SOUTH BEND — The exhibit “Votes for Women” continues through March 21 at The History Museum, 808 W. Washington St.
On Aug. 18, 1920, women’s suffrage reached a monumental turning point with ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.
“Votes for Women” explores the story of local suffragists, including Alice Mannering, the first woman to run for public office in the state of Indiana, as the socialist candidate in South Bend’s mayoral election of 1917; Annie Belle Boss, born in Elkhart in 1875, who was active in the Elkhart branch of the Woman’s Franchise League and its successor, the Indiana League of Women Voters; and another Elkhart activist, Helen Beardsley, who founded the Elkhart Chapter of the Woman’s Franchise League of Indiana in April 1913 and served as the first president of the Indiana League of Women Voters, from 1920-22.
The exhibit also features other local women who have contributed to the South Bend community for its betterment, including philanthropist Ella Morris, Elizabeth Fletcher Allen, the first African American woman to practice law in South Bend, as well as Indiana; and Josephine Curtis, who founded the H. T. Burleigh Music Association, an African American theater group.
The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service’s “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence” also is on view. Organized in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, the poster exhibit explores the complexity of the women’s suffrage movement and the relevance of this history to Americans’ lives today.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.
Admission is $10-$6; free for members and ages 5 and younger.
Credit: Source link
