MENDOCINO CO., 8/25/25 — On Sunday, more than 100 people braved coastal low clouds to gather on Mendocino’s Kelley House Museum’s lawn to commemorate the 105th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and honor the women whose advocacy won the right to vote.
The event, called Women’s Equality Day and hosted by a coalition of local groups including the Mendocino County League of Women Voters, began with a parade at noon. Cynthia Frank, a founding member of the Mendocino Women’s Choir, struck a replica period drum to signal the start of the parade. Marchers followed Frank and California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, who led the procession along the town’s Main Street.
Some wore period costumes, while others sported blue-and-white “Votes for Women” sashes, carrying forward the spirit of suffragists who fought more than a century ago. Their chants echoed in call-and-response: “We are here! We are strong! We won’t wait, hear our song! Stand up! Fight back! For voting rights, they fought! Rise up! Lift up! March on! Stay strong!”
As the parade wound back to the lawn, a fresh wave of participants joined in, and the marchers were greeted with a spirited serenade by the Mendocino Women’s Choir.
Fort Bragg City Councilmember Tess Albin-Smith, dressed in suffragette-era attire, served as master of ceremonies; she had introduced a proclamation Aug. 11 to officially recognize Aug. 26 as Women’s Equality Day in Fort Bragg.
U’ilani Moore-Wesley, executive director of the Indigenous women-led nonprofit Xa Kako Dilea, began the celebration with a warm “Aloha” welcome and acknowledged that the gathering takes place on the traditional, unceded lands of the Northern Pomo and Coast Yuki peoples. Moore-Wesley, a Native Hawaiian, is descended from ancestors who suffered atrocities similar to those experienced by Native Americans.
Mendocino County 1st District Supervisor Madeline Cline, the state’s youngest sitting county supervisor, presented the county proclamation honoring Women’s Equality Day. Santa Rosa City Councilmember Natalie Rogers, who is running for the state Senate seat vacated by Mike McGuire, said, “I am an African American woman, a mother of eight, a grandmother of four, and I proudly serve on the Santa Rosa City Council — where I’ve been Vice Mayor and Mayor. I used my platform to show up in schools, senior homes, juvenile halls, and our faith community—because I wanted young girls, especially those who look like me, to see that they too could lead.
“My message today is this: as women, we are powerful,” Rogers said. “Our votes matter. Our voices matter. We matter. And when society tells us otherwise, we must remind ourselves and each other: we are enough.”
Keynote speaker Fiona Ma reminded the crowd that the fight for the 19th Amendment was long and arduous. ”It was the result of decades of organizing, sacrifice, and determination by generations of women who marched, rallied, spoke out, and refused to be silenced. Their bravery lit a path toward justice that we continue to walk today.” She noted that California women were early trailblazers, winning the right to vote in 1911—nine years before the 19th Amendment—making the state the sixth in the nation to grant full women’s suffrage.
According to the Kelley House Museum’s Making History Blog-Women’s Suffrage Debate, In the 1911 California women’s suffrage election, the Big River Precinct in Mendocino County voted 63 in favor and 97 against the Equal Suffrage Amendment. Despite Big River’s vote, the statewide results were narrowly in favor, with the amendment passing by just 3,587 votes.
“Let us be clear, the hard-fought battles we have won—the right to vote, the right to equality, the right to be heard—must never be overturned or eroded,” Ma concluded. “Our democracy depends on vigilance, courage, and the unwavering belief that justice belongs to all.”
Val Muchowski, a founding member of the Mendocino Women’s Political Coalition and Charlene McAllister of the League of Women Voters spoke about their organizations’ ongoing efforts to advance voting rights and equality. Both urged women to run for political office and staffed information tables offering ways for citizens to get involved in protecting and expanding voting rights. As a surprise, and to the delight of the crowd, Ma honored Muchowski as a role model for her decades of advocacy, presenting her with a special proclamation.
The day concluded with the Mendocino Women’s Choir leading the crowd in “Happy Hallelujahs” from the 1909 Suffrage Songbook to the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” followed by an alternate lyric “America the Beautiful”: “O beautiful for days to come/When wars shall cease to be…”
Fort Bragg’s Adelaide La Torre arranged flowers to decorate the speaker’s podium. “I am volunteering here today because it is so important for the next generation—my generation—to get involved, to tell the story of our fight for women’s rights, especially now, when our rights are more in question than they have been in the last 100 years,” La Torre said.
A coalition of local groups hosted the parade and program, including the American Association of University Women-Ukiah Branch, Cloud Forest Institute, Mendocino County League of Women Voters, Mendocino Women’s Political Coalition, Soroptimist International and the Mendocino Women’s Choir.
Revoke the 19th amendment immediately.
Some day far off in the future, it will be acceptable to also celebrate men. Straight, White, honest, hard working men will be seen as a significant contributor to our society and it will no longer be okay to denounce their very existence as the enemy. We have a long way to go to get there. There won’t be chants for standing up and fighting, just a simple nod or a good word, an acknowledgement that we are glad you are also here.