Women's Suffrage

Women’s Suffrage Timeline

Glimpse of the life of a Flapper

Bessie Smith

Women’s Suffrage Movement took place over a period of 70 years, beginning with the first women’s convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls, to the final push of the 19^th Amendment in 1920.  The drive for women’s suffrage progressed after the passage of the 15^th amendment to the Constitution, giving black men the right to vote but no to women. In 1869, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). The ideal goal of NWSA was to gain women’s right to vote through and amendment of the Constitution, while also demanding equal employment and education for women. Along side of the NWSA, Lucy Stone and her husband, Henry Blackwell, led the American Women Suffrage Association.  This association’s main goal was to induce individual states to grant women the right to vote. In 1890, the two organizations united to form the National American Women Suffrage Association. All organizations encouraging this movement began strategies such as mass marches, lobbing, hunger strikes, and civil disobedience to achieve what Americans identify as a radical change.

Jazz music was a propelling force in the Women’s Liberations Movement in the United States during the 1920’s.  Women had been the greatest party of supporters for the ratification of the 18th and 19th Amendments.  Prohibition and the Women’s Suffrage Movement were almost completely pursued by women's organizations.  With these historic victories to pave the way for a more widespread empowerment for women, jazz music provided females of all ages with opportunities for rebellion. Women wanted to be seen as individuals outside of their traditional roles and mothers and housewives. Jazz music helped to provide women with jobs within the music industry, and expanded the base of women as a consumer target market.  Women were able to escape and allowed greater freedom of their language, clothing and behavior in places such as the dance halls, jazz clubs, and speakeasies. Jazz encouraged “infantile” behavior through the unrestrained and improvisational feel of the music.  

            

           Prior to the 1920’s, only male musicians performed the majority of popular music. Jazz music provided a magnitude of new jobs for women during the 1920s.  Inspirational women such as Lil' Hardin, Bessie Smith, and Ma Rainy paved the way for women to pursue careers in the ever popular performing arts.  The wild popularity of Hardin's compositions and Smith's recordings encouraged other women to begin pursuing careers in the music industry.  Jazz music motivated the first Broadway musical, “Showboat”, which opened in 1927.  This production opened up a whole new world of possible careers for women on stage, both on and off Broadway. In order to appeal to the liberated youth, establishments such as jazz clubs, speakeasies and stage shows were encouraged to the Flappers employed.

            

          All about feeling good and having fun, Jazz music was the soundtrack of the 1920’s and shaped the mentality of the decade. Jazz pulled so many people out of their comfort zone as its style of music continued to evolve. Jazz’s influence on Women’s Suffrage can be described as positive innovation for cultural diversion, free thinking and for new ideas.

Written by: Megan Waters

Works Cited:

Brockman, William. "The Jazz Age (Book)." Library Journal 112.15 (1987): 83. Academic    Search         Complete. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.

Owens, Patricia Ann. "The Great Depression, 1921-1937: The Jazz Age, Prohibition, And Economic Decline/Women At War, 1900-1920: The Progressive Era, World War I,        And Women's Suffrage/A New Deal For Women, 1938-1960: The Expanding           Roles Of Women…." School Library Journal 57.10 (2011): 156. Academic Search       Complete. Web. 16 Nov. 2012.