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Paying tribute to women who led the fight for the right to vote

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which was ratified on August 18, 1920, granting women the right to vote.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mary Adams doesn't take her right to vote lightly.

"I had a poster I put up for every election that said, 'When women vote, women win,'" she said. "And I think that's an important thing for women to think about."

Adams, who voted by mail this general election, spent the morning of Election Day at Cave Hill Cemetery. She said she has been coming to the cemetery for decades, but this day, she was here to pay tribute to the women who fought more than a century earlier so she could cast her vote.

"We just did a salute to the flag basically for them to thank them for giving us our rights," she said.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which was ratified on August 18, 1920, granting women the right to vote.

Several historical groups including Cave Hill Heritage Foundation, Filson Historical Society, Frazier History Museum and Louisville Metro Office for Women, have joined together to organize several events this week to honor the women's suffrage leaders that called the Louisville area home. On Election Day, they welcomed visitors to Cave Hill Cemetery, where several of these leaders had been laid to rest with their graves marked by flowers or flags.

"There are over 400 suffrage leaders resting within Cave Hill, Eastern, Louisville and the Temple Cemeteries and also other cemeteries across the region," Cave Hill Heritage Foundation Manager Michael Higgs said.

The goal of these programs is to not only honor those who fought for the right to vote but also to educate people on their contributions that may have become lost to history.

"A vote is worth everything. It is my way for people to hear my voice," Filson Historical Society Vice President Julie Scoskie James said. "Today's women stand on the shoulders of these amazing strong women that fought to make sure that women had equal rights."

"We're a lot further than we were in the 60s, but there's still more to go," Adams said.

For the rest of the week, people can visit the graves of suffragists at Cave Hill, Eastern, Evergreen, Greenwood and The Temple Cemeteries. The graves will be marked with signs.

On Thursday at 12 p.m., the Filson Historical Society is hosting a live virtual lecture on "Louisville Women and the Suffrage Movement: 100 Years of the 19th Amendment." More information can be found here: https://filsonhistorical.org/

►Contact reporter Dennis Ting at dting@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter (@DennisJTing) and Facebook.  

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