Manhattan Beach lights up to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women receiving voting rights

Organizers of the campaign pose for a photo in front of City Hall. These purple and gold lights will be on display until Nov. 3 to honor 100 years of women having the right to vote. Photo courtesy of City Council Member Nancy Hersman.

By: Kelly Fraenkel

Staff Writer

As part of a nationwide participation in the Forward Into Light campaign, Manhattan Beach will shine with purple and gold lights every night until Nov. 3 to celebrate the centennial of women winning the right to vote with the adoption of the 19th Amendment.

Manhattan Beach City Councilmember Nancy Hersman, Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce President Kelly Strom and residents of the city contributed to the Forward Into Light Campaign, named to commemorate the suffrage slogan, “Forward through the Darkness, Forward into Light.” During her term as Mayor of Manhattan Beach last year, one of Hersman’s commitments was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the women’s voting rights and the passing of the 19th Amendment, she said.

“I had a great group of women from the Chamber, Historical Society, Leadership Manhattan Beach, Neptunian Woman’s Club, the school district and others. We had lots of plans including a parade at the Hometown Fair with suffragists, as well as a booth. We also planned to do the Forward into Light campaign, which is a national campaign,” Hersman said. “Once COVID hit and the Hometown Fair was canceled, we were at a loss as to how to celebrate. However, the Forward Into Light campaign became our signature event.”

Manhattan Beach City Hall lit up on Aug. 26, Women’s Equality Day, and the city will continue to participate in this event until Nov. 3. Local businesses are also participating in the campaign. Stores such as Pages and Blue Diamond Jewelers hung signs and banners and installed purple and gold lights, the color of the women’s suffrage movement, on their storefronts.

“We also decided to keep it lit from Aug. 26 through the election on Nov. 3, as a way to remind everyone of the precious right to vote,” Hersman said. “We also asked downtown businesses to light up in purple and gold, and our committee bought lights and helped some businesses to do so. We also had signage reminding people to vote on Nov. 3.”

The purpose of the Forward Into Light campaign is to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, as well as to teach people, in a non-partisan fashion, about the women’s suffrage movement. Signs and banners are being hung in Manhattan Beach not only to commemorate this event but also to encourage people to vote in the upcoming election.

“I am hopeful that the Forward into Light campaign will encourage all residents to get out to vote, and especially our young people,” Hersman said. “I also hope young people will realize that it was only a short 100 years ago that not all women could vote. Unfortunately, after the passage, Black and Latino women, as well as many Asian and American Indian women could not vote due to voter suppression. It took the Voters Rights Act in the 1960s to secure the right to vote. Not very long ago.”