Selena Fox on the centennial of the 19th Amendment

Selena Fox on the centennial of the 19th Amendment
By Star Bustamonte | August 26, 2020

This is part one of a two-part interview with Selena Fox on gender equality and the 19th amendment. Click here for part two.
TWH – The 19th amendment was passed by the U. S. Senate on June 4, 1919, ratified on August 19, 1920, and was officially added to the U. S. constitution 100 years ago today, on August 26.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

For the first time in the history of the United States, women were able to vote in the presidential election on November 2, 1920.
It’s important to note that while the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920, many women of color still faced considerable obstacles when it came to voting. It was not until the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965 that women of color could finally vote without being subject to a variety of harassment at the polls.

In 197o, a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights on August 26 renewed fight for equal rights. The first version of an Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in 1923 and would continue to be reintroduced every year through to 1972.

In 1971, a joint resolution by the U. S. Congress was first introduced to designate August 26 as Women’s Equality Day to commemorate the official enactment of the 19th Amendment. In 1972, President Richard M. Nixon issued Proclamation 4147 making August 26, Women’s Rights Day. A year later in 1973, the U. S. Congress would finally approve August 26 as Women’s Equality Day, and Nixon would issue Proclamation 4243 which every US president since would continue to affirm.

TWH spoke with the Rev. Selena Fox about the impact of the 19th amendment on women’s right, and how the fight for equal rights continues.

Fox is a Nature priestess, EcoFeminist, Pagan civil rights activist, life passages facilitator, author, podcaster, teacher, spiritual psychotherapist, and counselor. She is also a senior minister of Circle Sanctuary, founder of Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve located in southwestern Wisconsin, which includes Circle Cemetery, a national Pagan burying ground that is among the first Green cemeteries in North America. Fox holds an M. S. in counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her writings, rituals, chants, and photographs have been widely published online and in print.

Fox hosts two weekly podcasts, Nature Spirituality and Nature Mystic on Circle Sanctuary’s internet radio network, CSNP.

Rev. Selena Fox in front of the Women Vote Centennial exhibit at the National Archives – Courtesy

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