Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission Partners with Girl Scouts of the USA

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC) and Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) announced today that the two organizations have partnered to commemorate 100 years of the 19th Amendment through a special Votes for Women 1920–2020 patch.

The WSCC covered the cost of this special edition suffrage centennial Girl Scout patch for the first 7,000 girls who earned the patch. For each of these girls, the WSCC provided a suffrage history book in recognition and celebration of her engagement with the history of the 19th Amendment. For the youngest Girl Scouts who earned the patch, the WSCC provided a copy of the WSCC's custom centennial edition of Around America to Win the Vote by author Mara Rockliff, and for the tween and teen Girl Scouts who earned the patch, the WSCC provided the new young reader edition of the critically acclaimed book The Woman's Hour by author Elaine Weiss.

To earn the patch, Girl Scouts completed the activities in GSUSA's new national Suffrage Centennial Toolkit. The toolkit enables girls to learn more about the history of women's fight for the right to vote through fun activities, such as creating their own suffrage banner, that can be done individually by girls or with a troop.

"The 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment provides an unparalleled opportunity to amplify the history of women's long fight for the right to vote," said WSCC Executive Director Anna Laymon. "It is essential that young people in the United States learn about the important and inspiring history of the suffrage movement, and the WSCC is proud to partner with Girl Scouts to share this history with future leaders and changemakers nationwide."

"In 1918, two years before the 19th Amendment, Girl Scouts offered the first Civics badge, and our commitment to civic purpose and girls' advocacy is still going strong," said Page Harrington, VP of Cultural Assets at GSUSA. "We are grateful for the support of WSCC as we endeavor to share the history of enfranchisement and voting rights with today's Girl Scouts."

The WSCC was created by Congress to coordinate the nationwide commemoration of 100 years of the 19th Amendment, which was officially signed into the U.S. Constitution on August 26, 1920. The amendment prohibits the United States or any state from denying the right to vote based on sex, protecting women's access to the ballot in the Constitution. Led by a bipartisan group of 14 women leaders, the WSCC has a nonpartisan mission to ensure that Americans across the country find inspiration in this important but often overlooked history. Learn more at www.womensvote100.org.

Contact: Kelsey Millay
Email: media@womensvote100.org

SOURCE Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission