In commemoration of 2020 as the 100th anniversary of passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. constitution, through which women won the right to vote in the United States, Wordcrafters of Eugene joined with the League of Women Voters of Lane County to sponsor held an essay contest called Women and the Vote.
The contest was open to high school students in Lane County.
The winners of the contest — and links to their essays — have been announced:
1st Place — Hannah Ngo (12th Grade, Sheldon High School), Women Of Color Were Overlooked
2nd Place — Grace Foltz (12th Grade, Sheldon High School), The Struggle for Suffrage: From Impossibility to Accepted Reality
3rd Place — Charlotte Schramm (10th Grade, Elmira High School), The History of Women’s Suffrage and Its Influence on Today’s Politics
In addition, Honorable Mention Awards went to four students:
- Sandra Detweiler for Vote = Power?
- Lucy Mitchem for Women and the Vote: the Spirit of Equality
- Jay Bramhall for The Erasure of Women of Color From the Women’s Rights Movement
- Whitney Conaghan for Alice Paul’s Fight for the Amendment
The top three winners won awards of $250, $150, and $100 respectively; honorable mention winners received a Certificate of Acknowledgement.
2020 also marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the League of Women Voters.
