Revision: Dec. 2, 2019, 11:30 a.m.
HCR 8 - AS INTRODUCED
2020 SESSION
20-2048
08/05
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 8
SPONSORS: Rep. J. Schmidt, Hills. 28; Rep. Sofikitis, Hills. 34; Rep. Harriott-Gathright, Hills. 36; Rep. Almy, Graf. 13; Rep. Dutzy, Hills. 30; Rep. Cushing, Rock. 21; Rep. Ruprecht, Graf. 15; Rep. Van Houten, Hills. 45; Rep. Cohen, Hills. 28; Rep. Cote, Hills. 31; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13
COMMITTEE: Election Law
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ANALYSIS
This resolution commemorates August 26, 2020 as the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which guarantees that the right to vote shall not be denied on the basis of sex.
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20-2048
08/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty
Whereas, the fight for women's suffrage, from the first women's rights convention to enfranchisement, lasted 72 years, with women from all walks of life, political views, and demographic backgrounds asking for the right to voice their opinions at the polls; and
Whereas, New Hampshire women fought for the right to voice their opinions at the polls; and
Whereas, New Hampshire women fought for the right to vote more than a century before it was granted and persevered in the face of resistance; and
Whereas, New Hampshire's Senator Henry W. Blair delivered a passionate speech in the United States Senate on December 8, 1886 in favor of a national amendment granting women the vote; and
Whereas, New Hampshire women garnered national attention for their suffrage efforts, including Concord's Armenia White, who was the first president of the New Hampshire Woman Suffrage Association from 1868 until 1895 and along with her husband, Nathaniel White, was instrumental in securing women's right to vote in school elections in New Hampshire in 1878; and
Whereas, New Durham-born Marilla Ricker, Esq., attempted to vote in 1870 in Dover and every year thereafter, claiming that her status as a property owner and tax payer entitled her to a vote; and
Whereas, Portsmouth's Sallie Whittier Hovey chaired the New Hampshire branch of the National Woman's Suffrage Party and in June 1920 was among the picketers at the Republican national Convention in Chicago, arguing that the Republican Party must move forward with support for ratification; and
Whereas, the Eagle Hotel, located across the street from the state capitol building, was the site in February 1913 of a large banquet hosted by women's suffrage organizations, with suffragists from across the state attending and several notable figures speaking, including Governor Samuel Felker and William J. Britton, Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives; and
Whereas, it took male allies in Congress to support women in their endeavor to vote, for it was sons, husbands, and fathers who ultimately heard the calls of women and took the historic vote to pass the 19th Amendment in the United States Senate on June 10, 1919; and
Whereas, September 11, 2019 marked the 100th anniversary of New Hampshire becoming the 16th state to ratify the 19th Amendment; and
Whereas, the necessary 36 states soon ratified the 19th Amendment, thereby enfranchising nearly half of the United States population on August 26, 1920; and
Whereas, most of the women who began asking for the right to vote never lived to see the enfranchisement of women; and
Whereas, in the November 1920 election, when women could finally vote at local, state, and federal levels across the United States, 8,000,000 women did indeed vote; and
Whereas, 2 women were elected to the New Hampshire house of representatives in that 1920 election, Republican Jessie Doe of Rollinsford and Democrat Mary L.R. Farnum of Boscawen, both winning as write-in candidates, having been unable to register as voters and file nominations papers before the 19th Amendment took effect; and
Whereas, daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters of the women who fought so hard to vote have been making their voices heard at the polls for nearly 100 years, now voting in greater numbers than men; and
Whereas, women are running for office in unprecedented numbers, and many current politicians, both male and female, remember that they follow in the footsteps of these great suffragists; and
Whereas, in 2013, New Hampshire became the first state to have an entirely female Congressional delegation and also a female governor at the same time; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring: that New Hampshire commemorates August 26, 2020, as the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment becoming part of the United States Constitution and reaffirms New Hampshire's commitment to empowering and uplifting the voices of women and all voters across our great state.