From 1923 to 1970, some form of the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in each session of Congress. The legislation was generally held up in committee and, therefore, was never put to a vote. However, on June 11, 1970 Representative Martha Griffiths introduced this motion to discharge H.J. Res. 264, a joint resolution for an equal rights amendment to the Constitution, out of the Judiciary Committee so that it could be considered by the House. The House passed the joint resolution on August 10. The Senate subsequently attempted to add provisions exempting women from the draft, effectively preventing the bill from passing Congress that session.  Representative Martha Griffiths’s Discharge Petition for the Equal Rights Amendment, 6/11/1970, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives (ARC 4397830)
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From 1923 to 1970, some form of the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in each session of Congress. The legislation was generally held up in committee and, therefore, was never put to a vote. However, on June 11, 1970 Representative Martha Griffiths introduced this motion to discharge H.J. Res. 264, a joint resolution for an equal rights amendment to the Constitution, out of the Judiciary Committee so that it could be considered by the House. The House passed the joint resolution on August 10. The Senate subsequently attempted to add provisions exempting women from the draft, effectively preventing the bill from passing Congress that session. 

Representative Martha Griffiths’s Discharge Petition for the Equal Rights Amendment, 6/11/1970, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives (ARC 4397830)

On June 4, 1919, the suffrage amendment passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. Initial efforts to secure the right to vote for women in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s achieved some success at the state level, but women’s organizations finally concluded that an amendment to the U.S. Constitution was essential for woman suffrage. World War I played an important role in helping women achieve the right to vote as many women began to work outside the home to support the war effort. In 1917 President Woodrow Wilson called for a Constitutional amendment, and though the House passed a woman suffrage amendment in 1918, it failed in the Senate, largely because of the opposition from southern states. After the amendment passed Congress in 1919, many states quickly approved it, and on August 18, 1920 Tennessee became the 36th state to approve the amendment. Two weeks later, on August 26, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the certification that the required number of states had ratified the Nineteenth Amendment. However, in early 1920, five states rejected the amendment. Mississippi was among them. Political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman portrays the Mississippi rejection as an April Fool’s joke played on the suffrage movement. April First by Clifford K. Berryman, 4/1/1920, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 6011595) 
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On June 4, 1919, the suffrage amendment passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. Initial efforts to secure the right to vote for women in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s achieved some success at the state level, but women’s organizations finally concluded that an amendment to the U.S. Constitution was essential for woman suffrage. World War I played an important role in helping women achieve the right to vote as many women began to work outside the home to support the war effort. In 1917 President Woodrow Wilson called for a Constitutional amendment, and though the House passed a woman suffrage amendment in 1918, it failed in the Senate, largely because of the opposition from southern states. After the amendment passed Congress in 1919, many states quickly approved it, and on August 18, 1920 Tennessee became the 36th state to approve the amendment. Two weeks later, on August 26, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby signed the certification that the required number of states had ratified the Nineteenth Amendment. However, in early 1920, five states rejected the amendment. Mississippi was among them. Political cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman portrays the Mississippi rejection as an April Fool’s joke played on the suffrage movement.

April First by Clifford K. Berryman, 4/1/1920, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 6011595)