[LWVNM Action] 100th Anniversary of Women's Vote and the League-Suffrage Celebration inspires people of all ages and backgrounds! THANK YOU for honoring the struggle for the equality and for your commitment to stronger democracy! Lots more photos at link!

Fri Feb 7 12:37:21 MST 2020

Student honors women's right to vote with musical
.         <https://www.santafenewmexican.com/users/profile/olivia18> By
Olivia Harlow oharlow at sfnewmexican.com
 Feb 6, 2020 

<https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/student-honors-women-s-r
ight-to-vote-with-musical/article_d3d4b5e4-483d-11ea-95af-cf4ea2b552da.html>
https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/student-honors-women-s-ri
ght-to-vote-with-musical/article_d3d4b5e4-483d-11ea-95af-cf4ea2b552da.html

<https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/student-honors-women-s-r
ight-to-vote-with-musical/article_d3d4b5e4-483d-11ea-95af-cf4ea2b552da.html#
comments>   <https://www.santafenewmexican.com/content/tncms/live/#1> 
 <https://www.santafenewmexican.com/content/tncms/live/#1> selects83.jpg

Fionnuala Moore, a freshman at Santa Fe Preparatory School, performs songs
from her musical, The Right to Vote, inside the Roundhouse on Thursday. 
.        Olivia Harlow/The New Mexican
 <https://www.santafenewmexican.com/content/tncms/live/#2> 
 <https://www.santafenewmexican.com/content/tncms/live/#2> ----selects85.jpg

Karyl Lyne of Las Vegas, N.M., and other women dressed as suffragists clap
for Santa Fe Prep students after they performed songs from Fionnuala Moore's
musical, The Right to Vote. Hundreds of people gathered in the Rotunda on
Thursday to celebrate the 100th anniversary of New Mexico ratifying the 19th
Amendment.
.        Olivia Harlow/The New Mexican
 <https://www.santafenewmexican.com/content/tncms/live/#3> 
 <https://www.santafenewmexican.com/content/tncms/live/#3>  

Van Ann Moore, a theatrical performer from Belen who said she regularly
dresses up as historical characters, chats with 14-year-old Fionnuala Moore
on Thursday, before the teen performed songs from her musical, The Right to
Vote. 
.        Olivia Harlow/The New Mexican
 <https://www.santafenewmexican.com/content/tncms/live/#4> 
 <https://www.santafenewmexican.com/content/tncms/live/#4>  

Chris Ishee, a music teacher at Santa Fe Preparatory School, high-fives
students, including freshman Fionnuala Moore, center, before they perform
songs from Moore's musical, The Right to Vote, at the Roundhouse on
Thursday.
.        Olivia Harlow/The New Mexican
Standing in the center of the Capitol Rotunda, outfitted in a sash reading
"Votes for women," 14-year-old Fionnuala Moore lifted her voice.
"Don't you realize all that we will do?" she sang with a group of peers from
Santa Fe Prep, their words echoing Thursday afternoon through the
Roundhouse.
During a celebration of New Mexico's vote to ratify the 19th Amendment 100
years ago this month, Moore performed two of the 27 songs from her
self-written musical The Right to Vote. The play, which honors women
suffragists from the 1900s, is meant to outline how far the U.S. has come in
terms of equality, while also serving as a reminder.
"We still have," the high school freshman said, "a long way to go."
Moore said she hopes her musical will inspire women in Santa Fe and beyond
to continue lifting their voices and fighting for change.
"[My songs] are not just a historical story. They can be carried into the
events that are going on today," Moore said, pointing to unequal pay,
reproductive rights and violence against women as ongoing issues. "The women
who fought for what they believed in were successful. It's a really good
success story for women today."
Moore said she first learned of the women's suffrage movement in the fall of
2018, after reading the book Votes for Women! American Suffragists and the
Battle for the Ballot by Winifred Conkling. Less than a month later, Moore
said, she began writing a screenplay based on the real-life events she'd
read about, also pulling inspiration from the famed musical Hamilton.
Performing with songs "tells a story in a different way, where you can
imagine yourself in it," she said. "[Musicals] convey a lot of emotion, and
you can put yourself in the scene."
For nearly a year, Moore said, she spent at least an hour and a half every
night, and multiple hours each weekend - between schoolwork, soccer, karate
and track and field - working on the project. With guidance from her music
teacher, Chris Ishee, who said he volunteered his time outside of school to
help compose the songs, Moore completed the musical in October.
Her dedication to the craft is not all that different from the resilient
efforts of the women who fought for the very thing she chose to write about,
she said.
"It took them 73 years," Moore said of the suffragists' persistence. "They
never gave up, so if I gave up, I wouldn't be doing them justice."
Inside the Capitol, Moore sang the songs "Prove Myself" and "Revolution."
While "Prove Myself" tells the story of Moore's "favorite" suffragist, Alice
Paul, the lyrics also speak to every woman's continued efforts to push back
against stereotypes and discrimination.
"[Paul] had to prove she was competent enough and brave enough and strong
enough. . That's also how I feel," Moore said, noting there are very few
high school freshmen writing musicals. "I shouldn't be underestimated
because I'm young or I'm a girl."
"Revolution," is about a little-known arson attack at a women's suffrage
convention. In the song, two boys from Prep - Moore sang the song with five
peers - chanted "Burn them down," as girls responded "Everyone will know our
names."
The performance at the Roundhouse was the first time Moore showcased her
songs in a public space outside school. Soon, she said, she'd like to
premiere the The Right to Vote in Santa Fe, and she dreams of eventually
taking the play to a national stage.
When she gets older, she said, she hopes to write musicals professionally
and be an advocate for women's rights.
Ishee said he will continue to support her along the way.
"I really believe in her content," he said. "I want to give something like
this credence."
Even now, Ishee added, "it's getting wings."
Moore's audience of hundreds Thursday included Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham
and Virginia Kase, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States.
Many in the crowd were women dressed like early 20th-century suffragists,
outfitted in long white skirts, large hats with feathers and gold or purple
sashes.
Watching Moore sing, members of the audience said, was a sign of hope.
"I think we are looking to the youth, and we should be looking to the youth
[for change]," said Karyl Ann Armbruster, a public education commissioner
and member of Los Alamos League of Women Voters. "They have the power, and
they need to grab hold of it."
Moore agreed, saying even those too young to vote can still have power and
influence.
"We're the future, so we should have our voices heard," she said.
********************************
Check out the New Mexican link above to see more photos of the celebration
and even more at the ABQ Journal, Legislature section/Photos
<https://www.abqjournal.com/legislature>
https://www.abqjournal.com/legislature

Missing were photos of the beautiful floral arrangements that Felicia Lujan,
Director of NM State Archives, made for each legislative sponsor and for
each League and partner table.
Felicia is adding information about the League and the suffrage centennial
to the State Archives. 

Please send me photos and anecdotes!

THANK YOU!!!

Meredith Machen
League of Women Voters of New Mexico

 <tel:505-577-6337> 505-577-6337 c
 <mailto:projects at lwvnm.org> projects at lwvnm.org
 <mailto:meredith.machen at gmail.com> meredith.machen at gmail.com

Empowering Voters - Defending Democracy

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