Every year on Aug. 26, we remember the many brave pioneers of the women’s suffrage movement that gave women the right to vote. We also remember all of the women that have continued the fight for equality after the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
This year marks 100 years since the 19th Amendment was officially signed and took effect. Tennessee was the last state to ratify the amendment, which took place the week before, then it was sent back to Washington D.C. for the final and official signature. Fifty-three years later, in 1973, U.S. Congress designated Aug. 26 as Women’s Equality Day.
In honor of Women’s Equality Day, a Women's Vote Centennial Caravan was held in downtown Denver, organized by History Colorado and the Women's Vote Centennial Commission.
Buildings in downtown Denver, including the Denver Art Museum, were lit up purple – purple, along with gold and white and the symbolic colors of the Women’s Equality Movement.
Shaun Boyd, curator of archives at History Colorado, explained that women in the United States borrowed the British suffragists’ symbolic colors, which were purple, white and green. However, American women swapped out the green for gold since Susan B. Anthony had been using gold in her campaigns.
Each of the three colors has a meaning that is significant to the movement as a whole.
“The gold they said stands for hope, the white stands for purity and purple, or violet, stood for loyalty. But my favorite explanation of what they meant is gold for get, white for women, and violet for votes. So, get-women-votes,” Boyd said.
Here in Colorado, we have yet another reason to celebrate the day. Colorado was a leader in women’s equality, as it was the first state to take steps toward giving women the right to vote 30 years prior to the ratification of the amendment. Wyoming was technically the first, but at that time, in 1893, Wyoming was still a territory, not a state.
Here's how some Colorado organizations are celebrating the day:
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