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4A | SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Cottage Grove Sentinel 116 N. Sixth St. Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424 NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR | Opinion 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM The First Amendment C ongress shall make no law respect- ing an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Govern- ment for a redress of grievances. “I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800) USPS#133880 Copyright 2020 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL Letters to the Editor Policy The Sentinel welcomes letters to the editor as part of a community discussion of issues on the local, state and national level. Emailed letters are preferred. Handwritten or typed letters must be signed. All letters need to include full name, address and phone number; only name and city will be printed. Letters should be limited to about 300 words. Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. Publication of any letter is not guaranteed and depends on space available and the volume of letters received. Letters that are anonymous, libelous, argumentative, sarcastic or contain accusations that are unsourced or without documentation will not be published. Letters containing poetry or from outside The Sentinel readership area will only be published at the discretion of the editor. Political/Election Letters: The long road to a woman’s right to vote (Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub- missions on this and other topics are always welcome as part of our goal to encourage community discussion and exchange of perspectives.) T he framers of the Constitu- tion debated (briefly) about giving women the vote, but left decisions on voting up to each state. Only New Jersey, in 1776, gave women the same voting rights as men; any property-owning citizen, regardless of race or gen- der, could vote in New Jersey. Because married women were legally impelled to everything they owned or earned to their husband, only single women and widows were enfranchised. Thirty years later in 1807, the law was changed and no woman in the U.S. could vote in nation- al elections though there were some exceptions in state elec- tions. In 1849, in Seneca Falls, NY, the Women’s Rights Convention marked the beginning of the U.S. suffrage movement under the leadership of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. A hundred men and women gathered and drew up a Declaration of Sentiments, based on the Declaration of Indepen- dence, calling for equal rights for all people. It took 72 more years of tireless effort until the 19th Amendment passed and gave all white women the right to vote. (Asians were not included and the Jim Crow laws in the South often kept both Black men and women from voting until the 1960s). In 1890, Wyoming became a state and their already enfran- chised women became the first women able to vote in national elections (as a territory citizen could only vote in state elec- tions). Many western states fol- lowed suit, with Oregon giving women voting rights in 1912. Guest Viewpoint By Karen Brown Cottage Grove This was after six attempts for Oregon to ratify the right for women to vote. Minnie Wash- burne was a active Eugene suf- fragist. Washburne Park in Eu- gene is named after her and Carl G. Washburne Park outside of Florence is named after her son. Securing the right to vote for all women in the country was a very complicated process. First, the bill had to become a conno- tational amendment. This meant it had to pass both Congress and the Senate with a 2/3 majority. Then, 2/3 of the states (38) had to ratify it with a 2/3 majority in each of their houses. A bill to amend the Constitution and al- low women the right to vote was first introduced into Congress in 1868. It failed to pass five times, until it was finally ratified more than 50 years later in 1919. In the years between these dates Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott and countless oth- er women risked their lives and freedom to keep the movement alive and growing. Their first meeting in Seneca Falls grew from 100 people to over half a million in 1913 who demonstrat- ed at the White House. There, the women were set upon by mobs and beaten. The Boy Scouts worked to help pro- tect them and provide aid — a wall of boys for a mob of moms. Hundreds of people were beat- en and wounded. Between 1917 and 1919, more than 500 wom- en were arrested and 162 are in- carcerated. Some women were chained and beaten in their cells. Some went on a hunger strike and had to be force-fed. In 1916, Montana elected Jea- nette Rankin as the first woman to serve in Congress. A reflective quote from her is: “I want to be remembered as the only woman who voted to give women the right to vote.” This underlines the fact that everyone else vot- ing for the 19th Amendment was male. On Aug. 18, 1920, after the 19th Amendment cleared both the House and the Senate in Washington, D.C. the year be- fore, 37 states had voted “yes” in both houses with 2/3 majori- ties. It came down to one vote in Tennessee as to whether the 19th Amendment would finally pass. No one knew how the young congressman would vote. He received a letter from his moth- er telling him to “be a good boy and let Mrs. Cat put the ‘rat’ in ratification.” He voted “yes” and, on Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was written into law. Between 1849 and 1920, wom- en protested, marched, wrote books and letters, testified before Congress, were arrested, and were beaten by the police and mobs. It took 72 years of tireless ef- fort for the 19th Amendment to pass and give all women (most- ly) over the age of 21 the right to vote. Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely issues of interest to our readers at-large. Letters must: 1) Not be a part of letter-writing campaigns on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand knowledge or hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support candidates based on personal experience and perspective rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric. Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes; this constitutes paid political advertising. As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper, at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow the above criteria. Send letters to: nhickson@cgsentinel.com HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS Oregon state representatives Oregon federal representatives • Sen. Floyd Prozanski • Rep. Peter DeFazio District 4 State Senator PO Box 11511 Eugene, Ore. 97440 Phone: 541-342-2447 Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@ state.or.us (House of Representatives) 405 East 8th Ave. #2030 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: defazio.house.gov/ contact/email-peter Phone: 541-465-6732 • Rep. Cedric Hayden Republican District 7 State Representative 900 Court St. NE Salem, Ore. 97301 Phone: 503-986-1407 Website: www.leg.state.or. us/hayden Email: rep.cedrichayden@ state.or.us • Sen. Ron Wyden 405 East 8th Ave., Suite 2020 Eugene, Ore. 97401 Email: wyden.senate.gov Phone: (541) 431-0229 • Sen. Jeff Merkley Email: merkley.senate.gov Phone: 541-465-6750 S entinel C ottage G rove 541-942-3325 Administration Jenna Bartlett, Group Publisher Gary Manly, General Manager... Ext. 1207 gmanly@cgsentinel.com Gerald Santana, Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1216 gsantana@cgsentinel.com Carla Skeel, Inside Multi-Media Sales Consultant... Ext. 1203 csummers@cgsentinel.com Editorial Ned Hickson, Managing Editor... 541-902-3520 nhickson@cgsentinel.com Damien Sherwood, Lead Reporter... Ext. 1212 dsherwood@cgsentinel.com Nick Snyder, Sports/Community News Reporter... Ext. 1204 nsnyder@cgsentinel.com Customer Service Meg Fringer, Office Manager, Legals, Classifieds... Ext. 1200 mfringer@cgsentinel.com LETTERS Production Things we can do In today’s divisive political environment, there are things we can all do. Scripture gives us the tools. Do not speak evil about the rulers of your people – Acts 23:5 Pray for kings and all those in authority – I Tim 2:2 And remember that when these were written, Nero was in authority and he was beheading Christians and throwing them to the lions. Just think, if everyone did these two things — the differ- ence in the political climate and in society today. Surely, for the sake of our country, we can all make an effort to attempt to live up to these concepts. — Janetta Overholser Cottage Grove Never dreamed of being called ‘losers, suckers’ for serving country My family’s beloved Uncle Bob McCloskey of the “Greatest Generation” did his best to rid the world of cruel, fascist dicta- tors. He was in the USAF and flew sortees in Europe before being shot down and spending the last 18 months of WWII as a POW. We never dreamed that he and other selfless military men and women — of any genera- tion — might one day be called and thought of as “losers and suckers” by a sitting President of the United States. Integrity is choosing your thoughts and actions on values rather than simply personal gain. —Marilyn Tandrow Lorane Ron Annis, Production Supervisor... Ext.1215 graphics@cgsentinel.com Subscription Mail Rates in Lane and Portions of Douglas Counties: 10 Weeks ....................................................................................$11.50 One year .....................................................................................$43.50 Senior 62+ ...................................................................................33.00 e-Edition year ............................................................................$35.00 Rates in all other areas of United States: 10 weeks, $16; 1 year, $56.50; e-Edition $35. In foreign countries, postage extra. No subscription for less than 10 weeks. Subscription rates are subject to change upon 30 days’ notice. All subscritptions must be paid prior to beginning the subscription and are non-refundable. Periodicals postage paid at Cottage Grove, Oregon. Postmaster: Send address changes to P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424. Local Mail Service: If you don’t receive your Cottage Grove Sentinel on the THURSDAY of publication, please let us know. Call 541-942-3325 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Advertising Ownership: All advertising copy and illustrations prepared by the Cottage Grove Sentinel become the property of the Cottage Grove Sentinel and may not be reproduced for any other use without explicit written prior approval. Copyright Notice: Entire contents ©2020 Cottage Grove Sentinel
