The Library of Virginia’s exhibition, We Demand: Women’s Suffrage in Virginia commemorated the centennial in 2020 of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing women the right to vote. We have compiled these resources as a reference for teachers and students learning about this important era in United States history.
Document Bank of Virginia
Document Bank includes classroom resources on the campaign for women’s voting rights. Browse the Women’s History theme or use the search term suffrage.
Virginia Changemakers
Learn more about some of the women who fought for their right to vote. Download our fact sheets about nine suffragists who were honored as Virginia Women in History for 2020.
In the Gallery Videos
Our In the Gallery videos on the Library’s YouTube channel highlight different aspects of the campaign for women’s voting rights in Virginia. Videos include a closer look at suffragists who picketed at the White House and Richmond civil rights activist Maggie L. Walker’s voter registration.
Debating Woman Suffrage
During the campaign for woman suffrage, many people disagreed about whether women should vote. Suffragists also disagreed about the best strategy to secure the vote, whether by amending the state constitution or the U.S. Constitution, and whether public protests helped or harmed their cause. Virginia women made their arguments in speeches, newspaper columns, letters to legislators, and conversations with friends and family. Listen to some of these arguments as read by Library of Virginia staff.
Equal Suffrage League of Virginia Records Online
The Equal Suffrage League of Virginia Records are now online through the Library’s catalog. Select the Finding Aid link and then select folders with links to digital images. Each link contains digitized images for all the items in that folder (unless otherwise noted). Keyword searching is not yet available.
Virginia Newspapers Online
Virginia Chronicle provides free access to more than four million newspaper pages from the commonwealth and beyond. These full-text searchable and digitized images give glimpses into the lives of Virginians from 1787 to 2022, including the fight for women’s voting rights.
Color our Collections
The Equal Suffrage League of Virginia was organized in 1909 in Richmond to advocate for women’s voting rights. Enjoy coloring selected illustrations from the Equal Suffrage League records, as well as additional political ephemera from the Library’s Visual Studies Collection. Print one page or print them all!