1915 Women’s Suffrage Poster: “Vote for Woman Suffrage Nov. 2nd.”

Woman's Suffrage failed in all three states that held suffrage referenda on November 2, 1915: New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.

Historical Background On November 2, 1915, male voters rejected women's suffrage by a majority of 58 percent in New York, 53% in Pennsylvania, and 64.5% in Massachusetts. Undaunted, the American Woman Suffrage Association continued to press their case. When asked how long the triple defeat would delay their next attempt, Anna Howard Shaw replied, "Until we can get a little sleep. The fight will be on tomorrow morning—on forever, until we get the vote."

In 1917, the New York legislature allowed a second referendum, and this time, it passed by a vote of 703,129 to 600,776, with the entire margin of victory coming from New York City.

World War I became an important lever for the national suffrage movement, which pointed out the hypocrisy of American claims to be a democratic society. While continuing state by state efforts, suffragists took up the call for a national movement. In his address to the U.S. Senate on September 30, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson came out in support of extension of the vote to women "as vitally essential to the successful prosecution of the great war of humanity in which we are engaged."

In June 1919, Congress passed and submitted to the states the proposed Nineteenth Amendment. When Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify it, in August, 1920, the amendment became part of the Constitution, culminating seventy-two years of effort on behalf of women's suffrage.

Condition: Expertly conserved and restored with some infill work to the left vertical outside blue edge.