This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Women weren't allowed to vote until 1920, and for black women, that right wasn't fully realised until the 1960s, when civil rights legislation struck down some states' discriminatory voting laws. Even those who were elected faced sexist rules - until 1993, women couldn't wear trousers on the floor of the US Senate.