Delaware Rejects the 19th Amendment, June 2, 1920 (Ratifies March 6, 1923)

After Washington ratified the 19^th Amendment on March 22, 1920, all focus turned to Delaware which would be next to vote on ratification. Suffragists were confident that Delaware would be the 36^th state to ratify the suffrage amendment into law. The governor supported suffrage, no major organizations opposed the amendment, and most legislators had indicated that they would vote in support of suffrage. Nevertheless, when the special session of the Delaware Assembly convened on March 22, 1920 there was strong lobbying on the part of both pro- and anti-suffrage factions. On May 5, 1920 the Delaware Senate voted 11-6 to ratify the 19^th Amendment, strengthening suffragists' hope that the vote would soon be secured for women. Many were surprised when about a month later, the Delaware House of Representatives voted against the amendment 24-10, rejecting women’s suffrage. With defeat in Delaware the women’s suffrage movement had to shift their hopes on the few states left, such as Tennessee and North Carolina. The 19^th Amendment achieved ratification in August 1920 with the state of Tennessee and women’s suffrage became law. Mostly a symbolic act since the 19^th Amendment was already official, Delaware voted to ratify the 19^th Amendment on March 6, 1923.

Delaware held its first women’s rights conventions in 1869 and the state was strongly connected to the national suffrage movement through the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. In 1881 Delaware suffragette Mary Ann Stuart along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony addressed the Delaware General Assembly in support of suffrage. In 1895 the two main suffrage organizations formed in the state: the Delaware Equal Suffrage Association (associated with the National American Woman Suffrage Association) and the Wilmington Equal Suffrage Association. Because Delaware was a segregated state African American and white women had their own organizations. In 1897, suffragists attempt to get a suffrage amendment through the Delaware constitutional convention, but it is voted down. Several more attempts in the 1900s/1910s would also be rejected.

Despite several failed attempts to gain suffrage at the state level, Delaware women were prominent in the national suffrage movement. When Alice Paul took over leadership of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1912, she worked with Delaware suffragists Mable Vernon and Florence Bayard Hilles. Both Vernon and Hilles planned suffrage events within Delaware but also led groups of the “Silent Sentinels” at the White House, met with President Wilson, and openly protested during some of Wilson’s events. Vernon once heckled Wilson on a train platform over women’s rights and both Vernon and Hilles were part of the group that unfurled a suffrage banner while Wilson was addressing Congress. Both women were also arrested and jailed during the “Silent Sentinel” protests. 

"Delaware and the 19th Amendment." National Park Service. May 11, 2020. Accessed July 19, 2021. https://www.nps.gov/articles/delaware-and-the-19th-amendment.htm.

"Delaware Women's Suffrage Timeline." Delaware Historical Society and Delaware Humanities. Summer 2019. Accessed July 19, 2021. https://my.lwv.org/sites/default/files/leagues/wysiwyg/%5Bcurrent-user%3Aog-user-node%3A1%3Atitle%5D/suffrage_timeline_delaware.pdf.

Englehart, Lora Bilton. "We Look Back at Delaware's Integral Role in the Fight for Women's Voting Rights." DelawareToday. July 24, 2020. Accessed July 19, 2021. https://delawaretoday.com/life-style/people-community/delaware-role-womens-voting-rights-19th-amendment/.

"'Nothing Less' Exhibit Online. Delaware Humanities. Accessed July 19, 2021. https://dehumanities.org/nothingless/nothing-less-exhibit-online/.