Fight for the Ballot: Voting Rights in the 20th Century commemorates the centennial of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. The suffragettes’ civil rights triumph was the first constitutional amendment that granted voting rights to another demographic aside from land-owning males. In honor of those who fought and continue to fight for equal access to the ballot the FGCU Bradshaw Library will run a year-long exhibition dedicated to the many voting rights struggles which persisted throughout the twentieth century, particularly for communities of Black, indigenous, and people of color.

The history of the fight for ballot access in the United States is long and bloody. As our guests experience Fight for the Ballot, we invite them to reflect on America’s legacy and to honor the courage of their fellow Americans in demanding their constitutional guarantees for themselves and their children. Through their victories, we live up to our country’s founding principle: that all men and women are created equal.