TAKING CENTER STAGE: WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE IN GRAND RAPIDS AND MICHIGAN

The women’s suffrage movement in the United States spanned over seven decades, from the first women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 to the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. This national story is well known, with influential groups and individuals like the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), founded by Susan B. Anthony, and Alice Paul’s National Woman’s Party (NWP) included in every complete account of the struggle for women’s voting rights.

But the national story is not the whole story. State and local organizations were as critical to winning the vote as the national organizations headquartered in Washington, D.C. and New York. Grand Rapids suffragists agitated for the vote as early as 1874 and, in partnership with suffragists around Michigan, continued fighting until 1918, when a state constitutional amendment finally granted suffrage to all Michigan women. Grand Rapids suffragists would take center stage in both the Michigan and national suffrage movements during this nearly half-century long effort.

Prepared in celebration of the 100th anniversary of national women’s suffrage in 2020, this digital history exhibit tells the rich history of women’s suffrage in Grand Rapids and in Michigan. It documents the three central stages of the Grand Rapids campaign and explores its stories in depth with historical vignettes from key moments of the decades-long struggle. Finally, a comprehensive timeline puts the Grand Rapids suffrage movement in context by highlighting crucial events from both the Michigan and U.S. suffrage movements.