 Good evening, everyone. I'm Deborah Studell Ball, Deputy Archivist of the United States at the National Archives, and I'm so pleased to welcome you to tonight's panel discussion. Celebrating the Women's Suffrage Centennial, What Happened and What Have We Learned? I'm presenting this program in partnership with the 2020 Women's Vote Centennial Initiative with support from the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial, the National Women's History Alliance, the National Women's History Museum, and the National Collaborative for Women's History sites. And we thank them all for their support. I was honored to serve on the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission and to be part of the National Archives commemoration of the 19th Amendment. We and other institutions across the country promoted the Centennial observance of the wide assortment of programs and events, rising to the challenge of creating meaningful commemoration even in the middle of a pandemic. At the National Archives, our own programs included discussions and film screenings, participation in the forward into light celebration on Women's Equality Day, our centerpiece exhibit, rightfully hers, American Women in the Vote, and related traveling exhibits and pop-up displays. Now, I'm pleased to introduce Nancy Tate. Since 2015, Nancy has served as the co-chair of the 2020 Women's Vote Centennial Initiative. She's also on the boards of the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial and the National Women's History Alliance. From 2000 to 2015, she served as the executive director of the League of Women Voters of the United States. Previously, she served as the chief operating officer of the National Academy of Public Administration and in the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, and the Office of Economic Opportunity. Please welcome Nancy Tate. Nancy, over to you. Thank you. It's wonderful to be doing another program with our longtime partner, the National Archives, and to be doing it virtually for the first time. So, as noted, I am the co-chair of the 2020 Women's Vote Centennial Initiative, or what we simply call WBCI. And I also am the former executive director of the League of Women Voters of the United States. And the League is one of the founders of WBCI, which was created in 2015. We are an information-sharing collaborative of many women's organizations and scholars around the country, and our purpose has been threefold. First, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, but also to shed light on the powerful but little-underknown history of the full 72-year struggle to win the constitutional right to vote, and in so doing to highlight many previously untold stories. The League was founded in 1920 by Kerry Chapman-Catt, the leader of the National American Women's Suffrage Association. That means that for the League of Women Voters, 2020 was our centennial year as well. Today, there are nearly 800 state and local leagues around the country in addition to the National League. And for over 100 years, we have been continuing the fight for full equality for all Americans through education and advocacy. WBCI has focused on several different initiatives over these last five years. First has been to create and connect networks of interested organizations and individuals around the country to promote and to share the many efforts that commemorate the full women's suffrage story. And we've been doing this mainly through our website, 2020centennial.org, and our social media channels. We've also co-sponsored a brand new hardcover book just recently published entitled A Vote for Women, Celebrating the Women's Suffrage Movement and the 19th Amendment. And this can be purchased on Amazon or elsewhere. And we've been providing educational programs in the Washington, D.C. national area, programs such as this one. And starting tonight, what was primarily a local event can now be considered a national program. Tonight's program is the latest one in our Women in the Vote Symposia series. This is the fifth one that we've done with the National Archives, and we'll be doing another one in August. But these two programs will have a different focus from our previous ones. We will be looking more at the suffrage centennial itself and how it has been commemorated in 2020 and continuing on in 2021. The 72-year fight for women's suffrage is a powerful historical story, and it can be used to enhance our understanding of our own world and how to improve it. And our understanding will be deepened by looking at the accomplishments and challenges of this 100th anniversary, which is now becoming part of history itself. So I'm pleased to introduce tonight's panel, and I have to point out that all these panelists are engaged in many other pursuits, but I only have time to mention their suffrage-related credentials, which are extensive. So our moderator is Rebecca Roberts, author of two books, Suffragists in Washington, D.C., and more recently, The Suffragist Playbook. Bob Cooney, author of The Classic, Winning the Vote, The Triumph of the American Woman's Suffrage Movement. Freddie Kay, founder and president of Suffrage 100, Massachusetts. Anna Layman, former executive director of the congressionally established Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission. And Krista Jones, my co-chair on the 2020 Women's Vote Centennial Initiative. So Rebecca, I turn it over to you. Thank you so much, Nancy, and thank you to the archives for putting together this distinguished panel. I don't think anyone would say that the celebration of the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment went exactly according to plan. Everybody had to adapt to a world we had not anticipated. And yet the scholarship and the intent and the information and the artifacts that we all really did want to be part of the celebration and examination of the suffrage movement did get their moment in the sun, at least to some degree. So Bob Cooney, I want to start with you because I understand you have been collecting some images of some of the ways that the nation celebrated the centennial. Thank you, Rebecca. Yes, I've been involved with the centennial and the suffrage movement for about 25 years. I'm an artist, I'm an author and a graphic designer, and I'm here to really briefly summarize what happened during 2020 nationally in the states and in the arts as well. And this isn't by no means comprehensive, but I do want to, I'll have to move fast and we'll see how this goes right away here. You can all see that. Yes, okay. Well, one of us open with Marilyn artist, her flag, which is fittingly like the centennial, a collaborative work. She had stripes created by artists in each of the 36 states that