Program

National Votes for Women Trail

Subject

People

Location

500 E San Antonio Ave # 1203, El Paso, TX 79901, USA

Lat/Long

31.758656, -106.484199

Grant Recipient

National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

Maud Sampson Williams (1880-1958) was a Black suffragist and civil rights leader in El Paso, Texas. In June 1918, Williams helped to organize the El Paso Negro Woman’s Civic and Equal Franchise League (NWCEFL). Williams served as chair of the NWCEFL and meetings were held at her home on South Saint Vrain Street in El Paso. In March 1918, Texas women had obtained partial suffrage and were now able to vote in primary elections. Williams and the NWCEFL worked with the White women’s El Paso Equal Franchise League to mobilize women to register and vote in that year’s primary election.

In May 1919, Texas held a referendum on a women’s suffrage resolution that would have amended the state constitution to give women in the state full suffrage. On the day of the election, Williams served as chair for three voting precincts in El Paso on behalf of the El Paso Equal Franchise League, calling voters to gain support for the women’s suffrage resolution. Despite these efforts, the resolution did not pass and Texas women were still denied the right to full franchise.

On June 4, 1919, the United States Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment which states, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” On June 28, the Texas State Legislature ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, due to the tireless efforts of Texas suffragists like Williams. By August 1920, the necessary 36 states had ratified the amendment, securing women’s right to vote across the United States.