As has so often been the case at Illinois Wesleyan University, student activism is a vital force in any force for change. This post announces the opening of a poster exhibit that explores the long road through U.S. history for women’s suffrage. There are ten posters in the exhibit and they are now on the walls around the library’s entry level.
College Women Picketing at White House (click to enlarge)
August 18, 2020 marks the Centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The Ames Library is pleased to host the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence. The crusade for women’s suffrage is one of the longest reform movements in American history. Between 1832 and 1920, women citizens organized for the right to vote, agitating first in their states or territories and also, simultaneously, through petitioning for a federal amendment. These ten posters address women’s political activism, explore the racism that challenged universal suffrage, and document the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment which prohibits the government from denying U.S. citizens the right to vote on the basis of gender. They also touch upon the suffrage movement’s relevance to current conversations on voting and voting rights across America.
More information on the topic is available through Ames Library collections. Contact a librarian for assistance!
This exhibit was organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery. This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.