ratified the amendment to make this beautiful artwork. So while doing this, I was reminded of a woman a few years ago who shyly admitted that all she knew about suffrage was from Mary Poppins. So that was a challenge to start with. And it reminded me of how little people generally know about the women's rights movement. Uncovering history was a hallmark of the centennial and bold creative responses were everywhere. The year marked an important high point in the evolving, broader understanding of America's story, particularly as it includes women. Dramatizing the celebration, Project 19 skydivers appeared at several special events and will attempt a delayed world record jump in the fall. What happened in 2020 had its roots in what came before. Earlier state suffrage centennials, certain movies like these and the great women's marches of 2017 intensified women's activity and laid the groundwork for the suffrage centennial. Here are supporters celebrating in Arkansas in 2017 and some early resources. The 2020 women's vote centennial initiative of volunteer grassroots group was founded in 2015 by members of the National Women's Party and the League of Women Voters. Co-chair Krista Jones will say more later. One of the first official recognitions of the suffrage centennial was a celebration of Wisconsin's ratification of the 19th Amendment on June 10, 2019. Many other states followed each recognizing in a decentralized way their own ratification anniversaries. A basic summary of what happened in 2020 could read, the nation recognized women and their great movement to win the vote has never before. The year opened with a flower covered women's suffrage centennial float in Pasadena's Rose Parade on New Year's Day. An ad hoc group of women in California raised half a million dollars for the kickoff event seen around the world. The descendants of suffragists rode on the 50-foot float with 100 women in white marching behind. Excitement was so high. Federal institutions including the Library of Congress mounted exhibits in honor of the centennial. The National Archives offered exhibits, panels, and free pop-up displays to schools and libraries nationwide. Federal agencies paid attention to suffragists and the suffrage movement as never before. The National Portrait Gallery, the National Park Service, and many other government agencies were fully involved. The federal government recognized the historic anniversary with congressional resolutions, silver dollars, a series of quarters, and a postage stamp. An official women's suffrage centennial commission was funded. And the president signed a resolution that authorized placing a suffrage centennial statue designed by Jane Dedecker in Washington, D.C. Entitled Every Word We Utter, the 22-Foot Tall Monument, which still needs funding, will be a welcome and memorable addition. Another lasting creation is the Turning Point Suffrage Memorial just outside Washington, D.C. This is the first national site to honor all suffragists, and it was just dedicated on Sunday, this past Sunday, May 16th. Near Turning Point is the new Lucy Burns Museum, highlighting the experiences of prison suffragists. During the centennial, mass media paid unprecedented attention to women's political achievements. PBS ran a four-hour special and created a separate interactive website. The New York Times, USA Today, and several other newspapers and magazines sponsored special publications, panels, and online resources. One of the authors and publishers already was nearly 100 new titles of all sorts, state and national histories, anthologies, biographies, art, and children's books, which together make up an exceptional body of new work. One of the less tangible things that happened was a wider recognition of racism in the suffrage movement and the important role of black women. This black suffragist is shown battling Jim Crow laws with the Constitution. What involved the most people were the events and developments in the states, as exemplified by this eye-catching mural in Pennsylvania. Throughout the country, women created new organizations and commissions. Here are eight logos representing the dozens of state centennial groups that emerged. They organized events, did new research, highlighted state suffragists, and commemorated the 100th anniversary in a wide variety of ways. Hundreds of other organizations were also actively involved. There were long-planned events of many sorts throughout the year, some of which happened before or despite the pandemic and some of which had to be canceled. Groups and individuals organized all kinds of celebrations, including parades like these in Maryland and in New York. Activists in Iowa worked with women's sports programs in state universities, produced a film with PBS on Carrie Chapman Cat, and are staging an original musical entitled The Suffragist, rescheduled for the summer. This is just one of many state examples. Freddie K. from Massachusetts will say more shortly. Girl Scout troops in many communities learned about voting, worked for suffrage badges, and sought civic support for the centennial. There's an ongoing effort to create a national votes for women trail. Already more than 2,200 suffrage sites have been identified and some are being honored with state or Pomeroy roadside markers. Students, journalists, and researchers were able to take advantage of recently developed digital options and newly scanned resources to explore the movement in depth as never before possible. And of course, there were also innumerable blogs, podcasts, conferences, panels, and online creations that were widely accessible. Naturally, the centennial triggered a good amount of celebratory merchandise, particularly created by centennial groups to raise funds for their work. Everything from t-shirts and buttons to jewelry and beer were featured. Another less tangible thing that happened was a wider recognition that the struggle for the vote for women continued beyond 1920 into the present day. Art of all sorts was also a central part of the centennial. This portrait of Mary Church Terrell is from the unsung women series from the art and video site Unlady Like 2020. For too long, the suffrage movement was the exclusive field of academics and historians. It really needed journalists and artists and other creative individuals to capture its true spirit. In 2020, this finally came true. Civic institutions throughout the country, local and state museums, historical societies, libraries, and art centers amounted to impressive and educational exhibits and programs. Examples of new art included this street mural of suffragists in Mendocino, California, and one of the portraits commissioned by the Brandywine Museum in Pennsylvania for its hidden figures of