Gathering Salutes 75 Years of Voting Rights for Women

During the 19th Century, her grandmother penned fiery articles for a small North Dakota newspaper advocating it. A generation later, her mother, then a college student in Missouri, marched for it.

Finally, in 1948, Mieque Weinstein, only 23, reaped the rewards of the work of the women who came before her as she voted for the first time.

“I think I voted for Truman. I’m not sure though,” said the 70-year-old Santa Ana writer, dressed in a purple sash and white cotton skirt and blouse that was a symbol of the 1920s suffragette movement.

On Saturday, it didn’t really matter for whom she cast her ballot. Just the fact that the U.S. Constitution allowed it was enough. About 250 people, mostly women, gathered at the Santa Ana Civic Center’s Plaza of the Flags to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

“It took years of constant struggle to win the vote,” said Rebecca Chadwick with the Orange County Coalition for the Celebration of Woman Suffrage. “It’s very dear and was won at great cost. It should be celebrated.”

The event coincided with hundreds of others nationwide Saturday. In Santa Ana, the day was marked by two hours of music, song and speeches. Though the mood was generally festive, speaker after speaker argued that the battle for equal rights for women is far from over. One speaker even scolded elected male public officials for being absent from Saturday’s event.

Appellate Court Justice Sheila Sonenshine said that under state law, someone convicted of killing a rabbit faces a $20,000 fine and up to a year in prison, but a conviction for choking and throwing a woman down a staircase would bring only a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

“We are still perceived as less valuable than our brothers,” she said. “In some cases, less than animals.”

But, other speakers reminded, progress is inevitable. State Assemblywoman Marilyn C. Brewer (R-Irvine) predicted “the political face of the future will not have to shave.” Brewer said women often are better suited for politics than men because they are “more conciliatory.”

During the program, visitors chatted with representatives from about 20 different groups such as the National Women’s Political Caucus, the National Organization for Women and the Girl Scouts, which passed out informational pamphlets from tables that encircled the plaza.

Also, visitors took colored chalk and scrawled the names of women they most admired onto the plaza pavement. Soon, the public walkway was covered with names such as Harriet Tubman, Marie Curie, and Lucille Ball.

Carolann Casey of Fullerton knelt and spelled out Elizabeth Blackwell, who in 1849 became the first woman to graduate from medical school.

“I’ve always admired her. Women have always been healers,” said Casey, 38, an executive secretary. “She took it a step higher by breaking into the male hierarchy.”

The event drew a handful of men, including decorated Korean War veteran Tom England, who sported a League of Women Voters button on his U.S. Marine Corps T-shirt.

“Some people look at me a little strange,” said England, a 65-year-old Garden Grove resident. “I tell them we are looking for a few good women.”

In spite of the high level of political awareness, there was little talk of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit to an international women’s conference in China early next month. Critics have assailed the First Lady’s trip, saying it confers a moral blessing upon a nation notorious for its human rights violations.

“We didn’t want this to turn into a partisan event,” said Chadwick, standing near a display featuring a personal letter from Clinton. “It’s not for Democrats, Republicans or Perot people. It’s for everybody.”