| “Every woman has rights as a human being first, which belong to no sex, and ought to be as freely conceded to her as if she where a man.” ―Isabella Beecher Hooker |
| On August 18th, 1920, the United States Constitution was amended to declare that the right to vote may not be denied on the basis of sex – a landmark decision that effectively enfranchised millions of women across the nation. One hundred years later, Connecticut is coming together to celebrate the passage of the 19th Amendment and the great strides that American women have taken for themselves in the years since.
Secretary of the State, Denise Merrill, First Lady of the State, Annie Lamont, and Lieutenant Governor, Susan Bysiewicz, have formed the Connecticut Suffrage Commission to celebrate and contextualize this milestone and have launched a new website to promote centennial events and share resources statewide. Visit votesforwomenct.com to stay connected and receive updates and to submit your programs and exhibitions to the events calendar. CT Humanities is serving on the commission to help connect the initiative to the state’s cultural community and to provide funding for the state’s humanities project ideas. Early funded Suffrage Centennial projects include the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame’s traveling banner exhibit (which you can borrow for free over the coming year), six months of programming in Avon via Avon Free Public Library’s collaborative Deeds Not Words project, exhibition planning grants at Greenwich Historical Society and the Fairfield Museum, and a behind-the-scenes data management grant to Mystic Seaport and the Connecticut Digital Archives project. Read on for more and contact CTH with your Suffrage Centennial grant ideas. Sincerely, Scott Wands, Manager, Grants & Programs |
E-News: Breaking Barriers – Women’s Suffrage Events and Information
