Nearly 100 years ago women won the right to vote. A 3-day celebration is in the works

The centennial of women winning the right to vote is still more than a year a way, but some women in Kansas are already preparing for a three-day long celebration.

There will be speakers, workshops, a gala, and an awards ceremony recognizing women who have made contributions to their communities.

About 100 years ago, Kansas was one of the first five states to ratify the 19th Amendment, allowing women the constitutional right to vote. To officially adopt the amendment, 36 states had to ratify it and on Aug. 18, 1920, women’s suffrage became law.

Historically, Kansas has not been viewed as a progressive compass, said Alana Roethle, executive director of the 19th Centennial celebration, but the state ratified the amendment more than a year before it become law.

“Kansas was a champion for women’s voting rights,” Roethle said.

Volunteers from all over the state have started working on celebrations. So far, about 175 women and men have signed up to help the 19th Centennial celebration.

Celebrations will take place across the state. But the event in Wichita will be the official suffrage celebration of the state of Kansas thanks to a resolution passed through the Kansas Legislature, said Catherine Linaweaver, president of the 19th Centennial.

“When you think about where women have come since then, they opened so many doors for us,” Linaweaver said.

Jan Henrie, the namesake for the Women’s Leadership Fund at Wichita State, was the original donor and inspiration for the celebration. It was her vision that made the 19th Centennial nonprofit possible, Linaweaver said.

Henrie, a WSU alumna, is now an attorney on the west coast.

“She is a very high energy and big-visioned person,” Linaweaver said.

It all began in 2018 when Henrie sat a handful of women down over dinner to pitch her hopes for the centennial.

“(She) talked to us about it and we were all excited,” Linaweaver said.

From there, it didn’t take long to get the ball rolling. The process to start a nonprofit for the celebration quickly began and volunteers were recruited. Every three weeks since, there has been a regular meeting to work out the details and track progress, Linaweaver said.

It hasn’t been easy though, Roethle said.

“It’s like running a small business made up of volunteers,” Roethle said.

Another issue the 19th Centennial crew has faced is fundraising. Since the nonprofit will dissolve after the celebration, Linaweaver said people are hesitant to donate funds. A lot of people, she said, prefer to give to the same organizations and foundations over and over again.

“People don’t realize that an event of this magnitude takes so much planning,” Linaweaver said.

But the challenges they are encountering are nothing compared to the women who rallied for suffrage for decades. Linaweaver said.

“It took the women 70 years of blood, sweat and tears to get this amendment passed,” Linaweaver said. “Back then, those women were considered second class citizens and it’s important to educate kids about all of this work.”

The celebration is still more than a year away, Linaweaver said, but things are already starting to fall into place.

The celebration will begin Thursday, Aug. 13 at the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita with an opening ceremony to kick-off the weekend of events.

There will be a handful of workshops on Thursday before the opening event, but the bulk of the workshops will be held on Friday and Saturday. Specifics haven’t been hammered out quite yet, Linaweaver said, but each session should average between an hour to two hours long. All of the speakers and topics will concentrate on the three main themes of the centennial: unity, courage and leadership.

“We want to target, not only speakers that focus on those three principles, but also speakers with diverse backgrounds,” Linaweaver said.

When it’s all finalized, there should be a speaker of interest for every woman, whether they are in business, interested in politics or retired, Linaweaver said.

Friday evening, there will be an awards dinner where women from and currently living in Kansas will be honored based off of five categories.

Nothing is final, but Roethle said the categories are likely going to be business, civics and community, culture and arts, education and service. Winners will be announced sometime in April of 2020.

“We have so many women who either live in Kansas or have roots in Kansas who are doing these great things,” Linaweaver said.

The ceremony will be held in the Wichita’s WSU Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex.

On Saturday, there will be a speed-date style activities fair, Linaweaver said, where organizations and societies will have information about women’s groups, programs and other opportunities.

That evening, the celebration will end with a limited-seating gala with an unannounced speaker followed by a cocktail hour-style reception. About 200 seats will be available for the gala, but 2,000 people will be able to attend the reception. Tickets will go on sale for these events later. Prices remain undecided.

The gala will be hosted at Exploration Place.

“This is an event open for everyone, we want as many people as possible, not just women. ... We are all united, we are all Kansans,” Roethle said. “There are a lot of opportunities to volunteer and be apart of it.”

So far, Linaweaver said the nonprofit has secured at least 175 volunteers from all across the state.

“They are all excited to do one or two things throughout the year and that just says a lot about the women of Kansas believing in this and getting behind it,” Linaweaver said.

To support the 19th Centennial nonprofit, visit the website at 19thcentennial.com. On the website, you can donate to the organization, purchase Votes For Women sashes and pins, signup for the newsletter blasts and volunteer.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Linaweaver said. “It will only happen once in your lifetime. No matter how young or old you are, the 100th anniversary only comes around once.”