Affirming the vote

About two dozen women and men gathered Sunday at Comstock Park for what’s become an annual observance of the anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in the United States.

They dined on fried chicken and engaged in light-hearted political rhetoric in recalling the struggle for women’s equality.

The event commemorates the pivotal vote on Aug. 26, 1920, by Tennessee lawmakers to finalize ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which extended voting rights to women.

As a movement, women’s suffrage dates back to the late 1700s in England, and was a persistent force in the U.S. prior to the Civil War.

“We need to have fun and celebrate these women from the suffrage movement,” said Jan Polek, one of the organizers.

Kathryn Graham said that although women have had the right to vote for decades, there are still a lot of issues facing women, including equal pay and adequate health care.

“We want to raise awareness of the date women got the right to vote,” Graham said.

Sunday’s picnic, known as Spokane Women’s Equality Day, was sponsored by several organizations, including the Spokane Women’s Coalition, the Woman’s Club of Spokane and Agnes Kehoe Progressive Alliance. The turnout was smaller than in previous years, organizers said.

During the event, the group sang a series of suffragette songs, including “The New America,” a takeoff on the hymn, “America.”

Door prizes such as a Rosie the Riveter doll and a compact disc of “Menopause, The Musical” drew laughs. A handful of Susan B. Anthony dollar coins were also passed out.

Polek said one of the group’s goals is to get the city to replace a tree planted in the 1920s in Lincoln Park in honor of May Arkwright Hutton, Spokane’s renowned suffragette. The tree has since died. Hutton had lived in a home at the northwest corner of the park.

Gwen McManis, president of the Woman’s Club of Spokane, said her organization is hosting an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 16 to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the social action organization at its historic building at 1428 W. Ninth Ave.