Members of the CSRA League of Women Voters held a suffrage fashion show Sunday at the Unitarian Universalist Church in honor of Women’s Equality Day, which is Aug. 26.
Votes and Petticoats highlighted the 72-year fight for the women’s right to vote that began at the 1848 Seneca Falls women’s rights convention.
“They faced ridicule and opposition,” said Gayla Keesee of those pioneering women.
Keesee is the organization’s co-president, who dressed according to the theme of the Votes and Petticoats event marking the 104th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
Many suffragettes such as Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for women’s right to vote, but they died before they could see it fulfilled.
“They knew they were fighting for something bigger,” Keesee said.
While the amendment stated that no one should be denied the vote based on sex, non-white women often faced additional barriers to the vote, Keesee said.
It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that these barriers were removed, she said.
Suffragettes used color and fashion in stating their cause.
Their flag consisted of purple for loyalty and dignity, white for purity and gold or yellow for hope. Sunflowers and yellow roses also symbolized the hope of the effort. A red rose meant someone was against the women’s right to vote.
The League of Women Voters formed about six months before the amendment’s ratification to help educate women on the voting process.
Designer Melanie Caballero brought the fashions to life.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 36 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
