CHICAGO — If you think you’re seeing a lot of women dressed in white during the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, you don’t need to adjust your TV.
It appeared to be a concerted effort among female delegates and Democratic supporters as they arrived at the United Center Thursday afternoon, with security lines and convention floor seats filling with women dressed in white suits, dresses and other attire.
So when Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage to accept the Democratic presidential nomination—becoming the first black woman, and only the second woman overall, to do so—she’ll be looking out over an ocean filled with the color of women’s suffrage, the movement that culminated with American women securing the right to vote in 1920.
The tribute is a couture callback to other significant political events where women dressed in white have played a role, particularly for other glass ceiling moments.
Hillary Clinton donned a white suit when she accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2016. And Geraldine Ferraro — the first female candidate for vice president — wore white when she accepted that nomination at the 1984 Democratic convention.
There have been other moments as well. In 2019, the women made it into the American house a visual display of solidarity during the State of the Union, along with some of their male colleagues wearing white jackets or ribbons in support. A year later, on the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, congresswomen again wore white, as a commitment to defend women’s rights overall.
And again, earlier this year, the Democratic Women’s Caucus announced that many of its members would wear white to the State of the Union, intended as a message of support for reproductive rights.
Kate Gallego, the mayor of Phoenix, said party officials had asked delegates to wear white Thursday night to honor Harris’ nomination.
“A lot of women fought to get us to where we are tonight, and we wanted to be part of the celebration,” Gallego said. “So it’s a forward-looking gesture, but also to remember that a lot of people fought hard for today.”
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
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Jack Auresto and Mike Householder contributed to this report.