In late 1918, Texas suffragists opted to postpone proposals for a state constitutional amendment until after World War I. They chose instead to work for ratification of the federal amendment. This was in keeping with the National American Suffrage Association's philosophy, as the passage of the federal amendment was expected in January of 1919.

The Texas Equal Suffrage Association formed a Ratification Committee, chaired by Jane Y. McCallum, in anticipation of the efforts necessary to lobby the Texas Legislature for ratification once the federal amendment was passed. Minnie Fisher Cunningham moved to Washington, D.C. to lobby southern Democratic Senators about ratification on a national scale.

Although the U.S. Senate failed to pass the federal amendment in January, Texas Governor William P. Hobby signed the full suffrage bill on February 5, 1919. Suffragists launched an intensive campaign but the May 24 election, mandated by the suffrage bill, ultimately resulted in the amendment's defeat. Election fraud and irregular election ballots were a major cause.

On June 4, 1919, the U.S. Senate passed the federal suffrage amendment. By June 28th, the Texas Legislature had ratified the amendment, making Texas the ninth state in the Nation, and the first in the South, to do so.

In Texas, the struggle for woman suffrage was carried out amidst the political turmoil of the Ferguson era. Governor James E. Ferguson, whom suffragists viewed as the "implacable foe of woman suffrage and of every great moral issue for which women stood," was inaugurated on January 12, 1915. After a bitter controversy involving Ferguson's efforts to control the University of Texas' faculty, finances, and Board of Regents, the Texas Senate voted to impeach Ferguson in September of 1917.

At its January 1918 board meeting the Texas Equal Suffrage Association took action. William P. Hobby, who had assumed the governorship upon Ferguson's departure, was asked to submit the primary suffrage bill at a special legislative session scheduled to convene February 26th to consider prohibition. In return, the group promised to "use its influence and organization to assist him in his campaign for Governor."

The primary suffrage bill, introduced by San Angelo representative Charles B. Metcalfe, passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by Hobby on March 26, 1918. The law went into effect only seventeen days before the July 27th primary and a highly publicized registration drive that opened on June 26th. In Travis County, 5,856 women were registered -- a number almost equal to the expected number of male voters.

African-American women had been excluded from the suffrage movement. Many black leaders had opposed suffrage, in part because of the belief that a woman's place is in the home, and in part because they feared reprisals against African Americans if black women exercised their right to vote. Most African-American Texans were disenfranchised by laws such as the poll tax, literacy tests, and the white primary, which restricted voting in the Democratic primary to whites only. The passage of the 19th Amendment made no real difference in their political status.

However, African-American women were not strangers to community activism. Often through church groups or organizations like the Urban League and the NAACP, African-American women put their energies into trying to alleviate problems in their communities caused by poor conditions for working women, limited economic opportunities, inferior housing, and discrimination. Their passions were education and health care for children and the elderly.

Tejanos had been largely excluded from Texas politics from statehood on. Like African Americans, Tejanos in the early 20th century faced discrimination in employment and education and violence against them if they stepped out of line.  To combat these problems, they formed mutual-aid societies on the local level. Laredo women had blazed the trail for the formation of women's clubs to help serve the poor and work for improved education and health care for their people. The 1920s saw an expansion of the women's club movement for Hispanic women. For example, the Cruz Azul Mexicana club in San Antonio raised money for a free medical clinic, established a library, and offered legal assistance to workers and immigrants. Hispanic women also became involved in the PTA during the 1920s.

Fair Park was established in 1886. It was the location of the Texas State Fair. In 1893, the fair featured a woman's congress of over 300 women. The congress was organized by suffragist Dr. Ellen Lawson Dabbs, secretary of the Texas Equal Rights Association. From 1913-1917, the fair also featured a “Suffrage Day” when local suffragists would gather and promote women’s voting rights.