This Week in History - Voting Rights for Women and Native Americans

June 2 and June 4 are important dates in the history of United States voting rights. June 2, 2014 marks the 90th anniversary of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 (also known as the Snyder Act). This Act admitted Native Americans born in the U.S. to full U.S. citizenship. However, over forty years elapsed after the passage of the Act before all fifty states to allowed Native Americans to vote. More information is available here from the Library of Congress.

Ninety-five years ago, on June 4, 1919, Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, and sent it to the states for ratification. A historical account of the Senate vote on June 4, 1919 is available here on the U.S. Senate's history page.

In light of these important historical dates, the Law Library is currently featuring a display that offers resources regarding Native American voting rights and women's suffrage. The display offers the text of the Snyder Act and the 19th Amendment as well as other resources that discuss these topics.

Selected titles from the display include:

Native Vote: American Indians, the Voting Rights Act, and the Right to Vote / by Daniel McCool, Susan M. Olson, and Jennifer L. Robinson

American Indians and the Fight for Equal Voting Rights / by Laughlin McDonald

The Trial of Susan B. Anthony / with an introduction by Lynn Sherr

The Women’s Movements in the United States and Britain from the1790s to the 1920s / by Christine Bolt