![Hillary Clinton Holds Get Out The Vote Rally With Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi Hillary Clinton Holds Get Out The Vote Rally With Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/hillary-clinton-election-19th-amendment-women.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
They were born into a world where women couldn’t even vote — and now they have the opportunity to elect one of their own president.
The website I Waited 96 Years documents women born before the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 who, ninety-six years later, are casting their ballots for Clinton.
Voters are encouraged to submit their photos and stories about waiting for this historic election — and their narratives are inspiring.
The movement started when 98-year-old Estelle Schultz took a photo to show her granddaughter, Sarah Benor, when she filled out her absentee ballot for Clinton. When Benor posted the picture on Facebook, it received far more attention than she ever imagined.
“It received over 1,600 likes and many comments about how moving that is, how it was bringing people to tears, how they wanted to share it with their children or grandchildren,” Benor told NPR.
Benor realized many other women recognized the gravity of the situation and joined in, and she created I Waited 96 Years to gather all of those participating.
“This election means that women can achieve anything,” said Katherine Blood Hoffman, 102, of Tallahassee, Florida. “In 1937 I was accepted into the medical school at Duke University. I decided not to attend because female students were required to sign a pledge stating that they would not marry while in school. The male students did not have to sign and did not have the same restriction. I did not think that this was fair.”
“It started before I was born,” Beatrice Lumpkin, 98, of Chicago recalled. “My mother was among the first women to cut her hair short and to switch from the long skirts that dragged in the mud to short dresses. It’s all about our rights, starting with the right to vote. When I got old enough to understand, how proud I was to learn what the suffragettes dared do to win women’s right to vote. But the fight went on until African Americans won the right to vote. We’ll never let anyone take that away from us!”
This article originally appeared on People.com
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Contact us at letters@time.com