Ask the Expert: Women’s Suffrage in Nevada
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Women’s Suffrage in Nevada
On February 7, 1920, Nevada voted to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. By August of 1920, 36 states ratified the 19th amendment, ensuring that all across the country the right to vote could not be denied based on sex. 100 years later, Nevada kicked off its 80th legislative session with a first in the country, the majority of legislators are women. The 2018 election also gave Nevada another first, both US Senators are women and three out of six statewide office holders are women. In addition, half of the US Congressional seats for the state are held by women.
But, what is the state of women’s political participation in Nevada?
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Professor Sondra Cosgrove is one of our We the People scholars and judges. She teaches at the College of Southern Nevada and she is the President of the League of Women Voters of Nevada and President of the League of Women Voters of Southern Nevada. She is active on many boards including the ACLU and the Nevada Center for Civic Engagement. She Chairs the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee for Participatory Democracy.
Leisa Mosely has spoken to our James Madison Legacy Project teachers. She is the State Director of the Fines and Fees Justice Center. She is an activist, strategist, and senior political consultant with over ten years of experience working on local, state, and national campaigns, including President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign. Most recently, she served as the Nevada State Political Director for Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign.
Tierney Cahill is the Principal at Incline High School School. They are deeply committed to high expectations for all, Problem & Project Based Learning, Social Justice lessons that lead to actionable advocacy in our community, and the deep belief that anything is possible when we pull together as a community to work for the common good. At the urging of her students, she ran for Congressional District 2 in 2000.
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SS.9-12.US.14. Evaluate the impact of individuals and reform movements on the struggle for greater civil rights and liberties.
SS.9-12.US.16. Interpret events from a variety of historical and cultural perspectives, including but not limited to: suffragettes, civil rights activists, nationalists, progressives, political activists, immigrant groups.
SS.9-12.US.17. Investigate the evolution of gender roles and equality within social and economic life in the U.S.
SS.9-12.US.26. Examine how and why diverse groups have been denied equality and opportunity, both institutionally and informally.
SS.9-12.US.27. Analyze how resistance movements organized and responded to oppression and infringement of civil liberties, and evaluate the impact of the responses.
SS.9-12.US.30. Discuss the contributions of racially and ethnically diverse leaders to the advancement of the U.S.
SS.9-12.US.31. Analyze the intellectual, cultural, religious, and artistic contributions of diverse individuals in U.S. to the modern world.
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Primary Source documents about Women’s Sufferage are available here.
This site has histories of the women of Congress for independent research and learning.
This collection of lesson plans is appropriate for grades 7-12 and you can use as many or few as you have the time for. (Note: you will need to click the “essay” button to retrieve the primary source because the link in the lesson plan does not work.)
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In your community, identify how and where women are making an impact. What can be done to further empower women? This can be personal or political, in the public or private sectors. Use the inspiration of Tierney’s class and the challenge received to fuel your thinking for informed action!
