Delaware’s Struggle for Women’s Right to Vote

In March 1920, Governor John G. Townsend called a special session of the Delaware General Assembly to vote on the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Suffrage and anti-suffrage groups descended on Dover that spring to try to sway the vote in their favor. On May 5, 1920, the Delaware Senate ratified the amendment. The House adjourned on June 2 without passing the amendment, securing a victory for anti-suffragists. After Tennessee’s ratification in August 1920, the 19th Amendment became law, ensuring the right to vote could not be denied to women. Delaware’s General Assembly ratified the 19th Amendment on March 6, 1923.