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ERIC Number: EJ790348
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Apr
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0037-7724
EISSN: N/A
The Technology of Unequal Rights for Women: Patent Drawings of a Voting Machine
Hussey, Michael
Social Education, v72 n3 p118-123 Apr 2008
In 1878, Senator Aaron A. Sargent of California introduced to the Senate an amendment to the Constitution "Conferring upon Women the Right of Suffrage." Drafted by Susan B. Anthony, this same amendment would be introduced on a near-yearly basis until its final passage by Congress on May 19, 1919. Varying degrees of voting rights presented an opportunity and challenge for a number of ambitious American inventors of voting machines. Depending on the election year and the state, women might be allowed to vote on certain issues and for certain offices but not others. This article describes the work of one such inventor, Lenna Ryland Winslow, whose voting machine in 1899 would not only count votes, but it would also contain a mechanism "automatically set to restrict certain classes of voters by and during their entrance to the booth." Three of Winslow's patent drawings of this voting machine are featured in this article. Winslow was not alone in his pursuit of constructing a voting machine that would be both accurate and reflect the restricted nature of American voting rights. This article also describes the work of other such early inventors as Ottmar A. Gatrell, Angus C. Gordon, Charles C. Abbott, and Syver Loe. These inventions would be relegated to the scrap heap when, on August 26, 1920, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby certified the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, which extended full voting rights to women. This article also includes "teaching suggestions" for use as classroom activities. (Contains 3 patent drawings and 13 notes.)
National Council for the Social Studies. 8555 Sixteenth Street 500, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 800-683-0812; Tel: 301-588-1800; Fax: 301-588-2049; e-mail: membership@ncss.org; Web site: http://www.socialstudies.org
Publication Type: Historical Materials; Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A