The 19th Amendment at 100

One hundred years after the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, making some American women eligible to vote under federal law, The New York Public Library presents its list of Essential Reads on Feminism. The list includes first-hand accounts and histories of the suffrage movement that chronicle both its successes and its limitations—particularly for women of color—as well as contemporary essays on how feminism intersects with race, class, education, and LGBTQ+ activism. From personal memoirs to historical overviews, featuring writing by seminal figures and lesser-known pioneers, the list traces the development of the feminist ideas that have powered the campaign for gender equality, in all its complexity and boldness. While far from complete, the list nevertheless provides a starting point for learning about the history of feminism and for exploring the issues and challenges that many women face today.

The New York Public Library offers a range of ways to engage with historical materials about suffrage as well as contemporary works of feminism. Explore our Library Guides on how to research Black feminist movements and discover the history of suffrage in your local area—and possibly your own family. Browse the Digital Collections for papers, correspondence, and photos relating to feminist movements around the world. And don’t miss our special events commemorating the passage of the 19th Amendment.

Explore Suffrage and Feminism in NYPL's Digital Collections

The Library's Digital Collections offer myriad ways to discover more about the history of women's activism in the United States and around the world. This slideshow offers a tantalizing glimpse of that history, incorporating material from the Library's general collections, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Schwimmer-Lloyd Collection of letters and photographs related to early 20th-century feminist movements, and the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy. Browse images and artifacts chronicling suffrage parades and other historic gatherings, publications advocating for women's rights, and photos that feature notable suffragists and women's rights campaigners including Naomi Anderson, Mary McLeod Bethune, Nannie Burroughs, Carrie Chapman Catt, Fannie Lou Hamer, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Margaret Sanger, Rosika Schwimmer, Mary Church Terrell, and Ida B. Wells.

Black-and-white photograph of the White House Conference Group of the National Women's Council, including participants Mary McLeod Bethune and Mary Church Terrell
White House Conference Group of the National Women's Council (Mary McLeod Bethune, center; Mary Church Terrell, to her right), 1938. Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.
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Black-and-white photograph of Mary McLeod Bethune, Ida B. Wells, Nannie Burroughs and other women at a Baptist women's gathering in Chicago in 1930.
Mary McLeod Bethune, Ida B. Wells, Nannie Burroughs and other women at a Baptist women's gathering, Chicago, 1930 (approximate). Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.
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Black-and-white photograph of a group of men and women assembled for the Birth Control Congress in Holland in 1910.
Meeting of the Birth Control Congress, Holland, 1910. Schwimmer-Lloyd Collection, Manuscripts and Archives Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Black-and-white photograph taken from overhead of rows of women dressed in white parading for suffrage in New York, circa 1913.
Suffrage parade in New York City, circa 1913. National American Woman Suffrage Association Records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Black-and-white photograph of a bus crowded with women and decked with banners, including one that reads "Votes For Women" and one advertising a rally at Carnegie Hall.
Getting ready for the Washington hike. Motor bus starting from 505 Fifth Avenue to Union Square, 1913. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Black-and-white photograph of women from different states dressed all in white and parading for suffrage with banners reading "Government By Consent" and "Why Not in New York?"
“Why Not in New York?” Suffrage rally photograph, 1915-1916 (approximate). National American Woman Suffrage Association Records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Black-and-white photograph taken from a high vantage point of a parade of suffragists on Fifth Avenue in New York in 1913.
Suffragette parade, passing reviewing stand in front of The New York Public Library, 1913. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Two black-and-white photographs depict women dressed in white marching for suffrage in New York in 1913. One banner reads "Forward Out of Error. Leave Behind the Night. Forward Through the Darkness. Forward into Light."
Women suffragettes, New York parade of 1913. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Black-and-white photograph of Carrie Chapman Catt opening the International Woman Suffrage Alliance Congress in 1913. Flags of the United States and the United Kingdom are draped behind her.
Opening of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance Congress by Carrie Chapman Catt (standing in the center), 1913. Schwimmer-Lloyd Collection, Manuscripts and Archives Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Black-and-white headshot photograph of Naomi Anderson in semi-profile with a printed caption underneath.
Mrs. Naomi Anderson, lecturer, poetess, advocate for women’s suffrage, member of the W.C.T.U. [Woman's Christian Temperance Union], president of the Orphans' Home, 1893. Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.
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Black-and-white photograph of a bespectacled Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, posed in semi-profile.
Mrs. Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, prominent woman of Boston, leader of the Club Movement Among Colored Women, 1900. Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.
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Black-and-white photograph taken outdoors of Rosika Schwimmer, seated, lighting a cigarette for Margaret Sanger, also seated.
Rosika Schwimmer and Margaret Sanger, lighting cigarettes, circa 1940s. Schwimmer-Lloyd Collection, Manuscripts and Archives Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Front cover of Leslie's, The People's Weekly, featuring a woman waving a "Votes for Women" flag and carrying a megaphone.
“Votes for Women”: front cover of Leslie’s, The People’s Weekly, November 7, 1912. General Research Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Facsimile of a receipt for annual dues for Mr. John Robert Gregg for the Men's League for Woman Suffrage for the year 1914.
Receipt for dues payable to the Men’s League for Woman Suffrage, 1914. Manuscripts and Archives Division, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Facsimile image of an advertisement to “Vote for woman suffrage, Nov. 2, 1915.” In it, a man approaches a stylishly dressed woman while carrying a parasol. Text below reads "You ask us to walk with you, Dance with you, marry you, Why don't you ask us to Vote with you?"
“Vote for woman suffrage, Nov. 2, 1915.” Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, The New York Public Library.
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Photograph of a circular button depicting the face of Fannie Lou Hamer listing her name, and birth and death dates, 1917–1977. Around the edge of the button are the words "Black History–Women's History" and "Women for Racial & Economic Equality."
Women for Racial & Economic Equality button featuring Fannie Lou Hamer, 1917–1977, BU. X.247, 1977–1980 (approximate). Art and Artifacts Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library.
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