 I'm Robin Muncie, professor of history at the University of Maryland College Park and guest curator of Rightfully Hers, the National Archives Exhibition commemorating the 19th Amendment on this its 100th anniversary. I want to thank the Archives for this brilliant opportunity to think through the meaning of the 19th Amendment and to explore its history as a guide to how political change can happen in the United States. The meanings of the amendment, of course, are myriad. Most obviously, it meant the immediate enfranchisement of millions of American women. It did not, however, enfranchise all American women. Millions had already been enfranchised by their states before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, and millions remained restricted from the polls on bases that had nothing to do with sex. For those still excluded, the 19th Amendment meant a new resource in their continuing, their ongoing struggle for the vote, struggles that persist to this day. It's because the struggle over who should vote persists in our own day that studying the movement for the 19th Amendment is so important. It teaches us how most effectively to participate in that ongoing movement. It shows us that obtaining and retaining the vote has resulted from the committed and creative activism of generations of women, and it demonstrates that the movement has been most successful when it was a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, cross-class, mass movement. We see in this history that significant political change can result from sustained organization that weaves vibrant and diverse grassroots initiatives into national coalitions with shared visions for the future. Most important, the centennial of the 19th Amendment is an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the unending political struggle that our hope for democracy requires. Happy anniversary to the 19th Amendment.