Rise Up LA: A Century of Votes for Women

ERA Yes
The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced in 1923 and nearly a century later has still not become law. (1970s–80s)

Both men and women campaigned against suffrage in the United States, claiming that women needed to be wives, mothers, educators, and philanthropists, and not to compete against men for jobs and political power.

In 1920, female voters helped pass the Eighteenth Amendment, which banned the sale of alcohol. Many hoped the new law would stop men from drinking their paychecks away at bars, and neglecting or abusing their wives and children.

After a decade of Prohibition, women were divided: Women's Christian Temperance Union and other “drys” wanted the alcohol ban to stand; Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform and other “wets” supported repeal.
 

Abolish Poll Tax
Many states required that voters pay a fee or poll tax—a form of voter suppression. 1950s

Presidential campaigns tried to appeal to housewives by selling the image of the First Lady. In the 1960 election, Pat Nixon and Jackie Kennedy competed as much as their husbands, with Nixon's ad campaign featuring the slogan "Pat For First Lady."

In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first African-American woman in Congress, and later the first to run for president of the Democratic Party. Ahead of her time, Chisholm had a vision of building a coalition of poor, young, female, and Black voters.

Viva la Mujer
The Aztec eagle, which symbolizes the United Farm Workers, inside the female symbol. (1960s)

In 1970, activist, author, and educator Angela Davis was arrested for suspected involvement in a shootout that occurred in a California courtroom. The “Free Angela” movement gained national support and in 1972 she was found innocent by a jury and released.

Black Lives Matter (BLM)
This L.A.-based group has helped lead a nationwide movement to "eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities." (2020)