Planting daffodils to celebrate women’s right to vote

Two-year-old Enna Nelson and her 4-year-old sister, Rebel, help plant daffodil bulbs on the front lawn of Poland’s Ricker Memorial Library Tuesday. Eriks Petersons photo

POLAND — On Tuesday, members of the Poland Huddle and its supporters gathered on the lawn of Ricker Memorial Library and planted 100 daffodil bulbs as part of the 100th anniversary of Maine’s suffrage movement.

On Nov. 5, 1919, the all-male Maine Legislature voted to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by a vote of 72-68, granting women the right to vote.

The daffodil was the symbol for Maine suffragists. This autumn thousands of daffodils are being planted across Maine to bloom in the spring of 2020 to coincide with the national centennial celebration of the suffrage movement’s victory, when the 19th Amendment was officially ratified by the states in the summer of 1920.

Eunice Stover said the Poland Huddle was formed shortly after the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. “We are a small group of women who meet semi-regularly. Our purpose is to do positive things for the community,” she said.