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← Art Through History › The 20th Century

1848–1928

Votes for Women

For centuries women were not allowed to vote. In 1848 a meeting at Seneca Falls, New York, called for women's rights, and campaigns grew in Britain, the United States and Scandinavia. New Zealand allowed women to vote in 1893, Norway in 1913, Canada from 1917 to 1919 and the United States in 1920.

Why artists painted it

Posters, banners and paintings were important weapons for the suffrage movement. Colorful art turned a hard political fight into pictures that anyone could understand.

Official Program, Woman Suffrage Procession, March 3, 1913 Official Program, Woman Suffrage Procession, March 3, 1913 · Benjamin Moran, 1913

13 artworks about this moment

Official Program, Woman Suffrage Procession, March 3, 1913 Official Program, Woman Suffrage Procession, March 3, 1913 Benjamin Moran · 1913 👁️ Painted at the time A colorful program for the great Woman Suffrage Procession held in Washington on March 3, 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson became president. The Awakening The Awakening Henry Mayer · 1915 👁️ Painted at the time A woman in a golden gown, a symbol of Liberty, strides across a map of the United States in which the states where women could vote glow in gold. Lucretia Mott Lucretia Mott Joseph Kyle · 1842 👁️ Painted at the time Lucretia Mott, a Quaker minister and abolitionist, was one of the organizers of the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, which launched the American women's rights movement. President Wilson Says Votes for Women President Wilson Says Votes for Women Nina E. Allender · 1917 👁️ Painted at the time A cartoon by Nina Allender, the cartoonist of Alice Paul's National Woman's Party, shows suffragists behind bars after being arrested for picketing outside the White House in 1917. VOTE (League of Women Voters) VOTE (League of Women Voters) League of Women Voters · 1920 👁️ Painted at the time A woman and a child stand in front of the Capitol on a poster for the League of Women Voters. Votes for Women a Success Votes for Women a Success National Woman Suffrage Publishing Co. · 1917 👁️ Painted at the time A map of North America, with the states and provinces where women could vote marked, on a suffrage poster from 1917. Life magazine cover, February 20, 1913 Life magazine cover, February 20, 1913 Rea Irvin · 1913 👁️ Painted at the time A Life magazine cover from the suffrage-themed issue of February 1913, in black and gold, by Rea Irvin, who later designed the New Yorker's first cover. Vote for the Woman Suffrage Amendment Vote for the Woman Suffrage Amendment Unknown artist · 1915 👁️ Painted at the time A map shows in yellow the states where women already had equal suffrage in 1915, and the poster urges voters to approve the woman suffrage amendment in November. I Didn't Raise My Girl to Be a Voter I Didn't Raise My Girl to Be a Voter Merle De Vore Johnson · 1915 👁️ Painted at the time An anti-suffrage poster from 1915, made by opponents of women voting, borrows the title of a famous song. Emmeline Pankhurst Arrested outside Buckingham Palace Emmeline Pankhurst Arrested outside Buckingham Palace Unknown photographer · 1914 👁️ Painted at the time Police carry the British suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst away on May 21, 1914, after she tried to bring a petition to King George V at Buckingham Palace. Nellie McClung Nellie McClung Unknown photographer · 1910 👁️ Painted at the time Nellie McClung, the Canadian writer and activist who led the campaign that made Manitoba the first province to give women the vote in 1916. Leaders of the Women's Social and Political Union, about 1906 Leaders of the Women's Social and Political Union, about 1906 Unknown photographer · 1906 👁️ Painted at the time Women's Social and Political Union leaders meet around 1906. Millicent Fawcett and Louisa Garrett Anderson Millicent Fawcett and Louisa Garrett Anderson Unknown photographer · 1899 👁️ Painted at the time Millicent Fawcett, the leader of Britain's peaceful suffrage societies, sits with her niece Louisa Garrett Anderson.