Ohio has played a significant role in our country’s history on many levels — from the Underground Railroad to conquering the skies (and space). It’s no surprise that Ohio played a significant role in the women’s suffrage movement, too.

Salem played a big role. According to data, the Ohio Women’s Convention at Salem in 1850 met on April 19-20 in Salem — a center for reform activity. It was the third in a series of women’s rights conventions that began with the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. It was the first of these conventions to be organized on a statewide basis. About five hundred people attended. All of the convention’s officers were women. Men were not allowed to vote, sit on the platform or speak during the convention. The convention sent a memorial to the convention that was preparing a new Ohio state constitution, asking it to provide for women’s right to vote

In Akron, Sojourner Truth gave her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech during the second Ohio Women’s Convention. The Ohio Women’s Rights Association was founded in 1853.

But it wasn’t until June 16, 1919, that Ohio ratified the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”

Because state lawmakers were not then certain the amendment would be ratified and implemented in time, they also passed a bill ensuring Ohio women’s right to vote in the upcoming presidential election of November 1920.

That’s just a part of what Ohioans did for women’s suffrage nearly 175 years ago. So, back in 2019, with the creation of the Women’s Suffrage Monument Commission in Ohio, state officials were prepared to do something to recognize that. After all, nationwide fewer than 8% of public statues depict real women. It was time for that to change.

But in 2020, state lawmakers decided to put in place a requirement to wait five years before erecting any new monuments on Statehouse grounds. We are, then, now well past time to start work toward a women’s suffrage monument in Ohio.

An event held last Thursday in Columbus featuring Pulitzer-Prize winning historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin got the ball rolling on a fundraising campaign for the monument, expected to be completed by 2026. Organized by the Capitol Square Foundation and the Women’s Suffrage Monument Commission, the goal is $2 million.

What a wonderful time for such an opportunity to be presented to Ohioans (and anyone else). It is an effort well worth supporting, and one of we all can be proud.