Women's suffrage crusade in Indiana and beyond

<p dir="ltr">(January 18, 2020) The upcoming 100th anniversary of women's voting rights is certainly a reason to celebrate, but the history made in 1920 was the result of a long, arduous struggle, with setbacks, conflicts and crusaders who would not give up.</p> <p dir="ltr">All of that was true both nationally and in Indiana, so Hoosier History Live is exploring an array of aspects of the <strong>women's suffrage movement</strong> that led up to the ratification of the <strong><a href= "https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=63">19th Amendment</a></strong> on Aug. 26, 1920.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src= "http://hoosierhistorylive.org/images/May-Wright-Sewall-photo.PNG" alt= "Indianapolis suffragist May Wright Sewall (1844-1920), who served as an educator and civic leader in addition to founding The Propylaeum, became a top lieutenant of Susan B. Anthony." width="284" height="516" align="right" />Our deep dive includes a look at the roots of the suffragist campaign (there are links to abolitionists during the Civil War), conflicts among them over the best strategies to pursue, and a setback in the Hoosier state in 1917.</p> <p dir="ltr">That's when the <strong><a href= "http://iga.in.gov/">Indiana General Assembly</a></strong> approved suffrage legislation and nearly 40,000 Hoosier women registered to vote - only to have the act swiftly struck down by the courts before the women could cast ballots.</p> <p dir="ltr">In Indiana, historians point to the tiny town of <strong><a href= "https://www.dublinin.org/">Dublin</a></strong> in <strong>Wayne County</strong> as the birthplace of women's suffrage. The first women's rights convention in the state was held there in 1851, three years after a landmark national convention in <strong><a href= "https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/suffragette-city-a-timely-visit-to-seneca-falls-ny-birthplace-of-the-19th-amendment/2016/10/20/1247c284-8fc4-11e6-9c52-0b10449e33c4_story.html">Seneca Falls</a></strong>, N.Y.</p> <p dir="ltr">The <strong><a href= "http:/