National Archives Public Programs Related to New Women’s Suffrage Exhibit
Press Release · Thursday, May 16, 2019

Washington, DC

The National Archives celebrates the centennial of Women’s suffrage with a new exhibit, Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote and a series of  related free public programs. Topics in May and June range from the unparalleled communications machine of the suffrage movement; to Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony; and what factors account for the large gap between men and women serving in Congress?

The programs are free and open to the public and will be held in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC.   Attendees should use the Special Events entrance on Constitution Avenue at 7th Street, NW.  Metro accessible on the Yellow and Green lines, Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter station. Reservations are recommended and can be made online. For those without reservations, seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The Theater doors will open 45 minutes prior to the start of the program. Late seating will not be permitted 20 minutes after the program begins.

Related Exhibit - Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment by looking beyond suffrage parades and protests to the often overlooked story behind this landmark moment in American history. This fuller retelling of the struggle for women’s voting rights illustrates the dynamic involvement of American women across the spectrum of race, ethnicity, and class to reveal what it really takes to win the vote for one-half of the people. On display in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC, through January 3, 2021.

Rightfully Hers is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of Unilever, Pivotal Ventures, Carl M. Freeman Foundation in honor of Virginia Allen Freeman, AARP, AT&T, Ford Motor Company Fund, Facebook, Barbara Lee Family Foundation Fund at the Boston Foundation, Google, HISTORY ®, and Jacqueline B. Mars. Additional support for National Outreach and Programs provided by Denise Gwyn Ferguson, BMO Financial Group, Hearst Foundations, Maris S. Cuneo Foundation, FedEx, Bernstein Family Foundation, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation/Ambassador Fay-Hartog Levin (Ret.).

PANEL DISCUSSION: Women and the Vote: The 19th Amendment, Power, Media, and the Making of a Movement
Thursday, May 16, 2019, at 7 p.m.
Reserve a seat; watch the live stream on our YouTube Channel
What methods did suffragists use to communicate their message, and how did public representations of women shape the battle for the 19th Amendment? Moderated by Tamara Keith, NPR White House correspondent and co-host of the NPR Politics podcast, panelists  Rebecca Boggs Roberts, author of Suffragists in Washington, DC; Elisabeth Griffith,author of In Her Own Right; and Linda Lumsden, professor of journalism, University of Arizona, will discuss the unparalleled communications machine of the suffrage movement and how that struggle in the early 1900s continues to shape the women’s movement today.Presented in partnership with the 2020 Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative and the National Women’s History Alliance.

DOCUMENTARY FILM SCREENING: Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony, Part 1
Friday, May 17, 2019, at noon
Reserve a seat
Two women, one allegiance. Together Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony fought for women everywhere, and their strong willpower and sheer determination still ripple through contemporary society. Ken Burns’s Emmy Award–winning documentary, Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony, recounts the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of two pioneers striving to give birth to the women’s movement.

BOOK TALK & SIGNING: America's Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today
Thursday, May 23, 2019, at 7 p.m.
Reserve a seat; watch the live stream on our YouTube Channel
In celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, Pamela Nadell, American University history professor and author of America’s Jewish Women, weaves together stories of a diverse group of extraordinary people. From the colonial-era matriarch Grace Nathan and her great-granddaughter, poet Emma Lazarus, to labor organizer Bessie Hillman and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, to scores of other activists, suffragists, wives, and mothers, these women helped carve out a Jewish American identity. Joining Dr.Nadell in conversation will be Wendy Turman, Deputy Director, Capital Jewish Museum.
Presented in partnership with Capitol Jewish Museum.

DOCUMENTARY FILM SCREENING: Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony, part 2
Friday, May 24, 2019, at noon
Reserve a seat
Two women, one allegiance. Together Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony fought for women everywhere, and their strong willpower and sheer determination still ripple through contemporary society. Ken Burns’s Emmy Award–winning documentary, Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony, recounts the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of two pioneers striving to give birth to the women’s movement.

BOOK TALK & SIGNING: All Roads Lead to Power: The Appointed and Elected Paths to Public Office for U.S. Women
Tuesday, June 4, at noon
Watch the live stream on our YouTube Channel
In her new book, Kaitlin Sidorsky analyzes how many more women are appointed, rather than elected, to political office and questions the manner in which political ambition, particularly among women, is typically studied and understood.

BOOK TALK & SIGNING: Moms in Chief: The Rhetoric of Republican Motherhood and the Spouses of Presidential Nominees, 1992–2016
Thursday, June 13, at noon
Watch the live stream on our YouTube Channel
Tammy R. Vigil explores the function of spouses in recent political campaigns and scrutinizes how their portrayal by opponents, the press, and themselves has challenged or reinforced perceptions of the role of gender and the place of women in American political life.

PANEL DISCUSSION: The Female Candidate for Office: Challenges and Hurdles
Thursday, June 13, at 7 p.m.
Reserve a seat
A record number of women serve as U.S. Representatives and Senators but are still only 28 percent of the entire Congress. What factors account for the large gap between men and women serving in Congress? Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri moderates a panel discussion with Ann Lewis, former White House Director of Communications; and former member of Congress Connie Morella, and others.

Presented in partnership with the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress, the 2020 Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative, and the National Women’s History Alliance.

DOCUMENTARY FILM SCREENING: Step by Step: Building a Feminist Movement, 1941–1977
Friday, June 28, at noon
Reserve a seat
This film by Joyce Follet follows the lives of eight Midwestern women, six of whom became founders of NOW. Their stories illustrate the continuity and diversity of 20th-century feminism, as they describe the labor, civil rights, and political movements of the 1940s and 1950s that led them to take action. (1998; 56 minutes.)

Rightfully Hers is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of Unilever, Pivotal Ventures, Carl M. Freeman Foundation in honor of Virginia Allen Freeman, AARP, AT&T, Ford Motor Company Fund, Facebook, Barbara Lee Family Foundation Fund at the Boston Foundation, Google, HISTORY ®, and Jacqueline B. Mars. Additional support for National Outreach and Programs provided by Denise Gwyn Ferguson, BMO Financial Group, Hearst Foundations, Maris S. Cuneo Foundation, FedEx, Bernstein Family Foundation, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation/Ambassador Fay-Hartog Levin (Ret.).