Business women: ‘What a wonderful foundation we’ve been given’

MT. PLEASANT - Nancy McCleary, now 71 years old, has voted in every single election since she turned 18.

'It's always been really important to me. I've felt my vote has been important each time,” she said.

The Mt. Pleasant Business and Professional Women group member recently helped put together a display case at the public library in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.

After doing research on the women's suffrage movement, McCleary and several other members of the group were inspired to bring the celebration to Mt. Pleasant and help educate others. McCleary became the chairwoman for the group's suffragist committee. This year, the group has gone with a 'Hard won, not done!” theme.

'When you think about that time and what those women did, it's pretty amazing. To go forward and do that, all across our nation,” she said. 'I think we should teach our younger people how important it is to go after the rights you feel are important.”

The display case holds books about prominent women in history, including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and posters with information about suffragettes, as well as an interactive quiz sheet, which encourages people to do online research of their own about the 19th Amendment.

Marty Schumacher, a member of the committee, said the process of creating the display case began a year ago when she and others from the Business and Professional Women attended a meeting in Des Moines, where the group learned of the anniversary.

'It's a monumental moment in history,” she said. 'Women are rarely the focus of national observations or holidays, so we want to make the most of this opportunity to place American Suffragists solidly in our nation's history.”

Although the nation will be celebrating a major milestone in the progression of womens' rights, Schumacher added it's important to remember the 19th Amendment did not give all women the right to vote.

'Black women, particularly in the South, were barred from voting for decades after 1920. It wasn't until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 that their rights were finally upheld,” Schumacher wrote in an explanation of the group's celebration.

Other women of color were similarly denied the right to vote into the mid-1900s.

'Struggles for true equal rights continue,” Schumacher said.

McCleary added it's important to celebrate big milestones like the 100th anniversary because women are continuing to 'become more prominent in all fields.”

'It's important that people understand how hard women work and some of the things [BPW] thinks is really important to work for are the right to vote and equal status in work,” she added.

Schumacher said celebrating the anniversary reminds women that 'each generation is standing on somebody's shoulders.”

'We need to remember where we came from in order to fulfill our obligation to pass on what we learned in all their 100 years. We don't have to start from scratch,” she said.

Like McCleary, Schumacher added she hopes young women will be encouraged and inspired to continue moving forward.

'What a wonderful foundation we've been given. It's an ongoing thing, like any other battle,” she said.