranchised all citizens and did not mention sex. Stunned polling judges were forced to allow Ellen Martin and the 14 to vote. One account had a judge so flabbergasted that he fell into a flour barrel. But this momentary right to vote was short-lived. The Lombard town council quickly changed the charter to, once again, allow only men to vote, but the spark had been struck. Four months later, the Illinois State charter was changed to allow women to vote in local school elections. It took 28 years after that day in April for American women to achieve the right to vote. On this 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, we honor Ellen Martin and the countless other supporters of women's suffrage. Sadly, Ellen Martin died in 1916. She did not live to see the 19th Amendment pass. The women of my home State of Illinois won limited voting rights in 1913 through the legendary work of Grace Wilbur Trout, Jane Addams, Frances Willard, and countless others. Women had the right to vote only for Presidential electors and most local offices, but not for Governor, State representatives, or Members of Congress. In Chicago, icon Ida B.…”