the suffrage movement exhibit. A huge photo mosaic image of suffragist Ida B. Wells Barnett was installed for five days around Equality Day on the floor of the Washington, D.C.'s Union Station. Equality Day on August 26 attracted a national attention. There were countless events online and in person, many of which were streamed across the nation, plus an exuberant concert focusing on suffrage and the Equal Rights Amendment. The Centennial Commission's project Forward into Light saw buildings and more throughout the country lit up in suffrage colors of purple, white, and gold. A highlight of the day was the unveiling on national television of the Women's Rights Pioneer's Monument in Central Park, the first statue of real women in the park. Many other cities are creating lasting suffrage centennial memorials in Salt Lake City. A path forward features quotes from suffrage leaders and doorways that lead directly to the state capital. In Lexington, Kentucky, Stand is a monumental public sculpture with five 20-foot-tall silhouettes of suffragists. In Cedar Falls, Iowa, the binding memorializes the centennial and suddenly plays homage to women's handicrafts. In many communities, streets and parks have been renamed for local women, and buildings including post offices and schools now bear the names of suffragists. The Virginia Women's Monument in Richmond is another example of creating new public art and reclaiming public spaces to honor women. Tennessee is in the forefront of this, erecting the three statues of the suffragists on the right. The Tennessee Woman's Suffrage Monument at the bottom was dedicated on August 18th in Nashville. It now stands as a beacon for the future and suggests that what happened in 2020 won't really be known until new generations grow up. The experience of the suffrage centennial probably touched millions of Americans, and its impact will continue for years to come. After 100 years, we can better appreciate what women have achieved and what it means to us today. History is constantly unfolding. In many places, the celebrations are continuing throughout 2021. Her flag will be displayed in Washington, D.C. next month, and many other events are being planned as well. Keep your eyes open, and I hope you can continue to celebrate suffragists and the women's suffrage centennial. Thank you. Robert Cooney, thank you so much. That was such an incredibly broad and rich view of what went on everything from murals and statues to books and journals to suffrage beer or something. I did not know about, and now regret not knowing about. But I'd love to hear, Freddie Kaye, a sort of deeper dive into what one state did. So take us on a trip to Massachusetts. Thank you so much. Thank you. I welcome that. And I have a few slides as well that I'll be going through and we can start with the first one, which is our logo from Suffrage 100, Massachusetts. And hopefully that'll come up in just a moment. Is it up? Oh, I can't see it. Oh, that's so good to see. All right, I'm glad you could see it. So that's our logo, Suffrage 100, Massachusetts. We've also, our original name was the Massachusetts Women's Suffrage Celebration Coalition, but we switched over to Suffrage 100 MA, it was easier to say. And we also wanted to be sure to focus on the word commemoration a little bit because we were concerned that while it is a celebration, it's also, there are parts of it that we know not everyone got the vote with the 19th amendment, not because the amendment had any issues, but because other laws prevented all women from voting. So next slide, please. And this is some pictures from our very first event. We came together in 2010 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of women getting the vote, and that's what really launched us. And we did it with the showing of the movie Iron Jod Angels. And part of that was because I got a call saying, would you want to do anything for the 90th? And I thought, I know exactly what we want to do. Let's show the movie Iron Jod Angels, which so few people have seen. So that was a great event we held at the Institute of Contemporary Art. We started with, I think there were about 10, 11 organizations that came together for that. And at the time we were under the auspices of the Attorney General, Martha Coakley, was encouraging this. She came up with the idea and asked me to jump in and I did. So here with Iron Jod Angels. And next slide, please. We go to 2011 was the first year for Women's Equality Day. We began commemorating Women's Equality Day and the suffrage movement at the Boston Garden, where we also have the swan votes. And it was so exciting that we were able to put these votes for women's sashes on the swans of the swan votes, which we did every year and have done and we're looking forward to. We hope we might be able to do it outside again this year, which we couldn't last year. And a fun little fact, which I think has happened all across the country was learning these feminist stories that no one knew about. And in Boston, the swan votes are a dear thing for all of us and for the world really. And what we didn't know was their existence is very much because of a woman. And that is that the man who first invented them and launched them died a year after. Tragically, he passed away at a young age and it was his wife who took over the running of the swan votes for 30 years. But it wasn't easy because women were not in the 1890s, were not supposed to be running businesses according to the men who ran the business community. So she really had to fight her way and persevere to be able to run this company for 30 years and now her great-great-granddaughter runs it. So that was the beginning of a wonderful relationship we've had with the swan votes and out in the public garden for years. Next slide, please. And these are some examples of a project we've been doing with the Commonwealth Museum, a suffragist panel of the month. We have Lucy Stone here and Ida B. Wells and the real one is behind me. And also we commemorated on these panels events such as June 25th when Massachusetts ratified the 19th Amendment. It was the eighth state to do so. These are all online and we also take them. We did until the pandemic to events and would decorate a room or a hall with the panels all around. And we just had our first one again this past weekend, which was very exciting to be out again. Next slide, please. So this was an event we held at the State House. A descendant of the suffragist, actually granddaughter of one of the famous suffragists, wrote a play called I Want to Go to Jail. And we did a reading of the play, a dramatic reading of the play on the staircase at the State House. And we did it in commemoration of February 24, 1919, which was the last