http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/features/x84262179/90-years-ago-women-gained-the-right-to-voteA woman is struck down during a suffragette demonstration in 1903.
By Julia Spitz/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Aug 21, 2010 @ 11:10 PM
The balloons Carol Kane will tie to a Framingham Centre signpost Thursday pay tribute to her great-aunt Josephine Collins.
The colors pay tribute to Lydia Taft of Uxbridge, Augusta Cheney of Natick, Louisa May Alcott of Concord, the "Women Taxpayers" of Milford, fellow Framingham resident Louise Parker Mayo, and the thousands of other local women who shared in Collins' goal.
White, gold and purple symbolize the suffragette movement that brought voting rights to all American women 90 years ago, when Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment on Aug. 18, 1920, and it became the law of the land on Aug. 26.
The 90th anniversary "serves as a reminder of both the lengthy struggle that preceded it, and the relatively short period of time that women in the United States have been fully enfranchised," said Anita Danker, a Framingham resident and retired Assumption College associate professor of education.
"I think that Massachusetts women had a more visible presence during the first wave - Lucy Stone, Lydia Maria Child, Abby Kelley Foster and Lucretia Mott were among the most prominent," said Danker. "In 1850, the National Woman's Rights Convention was held in Worcester, and Susan B. Anthony herself was born in Adams."