The ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 was an expansive political step, representing years of work from a diverse range of women’s activists. However, the 19th Amendment technically did not “give” women the right to vote: it prohibited states from using sex as a barrier to the franchise: “The right of citizens of the…

One of the central goals of the New-York Historical Society’s exhibition Women March is to emphasize the diverse and abounding character of women’s activism over the past 200 years. The Center for Women’s History’s curatorial team wanted to move visitors away from a preconceived notion of “the suffrage movement,” or a movement headed by a…

A drab broadside in the collection of the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library at the New-York Historical Society has enjoyed pride of place in two exhibitions: Women March, on view when we reopen the Museum on Sept. 11, and the 2017–2018 show Hotbed. It might not look like much, but it’s actually a crucial document in…

“What are the suffrage colors?” I have been asked this question many times as the curatorial team’s unofficial suffrage historian at the Center for Women’s History. From exhibition design to what flowers to use at a suffrage-related event, people want a visual shorthand to represent the suffrage movement. However, because there were many suffrage organizations,…

Contrary to popular belief, obtaining the vote was not always the primary goal of the women’s movement prior to the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The New-York Historical Society’s exhibition, Women March, explores the efforts of a wide range of women to expand American democracy in the century before the suffrage victory, as…