Vigo Women Vote: 100 Years
Vigo County Historical Society & Museum – June 25, 2020
This year, 2020, marks 100 years since the ratification of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution that gave women the right to vote. The Vigo County Historical Museum has a new exhibit dedicated to telling the stories of local suffragists. Vigo Women Vote: 100 Years can be found on the second floor in the Special Exhibit Gallery and will be on display through December 31st.
There were many local women who fought for women’s rights and, in particular, the right to vote. Some were public figures, some were in the background. Some were White, some were Black. But they all worked, in their own way, to bring about votes for women. And, after the 19th Amendment was included in the U.S. Constitution, they continued their work to ensure that women exercised their vote. For African American women – and men – the fight continued for decades until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed.
As Anna Bowles Wiley wrote in The Wabash Valley Review in 1920: “Leaders in Vigo County who have been foremost in suffrage, are now in the front line trenches, fighting for votes – women’s votes, men’s votes – for these women are not going to be any more content to have a mere polling of women votes alone than they were with men votes before, but they wish the full strength of expression from the whole people.”
Executive director, Susan Tingley, said “We hope people visit this exhibit and recognize how precious their right to vote is and how hard our ancestors fought to make it possible.”
The Vigo County Historical Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday noon-5pm.
Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, masks and social distancing are required. It’s a S.A.F.E. (Safe And Fun Environment) place to visit!
Note: Contact Susan Tingley at 812-235-9717 or susan.tingley@vchsmuseum.org for more information.
