The 19th Amendment

FAIN: TR-255996-17

City Lore: NY Center for Urban Folk Culture (New York, NY 10003-9345)
Amanda Pollak (Project Director: January 2017 to August 2019)
Michelle Marie Ferrari (Project Director: August 2019 to present)

Production of a four-hour documentary film about the efforts to pass the Nineteenth Amendment for women’s voting rights (1909–20).

The 19th Amendment is a new two-part, four-hour film about the final phase of the struggle for the Nineteenth Amendment (1909-1920), which removed discrimination at the polls on the basis of sex, and led to the largest expansion of voting rights in American history. The film is planned for broadcast in 2020, and has the opportunity to provide important engagement, broad educational outreach, and critical discussion for the Amendment’s centennial. The film explores the culmination story—as well as the stark limitations—of one of the nation’s most important social, political, and cultural movements. It addresses broad themes about the nature of American democracy, the relationship between the franchise and civic identity, the shape of social movements, the influence of transnational exchange and global politics, and the role of race and gender in public life.

Associated Products

The Vote (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: The Vote
Writer: Michelle Ferrari
Director: Michelle Ferrari
Producer: Connie Honeycutt
Producer: Michelle Ferrari
Abstract: One hundred years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, The Vote tells the dramatic culmination story of the hard-fought campaign waged by American women for the right to vote, a transformative cultural and political movement that resulted in the largest expansion of voting rights in U.S. history. In its final decade, from 1909 to 1920, movement leaders wrestled with contentious questions about the most effective methods for effecting social change, debating the use of militant, even violent tactics, as well as hunger strikes and relentless public protests. The battle also upended previously accepted ideas about the proper role of women in American society and challenged the definitions of citizenship and democracy. Exploring how and why millions of 20th century Americans mobilized for––and against––women's suffrage, The Vote brings to life the unsung heroes of the movement and the deep controversies over gender roles and race that divided Americans then––and continue to dominate political discourse today.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/vote/
Primary URL Description: Landing page for The Vote on American Experience website
Secondary URL: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/vote-she-resisted/
Secondary URL Description: Landing page for She Resisted, the interactive feature inspired by The Vote
Access Model: PBS broadcast and distribution
Format: DVD
Format: Web

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