Buffalo Girl

I forgot my gloves again. I can’t really feel my fingers, and my nose feels like an icicle on my face. I am tempted to stamp my feet and jump around to warm myself, but I am afraid that I will bump into someone, and I really don’t want to ruin Mama’s good mood. So, I just blow on my hands and then quickly shove them into my coat pockets. I move closer to my mother, hoping to feel her warmth through my damp coat. Mama said that the clouds looked like snow clouds, and we could expect an early winter. I usually looked forward to the first snowfall of the year, but I hope it will at least wait until we are back home, and I can sit next to the stove with a hot cup of tea keeping me warm. Maybe if I am good and don’t complain, Mama will let me have hot coco today instead of tea.

I lean around Mama and see the line in front of us. A group of men and women in heavy winter clothing are bunched up ahead of us, making it hard to see just how many people are ahead of us. Mama says that today is a very important day. Today is the very first day that women can vote for our next President. I asked her if I could vote too, and she said nine is still too young, but when I am older, I can. I almost reminded her that I will be ten in a month, but I didn’t want her to give that look she gets when I pester her too much. So instead, I asked who she was going to vote for. "Harding," she said. "I am voting for Harding because he supports women's causes.” I didn’t really understand what she meant by that, but I pretended I did and just nodded my head.

When the war started a few years ago, Daddy got shipped to France. I cried when he left because I didn’t know when he was coming back. Mama just gave him a hug and a kiss and told him to be careful like he was just going to work or something. It wasn’t until later that night that I heard Mama crying in her room.

The next day, Mama said that since Daddy was away, she needed to find a job to put food on the table. She started working at a factory that built airplanes for the war. I thought it was neat, but Mama was upset because they didn't pay her that much because she was not a man. She told me that a group of women from work was getting together to fight for the right to vote. At first, I thought she meant that she was going to war like Daddy, but she said that Women use their voices as weapons, not guns. I wasn’t quite sure what voting had to do with making more money, but Mama said it would allow women to demand better treatment. After that, on her days off, she would leave the house wearing her "Vote for Women" sash or carrying one of her signs to go walking up and down the street in front of the County Court House. Sometimes, she would take me with her, and I got to wear a matching sash and carry a sign like Mama. It made me feel important and very grown-up.

One day we went over to Mrs. Frotheringham’s house to stuff envelopes with Vote For Women fliers. My job was to put the stamps on the envelopes. I probably put on a MILLION stamps, but Mrs. Frotheringham gave me a quarter when I was done and slipped me some peppermint candy when Mama wasn’t looking. Mama said that Mrs. Frotheringham was one of the Buffalo Six. She and five others went all the way down to Washington to march in front of the White House. I guess the President didn’t like them shouting and waving their signs because they got into big trouble and were thrown in jail. Every time Mama would talk about it, she always had a sad look on her face. Then she would get mad and tell me that sometimes bad things just had to happen in order to make good things happen.  She would say, “Baby Girl, it has to rain before the flowers can bloom.”

Daddy finally came home over a year ago. This time Mama cried when she saw him. He has to walk with a cane now because he was shot in the hip. It took him a while to find work because no one wanted to hire a cripple. Daddy was finally able to find work as a mechanic. The garage owner had lost his son in the war and wanted to hire a military vet. Mom lost her job at the factory when the war finally ended, but she and her friends still wore their sashes and carried their signs.

When Daddy returned home, I was sure that he would not be happy about Mama and her “Vote for Women” activities. And at first, he wasn’t very happy about it. It wasn’t because he didn't think a woman should vote, but more with the fact that Mama was gone a lot. However, Mama finally convinced him that what she was doing was important. One night after dinner, when he started to complain about her being gone all day, she said, “Jim, I’m not doing this just for me. What about Abigail? We are trying to raise her to be a smart young lady and think for herself. Are you going to sit there and tell me she is not as smart as those idiot Cafferty boys? Why should they get the right to decide what is good enough for our girl? She should be allowed to decide who should speak up for her. She should be treated with the same respect as anyone else. Can you honestly look her in the eye and tell her Freedom in America only means your free if you are a white male? Women make sacrifices too. We should be allowed to have the same freedoms as men." After that, Daddy didn't complain about Mama going out, and the next night he came home with flowers and told her that he was proud of her.

A couple of months ago, Mama came home all excited. She threw her arms around me and cried, “We did it! Tennessee ratified the vote Baby Girl!” When I asked her what that meant, she told me that enough states had voted "yes" to add a 19^th Amendment to the constitution that would allow women the right to vote. She was going to be able to vote for the very first time in November’s election.

Mama said that since it was a special day, I didn't have to go to school today. After breakfast, Mama dressed in her Sunday clothes, her prettiest winter hat, and the gloves that Daddy got her for her birthday. We left the house and rode a streetcar to the nearest voting poll station. Mama was so excited she could barely keep still. I was practically running to keep up with her. When we finally got to the polling station, the line to vote was all the way out the door.

I glance up at Mama to see if she even remembered that I was with her. She looks down at me and smiles, wrapping her arm around me drawing me closer. “You forgot your gloves again, didn’t you,” she whispers. I nod my head, expecting a scolding, but she just laughs softly before squeezing me tighter.

I can finally see the doors to the building, and a man in a suit and tie is standing at the front. At first, I’m scared that he won’t let us in, but he waves us in and points to where Mama needs to go. Another man hands Mama a card and pencil and tells her to go into the curtained stall on the left. We both squeeze into the tiny stall, and I see her place a mark on the card. She shows me the card and grins. Then we slip out, and Mama slides the card into a giant wooden box. There is another man in a suit and tie standing next to the box wearing a stern expression. But when Mama glances up at him, he gives her a little smile and winks at me. When we go back outside, we see that the snow is just beginning to fall. Mama takes my hand and says in her cheerful voice, "Today is a beautiful day."