Button Shown here: Around 1896, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) adopted a new logo, that of a sunflower with the date of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 printed in the center. Sunflower pin from womansuffragememorabilia.com

Elizabeth C. Stanton used it as her pseudonym when writing articles for the first women’s newspaper, The Lily. 

She and Susan B. Anthony also borrowed and popularized this Kansas state flower as a symbol in the suffrage campaign of 1867 in Kansas.

The Sunflower design was adapted from the 1867 Kansas campaign where local supporters wore yellow ribbons in commemoration of both suffrage and the state flower.  The use of the color yellow for sashes , buttons and ribbons with the Votes for Women slogan became standard in many suffrage events.

One of the First Suffrage Buttons  Around 1896, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) adopted a new logo, that of a sunflower with the date of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 printed in the center….   The sunflower design was adapted from the 1867 Kansas campaign where local supporters wore yellow ribbons in commemoration of both suffrage and the state flower. The use of the color yellow for sashes , buttons and ribbons with the Votes for Women slogan became standard in many suffrage events.

The  material above provided by avid collector of suffrage memorabilia and educator Kenneth Florey on his website devoted to womansuffragememorabila.com/woman-suffrage-memorabilia/suffrage buttons He is the author of books on woman suffrage materials, his fine catalogs are available from McFarland Books and also on Amazon.com in its Books section.

So The Elizabeth Cady Stanton Hometown Association proudly named our women’s clothing store in Johnstown NY The Sunflower Shoppe (see Social Connections section) dedicated to E.C. Stanton’s legacy of action to assist and support women’s empowerment. We also chose this name as an homage to our roots in the suffrage movement which she began in 1848, but her political and social reform ideas had formed earlier during her youth in Johnstown NY. She was the first woman at the Seneca Falls Convention to propose the idea that suffrage had to be the central focus of the women’s rights movement. She convinced many that from the right to vote other rights would have to follow. If a woman could vote, she was a citizen in the eyes of the law. As a citizen she would have other rights often denied to her in the mid-19th century, such as bringing a case to court on her own behalf; having custody rights over her children; controlling the pay that she earned; serving on juries and running for office to help change the laws that restricted women’s freedom.

In 2020, we have two important political, social and economic markers to celebrate. The first celebrates the 100 Anniversary of Woman Suffrage with enactment of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing all women the right to vote across the U.S. in 1920. We would be wise to remember that while Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony gave most of their long lives for passage of this critical right, they both died before they were able to cast a legal vote in any election. Prior to the 1920 Presidential election in which women could vote nationwide and Republican Warren G. Harding was elected, 28 men had previously been elected U.S. Presidents with women not having the right to vote except in a few progressive Western states. Women in Wyoming had voting rights when it became a state in 1890 and women had been voting in territorial elections there since 1869! For more information on women’s voting rights in American visit: https://www.history.com/news/the-state-where-women-voted-long-before-the-19th-amendment

The second event in 2020 will be a critical year in Presidential election history year as well as one in which all members of the House of Representatives are elected as are 1/3 of the U.S. Senate. It remains to be seen whether the Democratic Party can hold on or advance the lead it took in 2018 winning enough House of Representatives seats ((many by female candidates) to take back control of this chamber from the Republican Party. In the current 119th Session of Congress, the U.S. Senate remains in Republican Party control. Many state governors’ and statehouse elections will also occur in 2020.

In a deeply divided nation, we must all remember the work that must be done by many citizens to insure that our elections in each state are safe from foreign interference, that voter suppression efforts are rebuffed and that eligible voters insure that they and others are properly registered to vote and actually turn out to do so!

How can you help to protect voting rights in your area?

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: The Proposed Equal Rights Amendment. This important amendment guarantees equal treatment under the law for both women and men by making gender discrimination illegal by stating

“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

20th century suffrage and women’s rights leader Alice Paul is given the primary credit for starting this crusade (in 1923!) to complete the legal protection of women. Like Stanton and Anthony, though she lived a long life, she died at 92 in 1977 before passage of this amendment which is still being pushed toward ratification by its many supporters today.

To familiarize yourself with this important and ongoing ERA issue, please see the websites provided here that give comprehensive information on this 20 and 21st centuries’ battle to finalize women’s rights. Remember too that amendments to the U.S. Constitution offer better protection of rights than individual laws or acts because amendments are not easily removed. Only the 18th amendment which established National Prohibition the manufacture, sale or transportation of alcohol in 1919 was ever repealed by the 21st amendment in 1933. Amendments are a much greater guarantee that rights remain because they make fundamental additions or changes in constitutional practice; they are more difficult to pass and therefore more difficult to erase. To date, the U.S. Constitution has been amended only 27 times, most amendments adding rights for citizens such as the first 10 which are the Bill of Rights. Laws or acts by Congress can be rewritten or over-turned by changes in the composition of a legislature at a particular time offering far less stability in rights protection.

https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/ and https://www.equalrights.org/