Last week, people across the nation got out + voted in the 2020 U.S. presidential primary election.
DYK that 108,000,000+ of the eligible voters in 2020 would not have been able to express their political opinion in polls 100 years ago?
Before the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920, women were not allowed to vote. So, in honor of Women’s History Month, we are throwing it back to one Charleston native who played a major role in women’s equality – both locally, nationally + worldwide.
Born in Charleston on October 31, 1894, Anita Pollitzer grew up as a lover of art. After graduating from Memminger High School 1913, she moved to NYC to study art at the Teachers College at Columbia University.
The time she spent in NYC impacted her feminist principles, and she became more and more interested in activism in the midst of an era offering little rights for women.
During her time back in SC while on spring break, Anita spent a majority of her days with her two sisters, Mabel + Carrie, along with her two aunts, who were all very active in the local suffrage movement. In 1915, she began working with the U.S. suffrage movement, and eventually founded SC’s branch of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage with her sisters.
Through her activism, Anita met Alice Paul – the founder of the National Woman’s Party (NWP) – and the two joined forces. NWP was the first organization to actively fight for women’s rights + support a constitutional amendment for women’s suffrage.
In 1917, Anita + other protestors were arrested as Silent Sentinels while picketing outside of the White House, but it did not stop her continuing national efforts. She became a member of the NWP Ratification Committee, and was constantly designated to meet with state representatives and congressmen because of her charm + persuasive abilities.
In 1920, the committee went to Nashville, TN, where the state’s legislature was to vote on the 19th Amendment. It is said that Anita used her charm to persuade legislator Harry T. Burn to cast the deciding vote while at dinner the night before. That day, the 19th Amendment was ratified, and women in America were ensured the right to vote.
Anita’s activism did not stop there. She went on to advocate for legislation that secured property + citizenship rights for women and removed hourly limitations in the workplace, which turned into pushing for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
Anita met with politicians, celebrities, and women across the U.S. (including Amelia Earhart + Eleanor Roosevelt) to promote equal rights for women through the ERA, which was passed by the U.S. Senate in 1972.
Her activism traveled with her across the globe, as she represented SC at the International Feminists Conference in France in 1926, as well as played a part in the Word Women’s Party (of which she eventually became the vice-chair with Alice Paul) and the International Council of Women.
Today, Charleston remains Anita’s childhood home, and a plaque marks the Pollitzer House on Pitt Street where she grew up.