time women, I'm sorry, 1919 women protested Woodrow Wilson, who came to Boston and the State House. These women were arrested and jailed, and they were the last women in the country who were jailed for suffrage. And most people don't know about that. So we were happy to have this event at the State House and so that more and more people can learn about this incredible story. Next slide, please. And this is from Fandall Hall where we had an event June 26, and this was to commemorate Massachusetts being the eighth state to ratify. And one of the things I think we probably all learned throughout the country is what a terrific opportunity this has been to educate and provide information about what does it mean to ratify an amendment, to introduce an amendment and ratify an amendment. And certainly in our case, we needed to explain that, yes, Massachusetts was the eighth state to ratify, but that didn't mean the amendment was adopted, not until the 36th state had ratified it in Tennessee. So it was a wonderful teaching moment, if you will, then, and this was a terrific event that we had at Fandall Hall at the front. You can't see it, but there's a bust of Lucy Stone and Frederick Douglass sitting on the stage at Fandall Hall. And in the front, the women in red are Deltas, for many of you know about the Deltas who marched in the 1913 parade. We were so excited that so many Deltas came out and participated in this event. And I'll take this opportunity to mention when we started with 11 or so organizations, we're now up to over 200, including the Deltas, and those are all nonprofit groups. Next slide, please. This is a picture of, this is Suffrage Bluebird Day. We did it during the pandemic. It worked out to do because we could share these on social media to encourage young people to draw these bluebirds. And of course, this is our Vice President of Suffrage 100 MA, Katrina Huff-Laumont, who's demonstrating her wonderful artwork on the sidewalk. What was great about this, these bluebirds were throughout the Commonwealth just prior to the 1915 vote when it was on the ballot in Massachusetts and it was unfortunately soundly defeated after massive efforts. This huge Bluebird campaign and also an enormous parade in Boston, similar to what was going on in Washington. And there were over 500,000 people in Boston at this parade and a month later it was defeated at the ballot box. So lots of history for all of us to learn. Next slide, please. This is an example of what happened August 2020 in Massachusetts, the town of Carlisle. They really came out to a great outdoor program. Everyone was masked and distanced. It was different, clearly not the turnout that we had hoped, but it was wonderful to be able to get together to some extent. And it's just an example of what was going on across Massachusetts and the country. Next slide, please. This is Bunker Hill, the Zakem Bridge, which was lit up for the Centennial on August 26 and we had been doing that for several years at several of our bridges and this is one that's particularly beautiful. Next slide, please. So for August 26, 2020, we had been planning and anticipating to have an enormous parade and march on the Boston Common, of course. And yet here comes the pandemic. And I would say this is what some may call lemonade out of lemons, which was because we ended up making a film, which we never had thought about, but we made a 30-minute film. It's available on our website anytime called the Fight for Women Suffrage Looking Back, Marching Forward. And our website is suffrage100ma.org and that will take you there. It's also on YouTube. And one of the important pieces for us about this film in 30 minutes, we had over 30 people involved all telling the story. These were directed officials of both parties, community members, young people, and very importantly many, many people of color. And one of the things that we included that was very important to us was the story about what happened after the 19th Amendment was adopted and what laws needed to pass and things that needed to change so that others could vote. Next slide, please. What we're doing going forward with that, and we are right now, it looks like we're keeping our doors open at least for another year, it's called Thousand Classrooms Initiative to Share the Film. Our hope is that this film will inspire many young people to vote and to become more active as we know issues continue today. And so this initiative is we hope to inspire and motivate young people to vote more and so we're getting it into the classrooms. And our organization is going through a visioning process to talk about what else we might be doing going forward. And what we think about a lot is that people still don't know the story as much as we would like them to. We certainly hope that after this centennial more and more people have learned the story, but there seems to be much more to do. Plus access to voting is still a huge issue as is equality for women. And as we all know when we hear about equal pay for equal work and ringing in our ears can be all these suffragists who talked about the same thing in the 1800s. And we still need to address these issues today. So with that, I'll wind up but say thank you very much. I really appreciate this opportunity. Thank you. Thank you so much, Freddie. So I kept hearing Bob and Freddie as you were outlining these events and commemorations words like untold or less well known or hidden histories. And, you know, this was a movement that took the better part of a century. If you date it from Seneca Falls, which they did, you can make an argument that it started before that but they like to date it from Seneca Falls, 72 years. It resulted in a massive and permanent change to American democracy. And yet we keep hearing things like less known untold hidden history. Anna Lehmann, you as part of the federal effort to commemorate the centennial had this sort of, you know, 30,000 foot view of how to mark this occasion. Why do you think this story is still not as well known as those of us involved would like it to be? You know, that's that's a great question. You know, stories are written, right, our histories are written in very interesting ways. And I was actually reflecting on this at the dedication of the turning point suffragist memorial, which just happened this weekend. And one of the things that a speaker brought up that I think is so pertinent to the question you just asked Rebecca is what happened in particular with the suffrage movement. So these women fought for generations, right, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Kitty Stanton, they wouldn't live to see the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment. A new generation of activists came in, they