My mother –Wilma Buckman Kearns– was born within a week of that historic day in November 1920 when ALL American women voted for the first time. Wilma’s mother, Edna Buckman Kearns, was a New York State suffragist who had spent more than a decade of her life, working full time on Votes for Women. And instead of being able to fulfill the hopes and dreams of the suffragists, my own mother would face the Crash of 1929, the Great Depression, World War II, and raising children during the 1950s and 1960s. It was a difficult time to be a strong independent woman. It took me years to fully appreciate the strong shoulders on which I stand. Wilma played a key role in preserving her mother’s suffrage campaign wagon, the “Spirit of 1776.” She passed away in November of 1997.

2 Responses

  • Elnure

    I find your article very initeesrtng and I would like to share some observations. You ask if the soldiers of the great suffrage army’ would be proud. I am not so sure they would be. I have observed that whenever a woman is running for a very high profile office, she is subjected to a different standard beyond what a male is. And most importantly the worst critics and most petty critics are other women.

  • Melanie

    As I grow older, I realize more about what my mother was up against, and my grandmother too!

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