Happy Women’s History Month, team!

This month is dedicated to honoring the women who have shaped our nation’s history and paved the way for future generations of women to shatter glass ceilings. To celebrate, we’re reflecting on the work of one of Allegheny County’s most important trailblazers: Jennie Bradley Roessing.

Jennie Bradley Roessing was a key figure in Pennsylvania’s women’s suffrage movement and in 1904, she organized the Allegheny County Equal Rights Association. Following her time serving as the ACERA’s vice president, she was elected president of the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association and embarked on an intensive lobbying campaign across Harrisburg to get the women's suffrage bill passed in the Pennsylvania legislature.

When the bill was defeated in 1915, Roessing was undeterred. She continued pressuring policymakers at the national level to pass women’s suffrage, even serving as a chairperson in the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

Women gained the right to vote in 1920 largely because of Roessing’s unrelenting work to ensure women had a place in our democracy. While Black women didn’t truly gain the right to vote until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, her work forged a path toward equality that would later allow all women to vote, to hold public office, and above all, to be recognized as powerful agents of change.

Roessing’s legacy continues inspiring women across the Commonwealth to fight for progress in their own communities today. Because of her work, future generations of women like Lindsey Williams could emerge as leaders and changemakers.

As we celebrate women’s history this month, we encourage you to take a moment and reflect on the women in your own circles who inspire you to make a difference. If there’s one thing we can learn from Jennie Bradley Roessing, it’s that Allegheny County is filled with strong women who have the power to change the world.

If you’d like to support Lindsey Williams in honor of Women’s History Month, click here.

— Team Williams