took up the mantle and they carried it forward and they carried it through. And as women will do, right, they got to 1920. They made this incredible thing happen, right, the largest, the single largest expansion of democracy in American history on one single day, August 26 1920. And they get through, right, and did they throw parades for themselves and fireworks and do they build statues and monuments and memorials to themselves and what they just did. Now, right, they, they did the thing, they had the victory, then they got back together the next day. You know, just like Freddie just said, actually, essentially, they got back together the next day and they said, What can we do now? What change is there still to be made? What, what battle can we continue to fight? So instead of pausing and saying, Hold on, let me make sure that this is written down in the history books. Right. It's the ERA. Right. And these suffragists and these women, they, they keep on battling because suffrage at its core. And this is something that I would just repeatedly said throughout 2020. I'm not even sure I love calling it the suffrage movement. So controversial statement, everybody stick with me for a second. But here's why these women really were, were women's rights activists. Right. These women were activists who were fighting for equality and suffrage and the vote was a tool and a mechanism to get there. What they wanted was equal pay for equal work. What they wanted was access to health care. What they wanted was the right to divorce their husbands and still have custody of their children. What they wanted was to be able to have an education equal to their brothers and their fathers. That's what they wanted. And the vote was a tool to get there. So what it was was a movement for equality and the vote was one tool in that toolbox, but the fight wasn't done. And those women, they just kept fighting and they didn't stop and they didn't insist that statues and monuments be built for them. And instead they kept the battle going. And so now it's up to us to recognize what they did and to stop and insist that they be in the history books, that those monuments get built and that that legacy and that story gets told. So did that answer your question, Rebecca? It did. I mean, it's one answer, right? I think that the, that there's a lot of potential answers to that question like who's writing the history books. And also when you do get access to include some of these stories, which ones do you include? And how do you make sure that you're telling the complete history? Christa Jones, I want to bring you in here because I think one of the, we heard Freddie say, you know, make sure it's a commemoration, not purely a celebration. You know, make sure that you're really facing the flaws of this movement, the racism of some of the suffragists, the classism, the women who were left out of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. So I'd love to hear from you some of the challenges of commemorating this centennial and telling the complete story. Absolutely. There really were a lot of challenges when it came to depicting the racial part of the participation of African-American women in the movement. As I think all the speakers have said earlier, that wasn't a very intentional part of what we did, whether it was in representation and pictures, whether it was panels where generally it would be, I think, as Bob had said, this was usually like scholarship of the suffrage movement. We tried to make it live and active. And I also think it was, you know, the people on the ground. What I was really excited about as I started to see a lot of the pictures come in that Bob talked about or a lot of the events is that there were African-American women actively participating. It means a lot for us going forward. But, you know, obviously there have been struggles between, in particular, black and white women in this country since slavery. You know, what happened in the, as Anna says, the women's rights movement of that piece was a continuation of that and it continues until today. So a lot of the challenges we're facing today and a lot of the maybe animosity between black and white women, particularly when it comes to advocacy, are traced back to what some of the suffragists did in the early 1900s. So, you know, I think it was very difficult, but I think a lot of us really very intentionally tried hard to make this a point in history where we changed kind of trying to change the course of history based on what had happened 100 years ago. And it's tempting, right, when you finally get the white hot spotlight on a chapter of history that you feel has been untold to paint these women as heroes and saints to justify their inclusion in the canon. But first of all, that it's really bad history. Also, saints are boring, right? I mean, I think that it is worthwhile to make these women real. I'll be honest with you, you know, particularly when having these conversations with with black women, I always had to preface whenever I mentioned that I was involved with the suffered Centennial. It was like, you know, we don't like what they did to us 100 years ago. You know, so you always had to kind of preface it with, I know everyone didn't get the right to vote 100 years ago and we still had a lot to do in 1965, etc, etc, etc. But I think that those conversations were just so key. And they were a part of, and like you said, they were they were real people. And I will say throughout this, the last two years, I've also gotten a lot of pushback when you try to say, would you try to call Alice Paula racist or, you know, so those were important conversations to have but I'm really glad, especially with everything that happened last year in terms of race relations that we it almost seemed to work out perfectly. Not to mention so many of the tactics that the Black Lives Matter movement used here in Washington were borrowed straight from the National Women's Party right there was just a through line there that was impossible to ignore. I also want to encourage the audience to participate in this conversation you can put questions in the YouTube chat and they will get fed to me through the magic of backstage here. Bob since you mentioned that you've been watching commemorations of the suffrage movement since the 75th anniversary. What is different this year. What scholarship is focusing in different ways what obviously the pandemic is different but how have you how would you say the centennial differs from 75. I heard this phrase during the centennial what the overall narrative of the women's suffrage movement is. And the implication was it was strictly white women and they were strictly old and they were strictly Susan B Anthony and so forth. 