Amendment, using political cartoons and images of suffragists picketing the white house, she explores the National WomensParty Tactics under the leadership of alice paul. Im the curator of votes for women. Im standing in front of what we call our title treatment. Its a large blowup of a hedwig reicher, a germanborn actress. The allegorical figure that represents the United States during the conclusion of the parade in washington, d. C. Thats just one event of the long Suffrage Movement this exhibition highlights. We have 124 objects that goes into the long history begininng in 1832 bringing it right up to 1920. But also querying the 19th amendment and what it didnt do. I then took the exhibition up to the Voting Rights act of 1965. If you come with me, we are going to explore the 1913 parade more in depth. We are standing in front of the photo postcards of the 1913 parade organized by alice paul. This was a completely different tactic than what had been done before by other suffragists. Alice paul was trying to create headlines, aso after spending some time in britain, she basically got radicalized by the british suffragists and learned how to creat attentiongrabbing spectacles or events. When she came back to the United States, she then organized with the Congressional Union this parade. 8000 suffragists marched down from the capital here, down pennsylvania avenue, and they stopped at the Treasury Building and there they had this pageant. In between, the suffragists had to make their way through 500,000 spectators, a huge number. One of the problems of this parade is it did not have Police Protection because the chief was not a friend to suffragists so he denied them protection even though they had a permit. Instead the secretary of war who is part of the president ial cabinet put what we would think of as the National Guard on standby in nearby fort myers in virginia. And so when the crowd got really unruly and manhandling, thats when they literally called in the cavalry from virginia and had that group serve as the protectors of the suffragists. It was quite dramatic because suffragists were not expecting these huge crowds, but they did upstage president wilson, because the next day for his inaugural speech as his first term as president , and almost nobody showed up. He asked where is everybody, and he was told the spectators had come out because he was gorgeous. You can see this is one of four existing programs that remain. You can see theres the arts figures in this purple robe, which is the color of royalty, and she is walking down in front of the capital, presumably pennsylvania avenue, with a banner that says votes for women. I mentioned to alice, who had been radicalized by the british suffragists movement, she had brought those tactics back to the United States. She has broken off from the National American women suffragists association. Shes employing more of these attention grabbing tactics, as well as creating a digital culture. He was actually employed by the Container Corporation of america, but he was married to a suffragist. That was a connection that the husbands and these women out there, advocating being active for the cause of having a political voice, they were doing their best to support women. He incorporated the doubleheaded axe and a winged hat, and it is illustrating the devine messenger of equality. The doubleheaded axe in minoan culture symbolizing the mother goddess. Theres all there different ways suffragist try to communicate, by reaching back to ancient civilizations. Why not women in America Society as well . Nina ellender was an illustrator and an artist who made over 200 illustrations like this one called his district from 1916. He worked to help the suffrage caused by creating depictions of women at work advocating for the cause. They were then published in the suffragist, a magazine newspaper that the party produced for years and years. So here we see this young woman whos very much educating herself by reading a book called campaign textbooks. She has an embroidered shirt on with her hair up, well done. She is wearing nice shoes. She is sitting in front of her desk crowded with books. The books are a list of voters and it is all specific to the map of his district. All of this is tos two example if i how this suffragists are lobbying. And there the group to understand what lobbying was and what it entails and how it will gain them political power through convincing their representatives and legislators whatever his district was. This could apply to any state. Under the lead of alice paul, they were really interested in the federal amendment. They were not asking the state by state change theres instead. And then when you convince your fellow legislators to ratify it, one goes out for two thirds of the ratification if necessary. Nina allender is a great figure in the Suffrage Movement because we helped to popularize it. She herself was educated at the school of art and the Philadelphia Academy of fine art and a great artist in and of her own right. We are excited to get some of these objects on the wall in the exhibition, to make sure that we understand the day how the Suffrage Movement was being taught in the own air of the 19 teens. In 1917 alice paul decided to do something even more drastic then marching down pennsylvania avenue, and that was to picket the white house. This was one of the first groups of picketers that were