Right now on matter of fact. If you were to run out in the street and poll americans and say 19th amendment most would not know what it was. Inside the exhibit shining a spotlight on the fight for a womans right to vote. Theres often more to the story than we realize. How a century of struggle inspires future generations of women voters. For me the 19th amendment was, it is everything. Soledad the nations archives were founded in 1934 and today hold billions of records that tell the story of americas history. It launches a new exhibit rightfully hers commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment ratified by 36 states in 1920, the 19th amendment prohibited states from denying the vote on the basis of sex. It was a victory for womens right but not all women. For perspective i sat down with three historians ann gordon scholar on the movement and editor of the stkaoufrpb stkaoufrpb papers at rutgers. Marcia chatelain associate proffer of history and africanamerican studies at Georgetown University and Maggie Blackhawk law proffer at university of pennsylvania and member of the ojibwe tribe. Soledad talk to me about the long fight for women who were trying to get the right and who were some of the bold face names if you will who were leading the charge. The central people from the early stages of. Movement to change the law were elizabeth, susan b. Anthony, lucy stone, then you really spread out very fast because it is a movement that spread very fast. It only was a long time in coming because men wouldnt say yes and the decisions were always going to be made by men who had a monopoly of political power and they were resisting it. They didnt want women to have the vote so it is a constant hammering away at the issue. I think that one of the significant things about the centennial is that for all the flaws in the amendment, it was a huge change to have law that said men, you cannot presume to be in charge. Soledad interestingly, i think if you were to run out in the street and poll americans today and say 19th amendment, most wouldnt know what it was. But throws who did would say women got the right to vote. Talk about who was left out of that amendment . Women of color the sense tha barriers to voting are already implemented in the south. So we have these different ways whether poll tax, hliteracy tax there is an infrastructure to disenfranchise people. Soledad and for africanamericans. We think of those to stop black people from voting. Absolutely. When you think of black women they are noting having access to the ballot but what is important about this amendment is the political negotiations made in the process of getting to that day. In that process i think that you really get the history of what happens when you try to create a Multiracial Coalition and the ways it breaks down. Soledad when you think about native women, i mean the vote did not come to native women until the 1960s, which is insane. Talk about that process to get the vote that took so, so long. I think the story of blackwhite movements is where you see the erase your of native people because of the complexity of native people adds too much. Soledad legally and fact that you had tribal laws . Most native people see themselves first and foremost as represented by their native nation so getting the vote within the United States is less of a priority than getting recognition for inherent tribal sovereignty. Often the vote was dangled in front of people to try to und undermine tribal sovereignty. In 1987 you had the us tkaurs act breaking,reservation lands to undermine native nameses and the offerings to people if they swore off allegiance generals to the nation nation was citizenship. Soledad as we go into this centennial how do we feel about the 19th amendment . Is it asterisk got the right to vote or wow, yet another messy process in the direction we are hoping to head as citizens of this country . I think it is your beautiful, but, situation. It is a huge change in thinking about political power. And governance in that kind of beacon of freedom role that the United States allegedly plays, that that we played that role on this that we changed the underlying assumptions. But we did it with a lot of racial assumptions put in place and with a lot of political kprcompromises that were nels. When i think of teaching history to College Students and stories of women who may they may have wanted the vote but wo. Soledad even though they were not working for themselves they re inspired to keep going in the face of maybe no opportunity at all. Absolutely. So they are organizing and doing local level things and making sure that people are not languishing in jails. Theres power in all of these places that is outside of the vote. I think this is what this anniversary can remind us of. When people are disenfranchised it doesnt mean they lose a sense of their power. Soledad two native women are in congress but you could say only two native women are in congress. If you look at Voting Rights restrictions falling in the 1960s having two native women going into congress at the same time deb holland and sher it is a huge inspiration to see there was this Beautiful Image of new chair and this momentous moment to see a native woman taking that role within the institutions. Although Indian Country fights for tribal sovereignty there is there vision we are you dual citizens and to see us represented in the congress is deeply inspiring. Soledad i appreciate the conversation. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next on matter of fact. Soledad what are the issues that would drive you not just to the polls but your engagement . From past to the future. What is inspiring young women to vote today. And beyond the 19th amendment some surprising to this really weird picture. It looks like a room. What is it . Can you tell what this is . Tired of clean clothes that just dont smell clean . What if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks . Now they can this towel has already been used and it still smells fresh. Pour a cap of downy unstopables into your washing machine before each load and enjoy fresher smelling laundry for up to 12weeks. For spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhub . Grubhubs gonna reward you for that with a 5 off perk. doorbell rings [crowd] grubhub fireworks exploding doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Soledad welcome back to the National Archives. Nearly a century since winning vote women vote at higher rates than men. According to the rut Diverse Center for american women in politics voter turnout for women has outpaced men in every president ial election since 1980. And they voted at higher rates in the 2018 Midterm Election as well. All age groups saw a boost in numbers but turnout increased most between the ages of 18 to 24. Naba rahman is a senior at Georgetown University and Allison Tovar is a junior at american university. It is nice how would you describover but i think i would like to define myself as more of a millennial definition of that. I remember soledad what is a millennial definition of a republican . When i first signed up as a republican and it was me, my friend sitting there and in our auditorium in florida and we were thinking, we dont necessarily agree with a lot of the direction the Republican Party is going in but if there is one person that could push them more to the right one can push them to the left toward policies we want to see as the next generation. Soledad allison you are a junior and you have focused on opportunities for women. Where are you politically . Im a registered democrat. For me i think that growing up in a very female dominated home by my mother who is passionate about womens advocacy, womens work, is something that shapes my idea of what is fair, right and what women simply deserve. Soledad what is your background . Im from stamford, corn. My mother is from east texas so she is tehana and my father is colombian so it those. Soledad wont are the issues into would drive you not just to the polls but drive your engagement . For example a woman on the president ial ticket in some capacity, Vice President , Vice President. Is that something that would inspire you or would you say it is irrelevant . I want it to be the norm. I think writing so many articles and reading articles about it is important but i do hope one day that is the norm and it is not shocking or impressive that 25 of congress is made up of women. Women are just as likely if not more than men to win elections but it is getting the never seen somebody who looks like them so for me it is important to see a woman be at the top of a ticket because i want people what myself or people of my generation to have that ould do that one day. Soledad when you think that we are looking at the 100th anniversary for the 19th amendment how do you think about there history and how do you view it . It speaks to where our nation is and we should celebrate those women who succeeded if what they intended to do but it is a chance to reflect of how can we do better because that is what is lost in a lot of millennial conversation we are angry and want to radical identifies. We believe that we can do better and we will take the strong womens ideas and opinions with us forward and mold them no something more incredible. For me the 19th amendment was it is everything. Any sort of political activism or voice that i have comes down to that moment. There have been significant points of progress since then. There is a lot to be made but it is important to take this anniversary to recognize and appreciate what the amendment did for us and see where we can go from here. Soledad i love that. Thank you, ladies. I appreciate it. When we come back. Soledad how do you have women voting for some stuff and men for everything. The lengths some men went to stop women from voting. Plus the women who survived a night of for error to help change the soledad the rightfully hers exhibit goes beyond just commemorating the 19th amendment. It honors the struggle women have fought for generations to have their voices included in american democracy. It includes documents and items that are only found here at the archives. The job of pulling together a centurys worth of suffrage history faults to the curator corinne porter. I sit on the board of the National Archives so i know how long these conversations have been going on. How did you pick between literally millions of items that you could put on display for the public . It was a huge challenge but we started with the original 19th amendment and it is a joint resolution proposing the 19th amendment to the constitution. It officially when ratified by three quarters of the states in became part of the constitution and says the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on the account of sex . Soledad it is kind of negative. It doesnt give win the right to vote. It says you cant deny someone the right. Ayanna it is not a positive affirm makes but it does give them the right to vote. Soledad there was so fascinating to me and it looks like just a regular old ledger. What is this from and what is