25 years ago the narrative of the suffrage movement was simply this Congress gave women the right to vote. That was it. If you looked in history books. They're lucky to mention it. Maybe a paragraph usually not even that not a picture not a chapter. There's a book on the 20th century and it very there's two pages and this is like a 900 page book, two pages about women. This is the 20th century when women were enfranchised. So I think the difference is huge in terms of the overall national response. The country is recognizing that they're women for one thing which is a new step for the government in general. When I was growing up women weren't in the government. You know it was a totally totally different world. So in terms of the attention given the national and the federal organizations. I think a big difference has been that women are in power women are curators you know women are in charge of different things so that when issues like this come up. They saw ahead of time like like Freddie said 10 years ago and and other groups were starting a long time ago saying this is important. It's important history. But there's going to be the centennial so it's going to be this opportunity to really bring it up you know to give it the unfortunate 15 minutes of fame. But to finally bring the word suffrage into our natural conversation you know and then to have actual deep research to have more exhibitions and museum shows and people doing papers and children doing coloring pages and the whole wide variety. That's what I tried to give impression you know just impressionistic that there was a tremendous amount happening everywhere. So that was really important but I would also caution that it looks like more happened than actually did I think in terms of people go on. You know once you're done with this story you go on to another story and I don't want the suffrage movement or the women's rights movement to be forgotten or to to stagnate. You know I think that's our point now is to keep building on the momentum that we had and there was a hunger out there people really wanted to know this they said I'd never learned this before. So it's very important I think all the different efforts that were happening and for us to continue them as much as possible will make the this centennial I think even more impactful than the 75th. Yeah in fact we have a question from the audience and Freddie I'd love to hear your answer to this. She says with the bulk of organizations who canceled events will they go ahead and do them eventually. Can we extend this commemoration. I would say hopefully they will. I think it's a part of if we can find a silver lining in this horrific year of the pandemic is because we weren't able to celebrate in the ways that we initially hoped we would or commemorate. Let me correct myself but to commemorate in the ways we hope we could that it does mean there's a yearning for more. You know whatever that was going to be or not. There's continued this issue in this yearning for more and I know our organization certainly wondered like oh 2020 is in the rearview mirror kind of now what but the phones kept running the emails kept coming. People are still doing events they're asking us frankly to come speak and do zoom events and maybe we're just beginning we just had our first one that was live it was adjusted it wasn't ever you know as as events used to be but it was a step towards being live so I think I agree with Bob and what he's saying that there is a yearning out there and there's so much history here that even one centennial in that sense can't cover it all there's so much as Bob's wonderful book and yours. Terrific to add to this incredible history and the books are coming out as Bob noted with more and more history and research to be gone. I think as Chris is relating to there is more information I know I keep having questions you know about well what did happen and why did that happen and there's more research so hopefully in colleges and universities high school students. There's so much work to be done to unearth what happened and what were many of those issues about all of the many groups including African Americans Native Americans Asian Americans all these groups who couldn't vote with the 19th amendment. What happened and and yet we learn how many were such strong suffragists in spite of all that. So it's it's it's wonderful and I very much hope that groups will continuing it's it's we're working on figuring out our next plan but we're thrilled that people still are expressing an interest. Thank you. Yeah, I mean I think it's there's work to be done in terms of continuing to tell the stories of the women who came before us and work to be done in terms of achieving the goals of women's activism right, which are related, but not necessarily the same thing. And Anna, you know, thinking about the vote as a means to an end. I think that I get asked this all the time at Suffrage events sort of you know what how does the contemporary women's movement reflect the legacy of the suffrage movement and I think there is this sense that suffragists were in lockstep towards this final goal that they achieved in the context of 1920 and checked the box and the idea that the vote got you political power and civic participation in order to achieve something else you wanted right at the time it might have been temperance or abolition. You know and then divorce reform and married women getting to keep their own property and access to professions and universities and things that contemporary women can say that we have achieved. We have goals that we need the vote to get right and and so I think that what might look like a fractured movement because feminists are not walking in lockstep towards something as as concrete as a constitutional amendment is actually just the evolution of a movement maturing. What would you like to see happen next how would you take advantage of this 15 minutes of famous Bob says to propel momentum forward. So that's a that's a big question. So, you know, you're exactly right. The women's suffrage movement demonstrates for us. Really, what is an important push pull in organizations right you had Alice Paul the more radical arm of the suffrage movement you have Carrie Chapman cat, who is, you know just takes a very different strategic approach to how she thinks that they should go about she wants to take a state by state approach Alice Paul wants to take the federal approach and encourage a federal amendment. You have women like Mary church tarot standing in front of the White House protesting and picketing along with the National Woman's Party. So there are all sorts of tactics out there. And I think that most historians look back on the different work