100 years of the 19th Amendment celebrated at WKU

Congress passed the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote in June of 1919.

The Amendment wouldn’t be ratified until August the next year.

In recognition of the centennial of the 19th Amendment, several WKU departments and community organizations are working together to offer a variety of programs.

To kick off this year of celebration and commemoration of the historic event, some of Kentucky’s elected officials joined together to sign a proclamation to start up "Journey to the Vote," a year-long initiative highlighting the 19th Amendment.

“I believe it’s really important for our students to not only understand but honor and recognize how important it is that they have a right to vote and that they exercise that right to vote," said Victoria Gordon, WKU’s Department of Political Science Professor. "And so that is our sole purpose is to just raise awareness and get our students involved in something very meaningful.”

Other events in this series include Dr. Saundra Ardrey leading a community discussion on womanism with a focus on African-American women pre-suffrage and post-suffrage later this year.

For more about the “Journey to the Vote," visit www.wku.edu/go/journey