The fight for women’s suffrage that culminated 100 years ago in the passage of the 19th Amendment has spawned a number of fascinating explorations into that history. We’ve previously recommended the New York Times‘s spotlights on the theater projects Suffragist and Finish the Fight, and now comes The Vote, a sure-to-be enlightening documentary series from PBS: American Experience. The first of four episodes of The Vote premieres tonight at 8 p.m. on WEDU.

“The textbooks when I went to school said women were given the vote,” says activist Eleanor Smeal in the documentary. “We weren’t given anything. We took it.”

But victory was by no means easy. And — as is made clear in one of the series’ many online related features — not all women gained the right to vote in 1920.

The American Experience site puts it this way: “Exploring how and why millions of 20th-century Americans mobilized for — and against — women’s suffrage, The Vote brings to life the unsung leaders of the movement and the deep controversies over gender roles and race that divided Americans then — and continue to dominate political discourse today.”