The League of Women Voters of The Villages/Tri-County is preparing to celebrate the 99th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
The group will stage an EqualiTea event Friday, Aug. 16 from 2-4 p.m. at the Fish Hawk Recreation Center. Everyone is welcome to attend at a cost of $10 per person and participants aren’t required to have a Villages ID. Send an email to cgjohnson4103@gmail.com to RSVP for the event.
The 19th Amendment granted American women the right to vote. It was passed by Congress in 1919 and officially ratified on Aug. 18, 1920, which ended almost 100 years of protests.
Illinois was the first state to ratify the amendment in June 1919, followed by Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas and Ohio. The Sunshine State didn’t officially ratify the amendment until much later, in May 1969.
The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization that includes men and women who share the goal of empowering citizens to shape better communities. The organization was formed during the Suffragette Movement in February 1920 to inform new women voters.
The local chapter covers Sumter, Lake and Marion counties. To learn more, visit lwvtrifl.org.
