Local History: South Jersey women get right to vote in 1920

In 1920, women in South Jersey voted for the first time under the Susan B. Anthony Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

While voting was a new experience for every local woman in 1920, there was a time when some of their female ancestors may have briefly enjoyed the right.

According to the first New Jersey Constitution, Revolutionary War-era women who owned 100 acres of land, or had $250 worth of property, were permitted to vote.

However, by 1807 the law was changed so that only men could vote.

With the beginning of women's suffrage, political advertisements urged the women of Cumberland County to vote in the Sept. 28, 1920, primary elections, the first opportunity for them "to accept their full responsibilities of citizenship."

While women rose before daybreak in Bridgeton and took to the polls in large numbers, Vineland's female voter turnout was curiously light by midday.

In the end, less than half of Vineland's registered women voters participated, although their presence more than doubled the municipality's total voter turnout figures of the previous year.

Many of the women who did vote rallied in support of Prohibition principles.

Following the election, the Evening Journal suggested that the triumph of women's suffrage might also play a part in helping to beautify local homes and cities.

The newspaper prophesied that female voters would likely stand for more beautiful streets and the planting of trees and flowers.

"Women have always loved things of beauty," stated an editorial, "though we can't understand why they fall for some of the men they do."