Moments in Kentucky
Legislative History

Presented by the Kentucky Historical Society

Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment

On the first day of the session, January 6, 1920, the Kentucky General Assembly by a margin of 72 to 25 in the House and 30 to 8 in the Senate ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving women the right to vote. Kentucky thus became one of only four southern states to approve the federal amendment, which went into effect after Tennessee ratified it on August 26, 1920.

Governor Edwin P. Morrow signs the ratification as members of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association look on.

Governor Edwin P. Morrow signs the ratification as members of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association look on. Suffrage leader Madeline McDowell Breckinridge stands behind Morrow (second from right). KHS Collections.

 
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