Message From the Chancellor (August 26, 2020)

“Forward Into Light”

Dear Texas Woman’s Community,

“Forward Into Light” is a refrain that echoes from days of woman suffrage, yet still rings with meaning today—especially at Texas Woman’s University. On this day 100 years ago, with three-quarters of the country’s state legislatures ratifying it, the Nineteenth Amendment gave white American women the full right to vote. The amendment was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution by proclamation of Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. Many women of color did not win full voting rights until 1964. To mark this milestone of August 26th, we join others around the country in lighting landmarks tonight. We will illuminate our Administration Conference Tower in Denton as a beacon of progress.

The Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, a part of the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership, led us through more than a yearlong commemoration of woman’s suffrage, beginning with recognition of Texas as the ninth state to ratify the amendment on June 28, 1919.

I want to remind you of three pioneering Texas Woman’s women who worked against significant odds to ensure that more of us have a voice in government. I often say that if you are not at the table, you may be on the menu. When I consider the power dynamics of the 1920s, I am incredulous to imagine how a disenfranchised group could ever gain a place at the table. Yet, here I am, among many of you, at the table.

Mary Eleanor Brackenridge served as one of the first regents for the College of Industrial Arts, which eventually became Texas Woman’s University. She reorganized the Texas Woman’s Suffrage Association in 1913 and served as its president. Our Student Union Annex on our Denton campus is named for her.

Two other regents—Eliza “Birdie” Johnson and Helen Stoddard, for whom Stoddard Hall is named—were also part of the woman’s club movement. They helped women organize and move into the public space as advocates for significant issues. All three women were local suffragists who championed women’s education and became instrumental in founding and governing Texas Woman’s University.

You can read more about Brackenridge and the suffrage movement in the book, Citizens at Last: The Woman Suffrage Movement in Texas. It is truly a complex story of politics and power—and of psychology, sociology, and human relationships. It is full of nuances, too, as even full ratification of the 19th Amendment meant different things for indigenous women, immigrant women, and women of color.

Whether you are battening down the hatches in Houston for tonight’s storm or studying hard during your first week of classes, I hope you find a moment to revel in the perseverance of these pioneering women who laid the groundwork for greater equality of all people in Texas and throughout the United States.

With a pioneering spirit,

Carine M. Feyten, Ph.D.
Chancellor and President

Page last updated 4:46 PM, August 26, 2020