One hundred years ago this month, California became the eighth state in the country to grant women the right to vote.

Oaklanders are invited to celebrate this historic vote with a parade this Sunday, Oct. 2.

The festivities start at 11 a.m. at the Bandstand on Lakeside Park, just south of Fairyland. Mayor Jean Quan and the women of the Oakland City Council will offer the opening greeting. The crowd will then march up and along Grand Avenue, before returning to the Bandstand for more fanfare, including a performance by the Montclair Women's Big Band and remarks from Daphne Muse, former director of the Women's Leadership Institute at Mills College.

At 1:45 p.m., the festivities will move to the Veterans Memorial Building for an ice cream social. The social, sponsored by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, Fenton's Creamery and Trader Joe's, is free to march participants and $5 for the general public.

Parking will be available for $5 per car and seating will be available at the bandstand.

Between the period costumes, replica banners and other memorabilia, the event promises to take on a historic tone. Sandra Threlfall, executive director of Waterfront Action and organizing force behind the celebration, is only too happy to share the story of women's suffrage in Oakland and California. Though these events happened a century ago, the political system of the time often parallels our own today.

"The first parade for suffrage happened in Oakland," Threlfall said. "A couple of women who were very active in the statewide movement happened to live here, but we also had the good fortune to be the site of the state Republican Convention in 1908. The Democrats had already passed suffrage on their platform, but these were the progressive Republicans, so the women organized their supporters for a parade.

"They didn't worry about permits, because a parade like this had never happened before, so they went and had their parade. It was a spectacle," Threlfall added. "There are pictures of people in cars stopped with their mouths hanging open, and you know they're thinking '300 women, what is this?'

"The women marched up to the convention at Ebell Hall [formerly on Harrison Street] and the men invited them on stage. The men said all the nice things, like 'Oh, thank you women for brightening our day,' being very condescending. The women said, in chorus, 'We're not here for your thanks, we're here for a plank in your platform.'

"The convention lasted three days, and the Republicans decided not to put the amendment for suffrage on their platform. It was three long years until suffrage actually went to vote, but in those three years, the technology changed dramatically. Phones and cars became much more common, and people were able to get out into rural areas. It is a generalization, of course, but men in rural areas viewed women much more like equals, because rural women did agricultural work."

Sure enough, on Oct. 22, 1911, suffrage was defeated in many larger cities, including San Francisco, as well as Oakland, which defeated women's suffrage by 1,743 votes. California's rural voters won the state, and the amendment was passed by only a margin 3,587 votes out of 246,487.

After 100 years, it's shocking that women were enfranchised by such a slim margin.

"Opponents to women's suffrage complained that if women got the vote, they would start to demand equal pay. It had a lot to do with money," Threlfall explained. "Also, the Prohibition movement was strong on the East Coast, so there was a lot of concern that if women got the vote, they would ban alcohol. That was a lot of the fear - that they'll demand equal pay and they'll ban alcohol."

Ok, but surely we've resolved the issue of gender equality by 2011, right?

Without hesitation, Threlfall points out the continued failure of the Era Rights Act. The ERA, first introduced to Congress in 1923, would guarantee that "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." The ERA would make gender a suspect classification, as we technically regard race.

"I remember when the Equal Rights for Women Amendment failed in the 1970s. It was adopted by enough votes to become a Constitutional amendment and then five states [Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee, and South Dakota], rescinded their votes. Have you ever been able to rescind a vote?" Threlfall asked. "You know and I know ERA is Sisyphus and the rock for another generation, because we still need this. Right after the Wal-Mart case, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) reintroduced the Amendment, but it still doesn't have the votes."

The Centennial Celebration of Women's Right to Vote in California also is supported by the American Association of University Women, League of Women Voters of Oakland, National Women's History Project, Coalition of Labor Union Women, American Civil Liberties Union, Girl Scouts of the USA, Cinnamon Girl, Emerge California, Piedmont Area Republican Women, Asian Health Services and the East Bay Regional Parks District.

"It's going to be a great mix," Threlfall said, beaming.

How can you support the parade?

Show up on Sunday, but pre-order your replica suffrage sash now. The parade was organized entirely by volunteers and the committee is always interested in contributions. There is a form on the website, and contributions are tax deductible. Make checks payable to the Alameda County Historical Society.

Looking for more suffrage fun?

Join Parlors & Politics - A Celebration of Women's Suffrage in California: From noon to 3p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 1. The event is hosted by the Cohen-Bray House, the Camron-Stanford House and the Pardee Home Museum and offers participants refreshments, tea and a chance to learn more about the lives of suffragists leading up to the historic vote in 1911.