it . It is a tabular statement of the grant of limited suffrage want written up in the 1890s but lists instances when states gave some women some Voting Rights starting in 1838 we kentucky gave widows that owned enough taxable property the right to vote for school trustees. Soledad pretty amazing. They are saying women can vote under this circumstance in the 1800s. What stuck out the most in there document . I just love to see all of the different classes of groups of women, the qualifications, then the extent of privilege meaning what they are allowed to vote for. Soledad that brings us to this really weird picture. It looks like a room. What is it . Ayanna it is a patent drawing for a voting machine. As states gave women some Voting Rights that creates an issue because you have men that can vote for whatever what on election day but women only in certain elections so that creates a bit of a management issue. Soledad how do you have women voting for some stuff and men for the purpose everything . Only certain women for certain things yet they have to go to the voting pwaofpt. Ayanna on the patent you see theres an entrance on the left for ladies and entrance on the right for men. Then this complicated system of gears and levers attached to the doors. The women would go through the entrance on the left and that would operate those levers to basically restrict the voting options only to what they are allowed to vote for. Soledad so the door triggered what you would have access to, if you you are a guy it went the other way. What do you hope the visitors take away . So few people i think really understand the 19th amendment and frankly the path to the 19th amendment, the struggle to get Voting Rights for women. I mope people learn that struggles even ones that end in really triumphant moments are theres often more to the story than we realize. Coming up next how the fight to win the vote for women was more than just political. Soledad they say they were beaten and tortured. Do you know the difference between a suffer jet and suffer a jet and soledad one of the darkest episodes in the Womens Suffrage Movement is known as the night of terror error on november 14, 1917. 3 33 suffragists were arrested after prefptding in front of the white house an taken to occoquan work house outside washington. There they say they were beaten and tortured by the male prison guards. Lucy stone cofounder of the National Womens party was stripped naked and her hands chained to an iron bar raised over her ahead and forced to stand all night. Dora lewis was thrown into her cell and knocked unconscious after hitting her head on an iron bed. When some of them went on a Hunger Strike they were force fed rawesques an milk until they got sick. They remained in the prison two weeks until a judge dismissed the charges. The treatment they received got National Attention and is considered a Pivotal Moment in the suffrage movement. Two months later in january of 1918 president Woodrow Wilson changed his position and began to support the 19th amendment. When we return. Did you notice throughout the show we didnt use the temple suffraget suffragette. Suffraget suffragette. We will tell you why. We love our new home. Theres so much space. We have a guestroom now. But, we have aunts. Youre slouching again, ted. Expired, expired. Expired. Thanks, aunt bonnie. Its a lot of house. I hope you can keep it clean. At least geico makes bundling our home and Car Insurance easy. Which helps us save a lot of money oh, teddy. Did you get my friend request . Uh, ill have to check. doorbell ringing aunt jonis here for bundling made easy, go to geico. Com. Hello . Do i use a toothpaste that or one thats good for my teeth . Go to geico. Com. Now i dont have to choose. Crest 3d white. It removes up to 95 of surface stains. And strengthens enamel. From the number one toothpaste brand in america. Crest. Air wick scented oils arences infuseds in nature. With natural essential oils for fragrance day after day,up to 60 days air wick scented oils. Connect to nature. We know these are challenging times. Rest assured, you are not alone. Weve all had to adapt. And with summer here, your energy bills might go up with rising temperatures. Together, we can save energy and money. Try closing your shades during the day. Setting your ac to 78 or higher. Or cooling off with a fan when you can. United we are always stronger. Stay well, california, and keep it golden. Soledad finally did you notice we didnt use the temple suffragette. Theres a reason that requires a grammar lesson. The womens suffer ran movement happened in Great Britain and america about the same time and 1916 a british reporter wrote about them calling them sum a jet. Suffer randall means the right to vote in a political election but add willing ette gives in a smaller meaning. The reporter and many other men were mocking them. Activists in wreupbt decided to reclaim it and embrace it but not am america with where they preferred the more serious term suffragist any person who supported the right to vote. Today suffragette is more widely used global when but not here in the u. S. If you want to watch this episode again you can find it on matter of fact. Tv. Hello and welcome to today in the bay. Im robert handa, your host for your virtual show here on nbc bay area and cozi tv. Today we start on how nbc bay area and telemundo 48 are joining the nationwide pet Adoption Program clear the shelters. Then well have a special guest from the Silicon Valley pride event that is coming up. And then well end with our traditional artistic