A Letter From Our Executive Director
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Dear Friends,
Women’s fight for the vote was one the longest and most impactful social movements in American history, spanning the Civil War, Reconstruction, World War I, and the Spanish Flu pandemic. For five generations, suffragists were ridiculed, marginalized, arrested, and imprisoned for their cause. Their radical efforts for equality were deemed “unpatriotic” and “unladylike,” and they were told that women voting would bring undue burden to the home and lead to the unraveling of the American family. Despite the seemingly overwhelming obstacles placed in their path, suffragists were never deterred in their pursuit of equality. They triumphed, and the intensity of their efforts through wars and a pandemic provides an example for all Americans of perseverance and tenacity.
The Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC) was created by Congress to mark the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment in 2020 and to ensure that the untold stories of women’s battle for the ballot are recognized and celebrated across the U.S. The WSCC has been committed to telling an inclusive, diverse, and complete history of the fight for the vote, and was proud to lead the nationwide commemorations of this historic centennial.
Per our chartering legislation, today the WSCC comes to a close, leaving a legacy of public art, educational resources, and scholarship that will ensure the visibility of women's stories for the next 100 years, acknowledging the complexities of an imperfect but powerful movement for change and motivating a new generation of leaders.
Suffragists did more than secure passage of the 19th Amendment. They broke barriers and changed perceptions of women’s role in public life. By speaking out and succeeding in their decades-long grassroots movement, these activists opened up new opportunities for women in all fields and inspired future generations to fight for progress. We stand on their shoulders, and we will never forget their courage.
Sincerely,
Anna Laymon
Anna Laymon
Executive Director
Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission
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The WSCC Archived Website and Twitter
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The WSCC comes to a close today, December 18, 2020, but a complete record of our programs, campaigns, and initiatives to commemorate 100 years of the 19th Amendment remains on our archived website, which can be found at a new URL here. The WSCC's Twitter page will also remain posted as an archived account, so be sure to continue exploring our content there as well.
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The WSCC Final Agency Report
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The WSCC's final Agency Report, which can be found on the WSCC's archived website, contains reflections from our commissioners and detailed descriptions of each WSCC project. Listed below, you can also find updates on WSCC educational resources that you can continue to enjoy and public art projects that will continue to develop over the coming years.
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Suffrage History Podcasts
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The WSCC amplified suffrage history during the centennial by producing several podcasts in collaboration with podcast leader PRX and the National Park Service. In And Nothing Less: The Untold Stories of Women's Fight for the Vote, hosts Rosario Dawson and Retta explore the lesser-known aspects of the suffrage movement. Children’s podcast The Magic Sash, hosted by Aly Raisman, follows two fifth graders as they take a journey back in time. The Agitators, adapted from the play of the same name and hosted by Ashley C. Ford, shares the story of the decades-long friendship between activist leaders Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass. Listen wherever you get your podcasts!
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The Suff Buffs Blog Series
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The WSCC’s blog series, The Suff Buffs, brought together leading suffrage historians to tell the inspiring and complex stories of women’s fight for the vote. Continue to enjoy and learn from this unparalleled anthology on the National Park Service website, the new forever home for the series!
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Every Word We Utter Monument
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The WSCC was proud to work closely with the U.S. Congress over the past year to ensure the passage of historic legislation, which was signed by President Trump on December 17, to establish the Every Word We Utter monument. Every Word We Utter, designed by renowned sculptor Jane DeDecker, will be the first outdoor monument in Washington, D.C. to honor women’s fight for the right to vote. The monument will depict suffragists and activists Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot Stanton Blatch, Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells, and Alice Paul.
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Turning Point Suffragist Memorial
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The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association is building a national memorial dedicated to the generations of bold women who fought for the vote. The site of the memorial is in Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton, Virginia, on part of the historic prison grounds where suffragists went to jail for picketing outside the White House in 1917. The WSCC has worked closely with Turning Point on development of the memorial, contributing statues of suffragists Alice Paul, Mary Church Terrell, and Carrie Chapman Catt, and working with the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to secure a section of historic White House fence that will be installed as part of the memorial. Turning Point is expected to be unveiled in early summer 2021.
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Ripples of Change Monument
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The Ripples of Change monument, gifted to the the Town of Seneca Falls in New York by the WSCC, is expected to be unveiled in September 2021. The monument—which depicts trailblazers Laura Cornelius Kellogg, Harriet Tubman, Martha Coffin Wright, and Sojourner Truth—has been developed in collaboration with leaders among the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and a coalition of local, state, and federal partners, and is being sculpted by Jane DeDecker.
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The WSCC hired artist Sunny Mullarkey to create a mural, titled Equality for All, honoring women's long battle for the ballot and the generations of activists who led the way toward equality. The artwork depicts suffrage leaders Carrie Chapman Catt, Mary Church Terrell, Alice Paul, and Ida B. Wells amid silhouettes of marching suffragists. Equality for All is on display at its permanent home, the Workhouse Arts Center, in Lorton, Virginia.
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Mural Program with the Arts Endowment
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The WSCC and the National Endowment for the Arts partnered to create a public art grant program to provide funding to each of the nation's six regional arts organizations that together represent all 50 states and U.S. territories. Each of the regional arts organizations is developing guidelines to solicit proposals from artists in their region who are interested in creating a mural honoring the history of American women's fight for the right to vote. Panels will select an artist from among the submissions to lead the project. These six suffrage-themed murals are anticipated to be completed by the end of 2021.
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Memphis Suffrage Monument
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The WSCC permanently loaned statues of Tennessee legislator Joe Hanover and suffragist and civil rights leader Ida B. Wells to the Equality Trailblazers Monument in Memphis, Tennessee. Hanover ensured that the 19th Amendment came to a vote in Tennessee in August 1920, and Wells started her career as a journalist and activist in Memphis. The monument is expected to be open to the public starting in early 2021.
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In 2019, the WSCC joined forces with the National Votes for Women Trail, led by the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, to support an initiative to place at least 250 historic roadside markers at significant suffrage history sites in all 50 states.
Through an online interactive map, searchable database, and the nationwide trail of physical markers, the Votes for Women Trail brings the history of women’s fight for the vote to communities throughout the country.
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Our Story: Portraits of Change Mosaic
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From August 24-29, 2020, the WSCC sponsored a 1,000-square-foot mosaic of the iconic suffragist and civil rights leader, Ida B. Wells, in the Main Hall of Washington, D.C.’s Union Station. The mosaic, titled Our Story: Portraits of Change, was assembled from prints of thousands of historical photographs of suffragists, with each image telling its own story about the fight for women's right to vote. The artwork was created by artist Helen Marshall and produced by Christina Korp. Continue exploring the online, interactive mosaic on the Our Story website.
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Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission
P.O. Box 2020, Washington, DC 20013
Learn more at the WSCC's archived website and follow our archived Twitter account.
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