Rosalynn Carter

“I think of her today …”

“My mother was 14 when the 19th Amendment passed. She married and became eligible to vote in 1926. It was fitting for me, her first child and daughter, to be born on the seventh anniversary of ratification, August 18, 1927!

After the death of my father when I was 13 years old, my mother had to go to work to support her family.  She raised me to be an independent woman like she was and to cherish our hard-earned right to vote and have a say in decisions that affect our nation.

I think of her today as we celebrate the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  All Americans should be able to participate in our democracy.”

– First Lady Rosalynn Carter honors her mother, Allie Smith

Eleanor Rosalynn Smith Carter served as First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981 as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. For decades a leading advocate for mental health, she is also vice chair of The Carter Center which promotes peace and human rights worldwide. She was born on Ratification Day, August 18th, when the 19th Amendment was just seven years old.