Justice Bell Foundation
Reclaiming Women's History. Highlighting Women's Contributions. Promoting Voter Participation.

The following are questions presented to Amanda Owen, Executive Director of the Justice Bell Foundation, by students in a Girl Spark Club at Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pennsylvania during an event on October 21, 2024. Students were the most interested in how young people can get involved in politics, help support voting rights and registration, and how the history of voting has affected girls and women. (Some of the questions and answers refer specifically to voting information in Pennsylvania, and women’s elected office representation in Lower Merion Township and Montgomery County.

What does the Justice Bell Foundation do?
Founded in 2016, the Justice Bell Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate, inspire, and mobilize current and future voters. With programs for schools, a film about the women’s suffrage movement, and a public art Justice Bell replica, the Justice Bell Foundation is committed to highlighting women’s contributions in the struggle for voting rights and inspiring people to register to vote and become engaged citizens by supporting our democratic ideals. Our website is Justice Bell Foundation

What inspired you to create the Justice Bell Foundation and pursue this mission?
When I found out that almost no one knew about the Justice Bell and its role in the women’s suffrage movement, I decided to create a nonprofit to help me spread the word. It bothered me that the once-famous symbol for women’s voting rights had been erased from the public’s memory.

What are different ways students can get involved in local politics?
•    Pennsylvania is now an automatic voter registration state. If students at your school are not already registered, you can make sure they are. Vote.org is a user-friendly site where you can register to vote, check registration, and  look up dates, rules, etc.
•    Find out who your local politicians are and what they are doing.
•    Run for office. This Wikipedia page shows age requirements: Candidacy Laws in the United States.

How can we get involved with the Justice Bell Foundation and other organizations that promote education about voting rights?
•    Help spread the word about the work of the JBF and other organizations. 
•    Volunteer.
•    National Voter Registration Day is one of our partners that promotes voter registration.

Why is it important for young women (or anyone) to vote?
•    Women got the vote in 1920 with the 19th Amendment.
•    To make your voice count, to support legislation that helps you and others.
•    The more people vote, the more others are inspired to vote, or simply believe it is their duty to vote.
•    Do you have a specific cause? There are many single-issue voters.

• Gun control

• Climate change

• Women’s rights

• Racial justice

Based on your knowledge on women’s voting, have you noticed correlations between the number of women who vote and restrictions on women’s lives? Divorce laws, women getting credit cards, Lilly Ledbetter, etc.
Legislation and a Supreme Court decision
•    1973: Roe v. Wade gave a constitutional right to an abortion. The 2022 Dobbs decision removed that right.
•    1974: With the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, women could get their own credit cards, bank loans and mortgages. A coalition of women's and civil rights groups pressured the government to pass the ECOA. The law was originally passed in October 1974, and was amended in March 1976 to prohibit discrimination based on additional characteristics.
•    1970s no-fault divorce passed by states. These are state laws, not federal.
•    2007 Supreme Court ruled that Lilly Ledbetter's lawsuit for wage discrimination failed because she filed it too late.
•    2009 President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
•    A current example of women advocating for their rights: Women have come out in huge numbers to make sure that abortion, reproductive rights, and bodily autonomy are enshrined in their state constitutions.

The effect of the number of women in political office.
•    When women are in office, they often focus on specific policies that help families and children.
•    Example: In 1880, 37 states set the age of consent at 10 years, 10 states set an age of consent at 12 years, and Delaware had an age of consent of 7 years. When women held office, often one of the first things they did was advocate to raise the age of consent.

The United States
•    August 26, 1920: The 19th Amendment was added to the constitution which gave women the right to vote.
•    Jeannette Rankin (R-MT) was the first woman elected to Congress, the House of Representatives in 1916. 
•    As of September 23, 2024, there are 126 women in the U.S. House of Representatives (not including four female non-voting delegates), making women 29% of the total.
•    Only 25 women in the senate (100 senate seats: two per state)
•    The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) page gives the numbers for how many women are serving in the state legislatures: State Legislature

Pennsylvania
•    In 1922, eight women were the first to be elected to the PA House of Representatives.
•    Pennsylvania has never had a woman senator or governor.
•    As of October 21, 2024, in the Pennsylvania’s state legislature both chambers have women at their helm — Republican President Pro Tempore Kim Ward in the state Senate, and Democratic Speaker Joanna McClinton in the state House. 
•    Only 80 of the 253 lawmakers who serve in the state House and Senate are women.

Lower Merion Township
•    Two out of 14 commissioners are women. Information here: Commissioners

PA House of Representatives for Lower Merion Township/Montgomery County
•    The township is part of the Fourth Congressional District (represented by Rep. Madeleine Dean), the Fifth Congressional District (represented by Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon), the 148th State House District (represented by Rep. Mary Jo Daley), and the 17th State Senate District (represented by Sen. Amanda Cappelletti). For information: Wikipedia Lower Merion Township and Montgomery County

Helpful Websites
•    She Should Run
•    Generation Ratify (ERA) - recently renamed The Young Feminist Party
•    Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) 
•    Justice Bell Foundation Voting Information