that took place, and those different strategies and they can see that it was only. It was only together that that movement managed to achieve what it did. It was only because different women were pursuing different tactics because Carrie Chapman cat was having tea with Woodrow Wilson, while Alice Paul was essentially outside picketing with Mary church tarot right it's only because of all of these different mechanisms, all these different buttons that were pushed that change occurred. And so, you know when I look at the modern women's movement, and I see different tactics I see lots of organizations doing incredible work with different, different levels of focus in different places. I think that's really significant. Right and I think that that's really important. And, and I don't see it as a fracture at all. Right, I see it as a lot of really powerful folks who are out there fighting for what they care about and moving the needle forward. One thing that your question reminds me of Rebecca that and it's reminds me of something Freddie that you just said also that I think is significant. We were able to tell these stories last year in such a significant and impactful way because it was the centennial. But one of the ways that that we framed it as the National, you know, commission to ensure that we weren't just talking about the 19th Amendment, we were very intentional about intentional about framing it as one chapter of a much longer story of American democracy, and a much longer story in the fight for equality, when it came to the vote. Right, the 19th Amendment is one chapter in that story. And there are many more chapters before and many more chapters after. And when you are thinking about how to be sure that the history you're telling is inclusive. This was one way to frame it to ensure that we weren't just telling a singular story, but we were telling a full story. And one thing I think that we can look forward to coming up in 2026 is America's 250th. Right, so it'll be 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 in 2026. So as we are as a country moving towards that milestone of American democracy, right, which is very, very significant. As we move towards that moment, it gives us another opportunity to dig deep into our stories. Women's stories are American stories, right? Indigenous stories are American stories, right? We could keep going, right? And so as we head towards 2026 and America's 250th, there's so much more work to do in terms of the stories that we tell, who stories we tell, how we tell them, where we tell them, how they're represented. And I think that's our next moment. So I think we build towards that, we move towards that, and we make sure that that commemoration is just as intentionally inclusive and diverse as the one that we all just worked on. And I think we move that way and we take advantage of what we have coming up here on the horizon to tell even more stories and even better stories and even bigger stories. Crystal Jones, I want to ask you a similar question. How do you think the centennial will affect future advocacy? How will the women's movement going forward be affected by what has happened over the last year? I think, you know, kind of something that I was starting saying earlier was just the diversity of the movement I think will be different. And like I said before, it's coupled with everything that happened in 22. Now, I did some focus groups a few years ago that we brought together black and white women to talk about just some of the challenges that we're having today and where it came from and then how do we move forward. And we talked a lot about just building back trust, but also really just intentionally in terms of our organizations, our organizations are very segregated. You know, you have black sororities over here doing the same thing with the League of Women Voters. So why not actually intentionally come together and work together on some of these projects? You know, not just black, white, but just diversity in general. A lot of our organizations are segregated. And I think that key, I think when we start to realize that we've made it so far, we've had some great progress, but in order to make it to that next step, we're going to need to do it together. We can't keep doing it in silos. So I think really at the organizational level in our, for example, when do you ever see like conferences or pictures with all the black and white women national leaders together? It's generally around issues segregated. So I just think if we intentionally do that, we could, we could go a long way. I also just want to say, building off something that Anna said, it made me think a lot about, we talk about the tactics that the women's rights activists and the separatists used that we still use today. I think about the freedom schools and a lot of work that was done in the 60s with the nonviolent resistance in terms of teaching people how to resist, how to act during a boycott, etc. And I think we should also think about, as we're looking at curriculums or just kind of next steps with our youth organizations, why not start to train people in the name of Alice Paul, Mary Church Terrell on those same tactics. That might be a way to kind of make sure we keep, we remind ourselves who created these tactics and kind of build on them throughout history. Yeah, it's interesting. You know, I don't know how intentional some of the people who pick at the White House or March on Pennsylvania Avenue are in their homage to the National Women's Party. But once you start seeing it, you can't can't unsee it, right? It's, it's very recent history in a lot of ways. Freddie, we have a question asking, what can we do at the local level to highlight grassroots women? What would advice would you give to somebody who's hoping to highlight some of the nonnational stories of people who were in this movement? And you're muted, Freddie. All right. Thank you so much. I think I would recommend what I did observe in many communities in Massachusetts and I'm sure elsewhere, where groups came together, sometimes the League of Women Voters, but in other cases, it could be a book group or just a group of people who came together and decided to research their own town. And discovered incredible history that many of them didn't know about. So I think it's something that can be done on a very grassroots level, just looking into your own community, even starting with relatives and stories. And then of course, the libraries can be a great resource and the, and the town as, as well. I also, I have to take this opportunity to build on something Krista said, I'm going to take off my sash. Just to say on the back of it, this was made by the League of Women Voters in Concord, Carlisle