Mamas. They carried us for nine months, brought us into this world with cries of pain, guided us as children and swatted our backsides when we needed it, got us through the awkward teen years with openness and honesty, and they were there when we hitched ourselves to another in matrimony.

Now, imagine telling our mamas, our sisters, our aunts, our grandmothers — after all of that guidance — that “We’re headed to the polls to decide what type of society we want to be and we don’t need your voice.”

Silly, right? But that’s how we treated women for 100 years before the 19th Amendment was ratified. And that took constant effort.

That movement began decades before. The first meetings were held before the Civil War. Through the decades, women continued to nurture and support men yet petition to also let themselves be represented at the ballot box.

Roughly 70 years later, the 19th Amendment was finally ratified in 1920 — a century ago, and just under 150 years into our grand democratic experiment.

Some individual states had granted women voting rights in certain elections, such as school and municipal elections. But the right to vote in national polls was hard won.

Even today, there are those who believe that gains for some — simply giving equality to others — means a loss for those already vested. They think of it as taking a part of their slice of the pie instead of making the pie larger.

There was even a National Association Opposed to Woman Sufferage. There were even women who opposed a proposed amendment that would have enfranchised them earlier. Change is hard for some folks, though we write that from the 20/20 clarity of our current day experience.

Imagine our country without strong female leaders like Sandra Day O’Connor, or Kay Bailey Hutchison or Condoleeza Rice, or any number of other female political and judicial leaders. That all started with the right to vote.

Think of a Texas without strong female leaders like the eloquent Barbara Jordan, or the flamboyant Ann Richards, or former First Lady Laura Bush, a shy librarian who grew into a wonderful stateswoman.

Imagine a Fredericksburg without a Lucille Rochs, a Linda Langerhans, a Penny McBride or countless others who contributed so much in civic service and continue to do so today.

I so admire my friend, Lindy Segall, because he promotes his mother Muriel’s (or “Mimi’s) memory by promoting her participation in the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs). He is working to have a musical produced about her and fellow female pilots’ time at Avenger Field in Sweetwater. And it’s recognition well-deserved.

Sometimes it seems our nation takes two steps back for every step forward. Sometimes our citizens don’t seem to realize they are ceding hard-won gains in the name of political power or fealty to a leader. Yet we continue to take those steps forward and improving this nation 244 years hence.

One black leader in the sufferage movement, Mary Church Terrell, asked, “How can anyone who is able to use reason, and who believes in dealing out justice to all God’s creatures, think it is right to withhold from onehalf the human race rights and privileges freely accorded to the other half, which is neither more deserving nor more capable of exercising them?”

And even 100 years on, we shouldn’t take it for granted. There are places in the world where women continue to be repressed, through either political or religious practices. We are fortunate to have our freedom of the press in this country, and one new journalism outlet, appropriately called “The 19th,” has formed to highlight women-focused stories.

The women’s suffragist movement and our marking of the century since the 19th Amendment was ratified, is a big part of the story of our nation. It is another hopeful chapter of this country living up to its ideals. The Voting Rights Act, passed 45 years later in 1965, is another chapter. And more chapters have yet to be written.

The cause for freedom continues its march, sometimes with great strides, sometimes with baby steps. But, as sufferagist Carrie Catt wrote a century ago, “The great cause of human liberty… is as certain as the sun is sure to rise.”

“We the People, in order to form a more perfect union …”

One hundred years later, welcome to the party, ladies. You make us better and we’re glad you are here.

ken@fredericksburgstandard.com