COMMISSION ON THE COMMEMORATION OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PASSAGE OF THE 19TH AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

Linda L. Singh, Ph.D., Chair (chosen by Governor)
[photo, Women Legislators of Maryland, State House, Annapolis, Maryland] Appointed by Governor: Diana M. Bailey; Dietra J. Lucas; Roberta Sharper; two vacancies. Terms expire 2020.

Appointed by Senate President: Cheryl C. Kagan; Katherine A. Klausmeier.

Appointed by House Speaker: Ariana B. Kelly; Susan K. McComas.


Women Legislators of Maryland at Suffrage Program, State House, Annapolis, Maryland, February 2013. Photo courtesy of Women Legislators of Maryland.

[photo, Women's Suffrage Historical Marker, Overlea, Maryland] Appointed by Chair, Maryland Commission for Women: Evelyne S. Steward; Ummu Bradley Thomas.

Ex officio: Linda L. Singh, Ph.D., designee of Governor; Emily Oland Squires, designee of State Archivist; Cynthia D. Miller, designee of Managing Director, Tourism, Film, & the Arts, Dept. of Commerce; Elizabeth A. Hughes, Director, Division of Historical & Cultural Programs, Dept. of Planning; Katie M. Caljean, designee of President, Maryland Historical Society.

Women's Suffrage Historical Marker, commemorating historic women's suffrage march through Maryland, February 1913, unveiled by 19th Amendment Commission, June 9, 2014. Photo Courtesy of 19th Amendment Commission.

Contact: Emily Oland Squires

c/o State Archives
Edward C. Papenfuse State Archives Building, 350 Rowe Blvd., Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 260-6443; 1-800-235-4045 (toll free, Maryland); fax: (410) 974-3895
e-mail: emily.squires@maryland.gov
web: http://msa.maryland.gov/mdvotesforwomen/

Annual Report to Governor & General Assembly due Dec. 31, 2014, through 2019 (Chapter 603, Acts of 2013).
[photo, Members of 19th Amendment Commission & Maryland Commission for Women at Historic Marker unveiling, Overlea, Maryland, June 9, 2014] In July 2013, the Commission on the Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was authorized by the General Assembly (Chapter 603, Acts of 2013; Code State Government Article, sec. 9-3001). Ratified by two-thirds of the states in August 1920, the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in the United States.


Members of 19th Amendment Commission & Maryland Commission for Women at Historic Marker unveiling, Overlea, Maryland, June 9, 2014. Photo Courtesy of 19th Amendment Commission.

The Commission developed a plan for commemorating the events that occurred in Maryland connected to women's suffrage and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It also assembled an inventory of sites in Maryland that are significant to the suffrage movement, and developed a strategy to encourage tourism related to the commemoration.

Despite a strong suffrage movement in the State, Maryland initially rejected the 19th Amendment on March 26, 1920 (Joint Resolution no. 2, Acts of 1920). By May 29, 1941, however, the General Assembly chose to ratify it (Joint Resolution no. 12, Acts of 1941). Further, with regard to the Maryland Constitution, the General Assembly in 1956 voted to amend the document to expand the franchise so that it would not be limited to those described as "white male" (Chapter 99, Acts of 1956, ratified by the voters, November 6, 1956).

Seventeen members constituted the Commission (Chapter 478, Acts of 2017; Code State Government Article, sec. 9-3001).

Authorization for the Task Force ended October 31, 2020.

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