in Massachusetts, speaking of the 250th coming. And the back of it says, stronger together. And which is really important. So I totally agree. And I think in doing this research that local communities can do would be important to keep in mind to research everybody that there's a story to tell and a history to tell about so many people. And I know we were very pleased to be able to highlight in Massachusetts just learning about the this slave woman in Massachusetts who sued under Massachusetts law and it and her lawsuit, which she ultimately won. This is mom bet in Massachusetts is what broke the laws. It began to change the loss of the Massachusetts slavery became outlawed in Massachusetts by this one woman who couldn't read could not write but she heard. Man talking about the Constitution of Massachusetts calling for all people to be equal, and she knew what that meant and pursued it so there are incredible stories for all of us to unearth. I found that to the more you look the more you find so I I would encourage you that way. It's there. The fact that we don't know it already doesn't mean it's not there. If we look we'll find it. I also wanted to mention one thing that happens to me is that people talk about the divisiveness of today, as if it wasn't divisive in the past, you know, it's very, very separated apparently the country. But it was when the suffragists were going, you know, they won over and over by one vote. It's a very end they won by one vote in Congress they won by two votes in several states they were defeated by one voter, or by one percentage. So the division isn't something new, it's something we live with and we shouldn't treat it as something bizarre, it's something you handle you have to convert the opponents. And that's what the suffragists went through and that's what they did. And it took a while in many cases. But there are also allies there were male allies there were other women who are allies and as Freddie mentioned there are women who wouldn't even be able to vote and they were suffragists. So the spirit of democracy and a love of democracy I think is something that comes out universally. And that can stand up to the divisiveness I just want to bring that as a as a modern input. Yeah, I mean I think it's a real lesson for contemporary activists to recognize that, you know, a big movement takes a long time. And if you look back from our perspective, there was incremental progress right if you're only looking at the big goal of the ratification then you think my cause is going to take 72 years to get me. But all along the way, progress was made and minds were changed from a point where in 1848 it was considered laughable and dangerous to enfranchise women to do today when, you know, our kids don't understand why it was ever even an issue. So, sometimes it can be hard to see while you're in it, but from the perspective of history, a lot happened along the way. We don't have a ton of time left. And I know that most people's answer to this question will be not do it in a global pandemic. But I would love to hear let's start with you Christa. What would you have done differently about the centennial celebration what was left on the table do you think You know I still really would have liked to see a lot of our organizations embrace it a lot more. I really believe that organizations are getting things done on the ground so that's why I kind of default to them as being the people who could have really moved this more. But I just think that maybe if we would have prepped them for what was coming, try to even educate them a bit more. I think on top of it being global pandemic, I mean, or a pandemic sorry that's difficult but it was just too much probably for 12 months I mean there was just so much there. And I was probably pretty ambitious of us thinking that we could just kind of fit all of that into 12 months. Yeah, and I'd love to hear your answer for that since you are involved in America 250 you have actually a chance to correct some of the things that maybe you wish it gone differently. Yeah. You know, I just always wish we could do more. Right. I mean it's it's kind of a simple answer. But there are so many stories. I love the conversation we just had about local stories. Because that was a place where there was so much progress. You know, Bob Cooney here was so involved in the votes for women trail effort, which was completely dedicated to digging out local stories about, you know, moms, aunts, my mother sisters from their local communities who gathered together to fight for the vote in their towns right not these big national names that we know, but the 5 million plus suffragists who worked every day to make this happen for women. And that was a place where there was so much progress made last year and thanks to the efforts of people like Krista and Bob and Freddie and Rebecca you for the stories you've told and dozens hundreds thousands of others who put energy into that this year. Last year so you know there's Krista the point you just made about I just wish there was more time right and and a centennial offers an opportunity for concentrated effort. But I love these conversations we're having right now about continuing the momentum forward right and Freddie I love to think about the opportunities you all may have to pivot your organization to keep this work. Moving forward and I saw somebody mentioned in the chat box so Zoe whoever whoever you are thank you for mentioning this that the centennial of the era of Alice Paul you know authoring the era is coming up in 1923. So, the opportunities for collaboration for coordination are not done. And the incredible work that was done last year. We just got to keep rocking forward with it because it has meaning and power and impact, and we can't lose the momentum. I think that is an excellent place to end I would like to thank all the panelists. I'm the author of winning the vote. Freddie K founder and president of suffrage 100 MA Anna layman the former executive director of the women's suffrage Centennial Commission, and Krista Jones the co chair of the 2020 women's vote Centennial Initiative. I'd also like to thank the archives for putting this panel together and all of the groups who helped support it. If you are here in the DC area I do recommend getting down to the turning point. I was dedicated to let this last weekend in Lorton, Virginia, if you have the chance to go see that. And if you are not here in Washington, go see whatever your local suffrage Centennial Commission has installed whatever mural, or statue or artwork or commemorative plaque or beer is available in your locality go celebrate those women. Now that things are starting to listen up. And thank you all so much for being here.