TODD THOMPSON
Special to Hutch Post
Just give me a minute…please.
She needed a short break.
That Kansas sun beat down on her on that August day in 1920. She had just made the walk to the Courthouse and was returning home. It was a long trek for most, including Martha.
But Martha was not most people.
Little has been written about Martha. History often remembers the famous but forgets the faithful, the ones that carry these movements forward. Yet that August day in 1920, Martha made the pages of the Leavenworth Times.
Not for a speech. Not for a parade. Not for her death.
For her walk.
She walked more than a mile to the Courthouse. Then she walked more than a mile back home. She made that journey for one simple, yet extraordinary reason:
To register to vote.
Martha’s daughter, Elizabeth, better known as Lizzie, spent her life fighting for justice. She was the president of the State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs and worked to expand opportunities for women and minorities.
Her son-in-law, Turner W. Bell, was a well-renowned attorney in the country, thought by some to be the greatest habeas corpus attorney. He helped more than fourteen-hundred incarcerated people regain their freedom or shorten their sentences.
This was a family that fought for justice.
But on that day, the story was not about Lizzie or Turner.
It was about Martha.
On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment was certified as part of the U.S. Constitution, securing women’s right to vote nationwide. That achievement came after generations of women who organized, protested, endured ridicule, and refused to give up.
With the door open to vote, Martha walked through.
Fortunately for Martha, Kansas recognized women’s voting rights, but many minority voters across the country still faced discrimination and barriers that would not be addressed through federal enforcement until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Born prior to the Civil War, Martha had lived through a nation divided by slavery, segregation, and inequality. She knew what it meant to live in a world where freedom was promised but not always delivered.
After nearly a century of life, she was not going to let anything stand between her and a right she had deserved all along.
Today, this same right comes to many of us easily. For many, voting seems more of a chore than an opportunity.
“I’m too busy.”
“I don’t know the candidates.”
“My vote doesn’t matter.”
Hopefully, Martha’s walk reminds you of its importance.
Our vote matters. People like Martha marched for this opportunity.
At nearly 100 years old, she walked over two miles on an August day in Kansas to register to vote, not because it was easy, but because it mattered.
Her story is more than a history lesson, it’s a responsibility.
Now it’s our turn to take a minute.
Todd Thompson is the County Attorney for Leavenworth County, KS.