History Museum Hosts Smithsonian Exhibit
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— On the 100th anniversary of women receiving the right to vote when the 19th Amendment was ratified, the History Museum on the Square announces a new exhibit, Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence that will run from August 19, 2020 to September 27, 2020.
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 to the U.S. Constitution. Based on the National Portrait Gallery exhibition of the same name, Votes for Women seeks to expand visitors’ understanding of the suffrage movement in the United States. The poster exhibition addresses women’s political activism, explores the racism that challenged universal suffrage, and documents the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment which prohibits the government from denying U.S. citizens the right to vote on the basis of gender. It also touches upon the suffrage movement’s relevance to current conversations on voting and voting rights across America.
Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence is 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. We have also highlighted many local political activist women. This exhibit is sponsored locally by Presenting Sponsor AARP Springfield, Stanton & Mott Sponsors- Junior League of Springfield, National Art Shop, Pure Romance by Megan Berryessa, Susan B. Anthony Sponsors- Morey Mechlin, Mostly Serious LLC, and Francie Wolff. This exhibit is free to members. General admission rates apply to all other guests.
Events supporting Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence
Tuesday, August 18 – 6 pm – Brown Derby International Wine Center Virtual Wine Tasting
Celebrating women and leadership, join us as we partner with Brown Derby Wine Center, Good Clean Wine and Terrell Creek Farm as we toast women in the past from Springfield’s history. Wine Kits can be purchased here through Brown Derby.
Wednesday, August 26 – 10 am – 4 pm – Voter Registration
Celebrate Women’s Equality Day by registering to vote. The Springfield League of Women’s Voter will have a booth at the History Museum to educate and register voters. Admission is not required to visit the booth.
Wednesday, August 26 – 7 pm – Book Club
We will be discussing The Engineer’s Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood. Based on the true story of an American icon, The Engineer’s Wife delivers an emotional portrait of a woman transformed by a project of unfathomable scale, which takes her into the bowels of the East River, suffragette riots, the halls of Manhattan’s elite, and the heady, freewheeling temptations of P.T. Barnum. The biography of a husband and wife determined to build something that lasts-even at the risk of losing each other.Join our Facebook Private Group for more details.
Saturday, September 12, 2020 – 2:00 pm – Rose O’Neill: From Poverty to World-Renowned Artist, Suffragist & Activist by Susan Scott, President of Bonniebrook Historical Society
You can join us in person at the Historic Fox Theatre or virtually as Susan Scott shares Rose O’Neill’s courageous fight for women’s rights and suffrage. This presentation will be through Zoom if you choose virtual. Free to members, $10.00 for non-members. Reserve your ticket here.
Gift Shop Partnership with Pagination Bookshop
We have a variety of youth and adult books that are available to purchase through Pagination Bookshop regarding the 19th Amendment and the Women’s Movement. Pagination Bookshop will give 15% of your sale back to History Museum on the Square.