National Women’s Equality Day, designated as August 26th, commemorates the date the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, was certified by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. Ratification occurred on August 18th when Tennessee became the 36th state to pass the amendment, satisfying the requirement of three-fourths of the states for passage. It was not until 1971 when Congress passed a bill championed by Representative Bella Abzug of New York that a day was designated as Women’s Equality Day.
Alice Moore McComas, an alumna of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods from Paris, IL, became a vocal and active supporter of women’s suffrage. She earned honors in music and literary composition and was a prize winner in elocution. In 1887, she became involved in the Women’s Suffrage Association of Los Angeles, formed to educate women on the significance of the women’s suffrage campaign. In 1889, McComas became the chapter’s secretary, rising to president in 1891. During that time, she organized the first county suffrage convention in California.
Her writings about women’s equality and suffrage were impactful and inspiring to women to speak out about the right to vote. She contributed to more than 70 newspapers about women’s suffrage issues.
McComas covered the World’s Fair for several California newspapers and contributed to the Los Angeles Times and other magazines. She also served as an associate editor of Pacific Household Journal. She did some occasional lecturing on topics of “Politics in the Home,” “Individual Education in the Public Schools,” and “The Common Sense Rearing of Children.” She toured the Panama Canal and, in 1914, lectured on the subject and published a book, The Women of the Canal Zone. She was a member of the Woman’s Press Association of San Francisco, the Ethical Society, the California Club of New York and the Friday Morning Club of Los Angeles.
Alice Moore McComas died in December 1919, just months after the U.S. House and Senate passed the amendment and ratification had begun. At the time of her death, 23 of the needed 36 states had ratified the amendment.
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