In the early years of the 20th century, women across the country were uniting in a movement that was growing in strength, spirit and determination. They were marching, speaking out and organizing, determined to secure the most fundamental right of citizenship: the right to vote.

While the national spotlight often shines on figures like Susan B. Anthony or Alice Paul, a large portion of women’s suffrage was deeply rooted at the local level. In Pennsylvania, the movement gained momentum with powerful symbols, impassioned voices and determined leaders who would leave their mark on history.

Pioneering reformers Mary Grew and Lucretia Mott founded the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association (PWSA) in Philadelphia in 1869. This organization proved to be an immeasurable force in the fight for women’s voting rights and was closely aligned with the national movement. The PWSA built its momentum by building a network of local chapters across the state.

The Pittsburgh chapter was organized by Jennie Bradley Roessing and Hannah J. Patterson. Together, the women helped to propel the cause forward throughout the commonwealth.

Smithton native Patterson would go on to organize statewide campaigns as the first chair of the Pennsylvania Suffrage Party, leading one Pittsburgh newspaper to later call her “Pittsburgh’s foremost worker for women’s ascendancy.”

Roessing, a dynamic orator and organizer from Pittsburgh, would become especially important within the region. Roessing can be credited as putting Western Pennsylvania on the suffrage map as a leading figure in the 1915 Justice Bell Tour.

The most powerful symbol of Pennsylvania’s women’s suffrage movement was the Justice Bell. Molded after the Liberty Bell, it was commissioned by Katharine Wentworth Ruschenberger in 1915. The bell, made of bronze, had the words “Establish Justice” inscribed on its side.

Unlike the Liberty Bell, however, the Justice Bell’s clapper was chained, rendering the bell silent — a representation of the millions of voices of women who could not vote. The Justice Bell would embark on a historic tour of all 67 Pennsylvania counties to promote support for a state constitutional amendment for women’s voting rights.

Accompanied by Wentworth and Roessing, the bell was loaded onto the back of a flatbed truck and made its first stop in Sayre, Bradford County. A crowd of women and men gathered around the truck listening as suffragists such as Roessing attempted to garner support for the state referendum.

On Nov. 2, 1915, Pennsylvania voters defeated the measure, 441,034 to 385,348, a margin of about 56,000 votes. Lack of major political support weakened the suffrage campaign in both urban and rural areas, with Butler County among the counties to vote against it.

Defeat, however, does not always mean the end, and the setback only served to energize the movement.

The Justice Bell tour had been an enormous success in terms of public engagement and awareness. Suffragists had traveled more than 5,000 miles across all 67 Pennsylvania counties. The tour generated news coverage and laid the groundwork for the passing of the 19th Amendment, which would finally be ratified in 1920.

Suffragists now understood that the state-by-state approach would never be successful. Instead, they shifted their focus toward national legislation to move the issue out of the muck of local politics. Roessing took her Justice Bell experience with her as she would go on to serve as the program chairwoman of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

The NAWSA, founded in 1890, had featured the giants of the movement — Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Wisconsin native Carrie Chapman Catt. With national efforts now turning toward a constitutional amendment, Catt, who had served as NAWSA president from 1900 to 1904, stepped back into the role.

Catt returned to an organization on the verge of splintering. The suffragist movement had suffered devastating losses in state referendums in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. Suffragist leaders like Paul believed it was time for the movement to take a more militant approach to protesting.

But Catt, who had been mentored by Anthony in the 19th century, was considered less confrontational than her predecessors, and believed in getting results through respectability and political savvy.

Catt believed it was time for a nationally coordinated and more politically effective campaign. She found state-by-state campaigns were becoming too expensive and too vulnerable to local politics.

Just as the Justice Bell tour had been successful in boosting visibility and public support in Pennsylvania, the NAWSA now needed a campaign to roll out nationwide.

Catt proposed the “Winning Plan,” a national campaign that would implement coordinated efforts on both state and federal levels.

At the federal level, the organization would ambitiously pursue a constitutional amendment granting voting rights nationwide, an effort that required passage by two-thirds of each chamber of Congress. Meanwhile, state-level campaigns would advocate for ratification of the measure. With only three quarters or 36 of the existing 48 states needed to pass the amendment, NAWSA would solely focus on states where success was deemed likely.

Through the “Winning Plan,” every state suffrage chapter would follow directives from the NAWSA headquarters. This showcased a unified front nationwide and was essential to ensure that each branch of the movement stayed on message.

In Washington, D.C., the NAWSA created a dedicated lobbying team to maintain a constant presence to pressure lawmakers directly. Rather than push stunts like picketing the White House or taking part in hunger strikes, the leaders of the NAWSA now compiled detailed dossiers on every U.S. senator and representative, including their voting records and personal views of the suffrage movement.

Meanwhile, regional organizers such as Roessing were deployed to oversee and enforce the national plan in each state. At times, these organizers would be shifted around to prioritize areas in which the movement was weak.

In 1917 the NAWSA would see its largest victory to date: the passage of a state suffrage referendum in New York. Voters — all of them men — approved the measure by a margin of 703,129 to 600,776. This was considered a major turning point in the women’s suffrage movement, as New York was the most populated state at the time.

This victory was a testament to Catt’s “Winning Plan,” as it showed what a difference her approach could make in a national suffrage movement.

This momentum increased pressure on federal lawmakers in other states and would eventually lead to receiving public support from President Woodrow Wilson one year later.

After years campaigning and strategizing, along with Wilson’s support, the House of Representatives passed the 19th Amendment in a 304 to 89 vote. Less than two weeks later, the Senate followed suit, passing the amendment on June 4, 1919.

The only thing that stood in the way now was the ratification of the amendment within the states. In order for the amendment to become law, 36 out of 48 states needed to vote in favor.

On Aug. 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment with a vote of 50 to 46.

The amendment was officially ratified on Aug. 26, 1920 — giving women the vote just in time for the presidential election of Nov. 2, from which Warren G. Harding was elected the 29th president of the United States.

The passing of the 19th Amendment was more than a well deserved victory for women suffragists. It also set a new precedent for future social movements.

Catt’s “Winning Plan” would become a model for future organizations by demonstrating the power of an organized, strategic and persistent civic action.

In the 2024 presidential election, women made up 53% of the vote. What a conversation that would be with Catt, Roessing or any of the suffragist leaders, as it was only 105 years ago that women were finally given that constitutional right.