It's Time To Party: 100 Years Of Women's Suffrage In Lakewood

Not many women stop to think that for many years in the history of the United States, they were denied the right to vote. Women went to school, often high school, and college. They managed households, often large households, efficiently and economically. In shops and offices they may have worked side by side with their husbands. But they did not have the right to vote

Now, you may be thinking that the 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, adopted in 1920, remedied that problem.

But did you know that women in Lakewood were granted the right to vote in 1917, three years before the adoption of the 19th amendment? 

Yes, it’s true.

Lakewood’s City Council, seven men, voted to put the issue of suffrage in Lakewood on the ballot in 1917.  It passed two to one.

Those seven men on Council were not surprised. They expected a positive vote.

After all, the Ohio State Legislature had put the issue of suffrage on the state wide ballot in 1910, and 1912, and 1914.

The voters (all men, of course) defeated the statewide issue every time.

But, within the borders of Lakewood, the issue passed every time.

This year, the Lakewood Chapter of the League of Women Voters will celebrate this important Centennial with a party at the Womens Pavilion at Lakewood Park on Wednesday, November 15. Mark the date and watch for further details.

Pam Smith

Pam Smith, a former Lakewood City Councilwoman, is a Co-Chair of Voter Service Committee of the Lakewood Chapter of the League of Women Voters Greater Cleveland.

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Volume 13, Issue 17, Posted 12:35 PM, 09.06.2017