Persistence: Continuing the Struggle for Suffrage and Equality, 1848-2020
Persistence: Continuing the Struggle for Suffrage and Equality, 1848-2020
This exhibit recognizes the champions at all levels of work who struggled to achieve voting rights for women in Minnesota, and whose example still serves activists in our community today. We commemorate these women and their work in Ramsey County and their contributions to American history and to the rights of women in this exhibition.
About the Exhibit
The exhibition features historical information and photos, interpretive panels, and objects that tell the stories of the Minnesota women who were leaders in the fight for suffrage and women’s right. The exhibition provides historical background on the Suffrage movement nationally and in Minnesota, while relating the struggle to current events. The exhibition also features original portrait art of some of these leaders, commissioned by RCHS and created by local, Minnesota, South Dakota, and New York artists.
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed in Congress on June 4, 1919. It was ratified, or approved, by three-fourths of the states on August 18, 1920. In thirty-nine words, women gained the right to vote throughout the country. At that time, and still today, some states make voting more difficult for some African American, Native American, and newly immigrated women and men. Minnesota women worked in the struggle for suffrage as early as the 1860s. They formed organizations to educate legislators and the public about the need for equal suffrage. They raised money, organized parades, and brought in speakers from across the country and Europe to support the cause. Many of these women also worked for other causes, such as child labor laws, labor rights, prohibition, birth control, race relations, and world peace. The activist women featured here, and so many more, PERSISTED, understanding that social change often requires great struggle over decades. Artwork: “Theresa Peyton” by Klaire A. Lockheart.
Women’s March on Washington 2017
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