Our rich history of Election Day has to do with the different ways we have cast our ballots, the way we have received the news, and the way we have celebrated the day.
Welcome to America Comes Alive!, a site I created to share little-known stories of America’s past.
These stories are about Americans—people just like you—who have made a difference and changed the course of history. Look around the site and find what inspires you.
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Women in Politics: An Equality Emergency
While the mid-term elections involved the constant media coverage of several female candidates (O’Donnell, Angle, McMahon, et al), the current tally shows that even when the last winners are determined, the number of women in elective offices will have dropped for the first time since 1978. Experts indicate that the number of women in the upcoming Congress is expected to slip slightly below the previous figure of 17 percent. This will bring the U.S. ranking to 90th in the world for the number of women serving in its country’s national legislature.
The situation has been declared an “equality emergency” by the Women’ Campaign Forum (WCF), a nonpartisan organization founded to support women at all levels of office, particularly during the earliest stages of their public life when support is most needed.
Today’s Voting Shenanigans Are Nothing Like This
While many people look to 1920 and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment as the start of women casting ballots in the United States, this actually isn’t true.
Women’s Equality Day: Behind-the-Scenes
Women’s Equality Day is marked today, August 26, and it will likely be celebrated this year in much the same way it was celebrated in 1920–that is to say, hardly at all.
Little-Remembered Stories of Women and the Vote
If women’s news receives the coverage it deserves during the next week or so, then there will be stories about women and the vote.