nonviolent, that stood outside the white house and basically declared there are protests in personal terms, so they would carry banner saying, mr. President , what will you do for womens suffrage . The president , being Woodrow Wilson, carried out two terms and he did not endorse the suffrage because until 1919. At this point we are 1915. In 1917 they are picketing the white house. Every day they would send stand outside the white house and hold the silent sentinel. They would leave the headquarters in front of the white house. On the others was the headquarters and they would leave their headquarters with banners in hand carrying colors of purple, white and gold the National Womens party around 1913. That is what they did for two years. You can see there is College Women, wearing the banners of which college they went to. In which College Women would protest or different state delegations would protest or even working women would protest. Working women only had one day off a week from work. That was on a sunday. They couldnt protest unless it was a sunday. You see the title cover of the maryland suffrage news depicts a woman who was white, who was a seamstress, who has been working for more than eight hours today, which are normal working hours but regulated by federal law. There were no laws the regulated working, and working women felt they were being abused and there was no law that could protect them. This woman is passed out at her sewing table. The illustration was made by mary taylor, and one aim that one of the many suffrage chapters of the United States. So the suffragists were eventually arrested for obstructing traffic and it wasnt their fault, it was all the spectators who were obstructing traffic. You can see this portrait of these two women, the policeman holding their banner. The women are most likely not going to pay their fine and they were going to be sentenced to jail in the d. C. Jail. Or workhouse, and what i find interesting is they are very well dressed because the women that were picketing are from an elite wealthy background, the majority of them. There were working women that would help picket on sundays, and working women were very much a part of the suffrage cause. There were no africanamericans there were are part of this movement, this effort because alice paul did not include them. I also wonder if being a vulnerable population it meant that they were at a higher risk than the privileged white women were at. There is a balance they were striking at this point in time. In the top photo you can see lucy brenner. She is protesting alice paul, who had an in present had been in prison, that the government gives the other suffrage prisoners the privileges of the american privilege american political prisoner. The American Government did not treat the suffragist as political prisoners. They treated the suffragists as criminals. This meant there was a poor food, there were no privileges given to the suffragists when they were imprisoned. The suffragists immediately picked up on that and created banners that spoke to that to point out that the russian government gave a political activist those privileges. So why didnt the American Government do the same for other political activists in the United States is the question . You can see another beautiful drawing by nina allender. The women are getting grabbed and assaulted by angry men to like getting that moment to training for the draft. The United States entered world war i. This is a major moment for suffrage because the suffragists were able to say they were able to do all this effort on the home front and they were serving as nurses and doctors over with the red cross. And getting involved in the war directly. So why couldnt they have a political voice if they were basically giving up their lives for the United States . So nina allenders drawing gets to that where the suffragists are carrying banners, democracy begins at home. These angry men are attacking these white women carrying the banners. This is a piece of cotton that those imprisoned sufferagists for obstructing traffic, they decided to create their own, embroidered signatured. It was a record or witness or testimony to the fact that they were there and this happened to them. Finally on this wall, you have two photographs. One is of lucy burns in jail. She was also with alice paul, one of the leaders of this militant Suffrage Movement. Here you see the arrest of the suffragists, they are being put into these police wagon and being carted off to get sentenced to jail. From 1917 through the end of 1919, the suffragists led by alice paul continue to picket outside of the white house. I was really interested to see images of these suffragists almost up close and personal. I wanted to emphasize these were individuals with their own lives spending their time, which we know is precious on this important cause. And so the video behind me is playing through images of them picketing. Anf they kept up the pressure. By creating the headling, by creating spectacle, i think the suffragists finally acheived the kind of momentum they were searching for throughout the entire movement, because the pressure they placed on Woodrow Wilson was so much that he finally endorsed the cause. When he did on may 21 of 1919, the amendment that was proposed actually passed the house of representatives and then passed in the senate on june 24 1919, at which point the amendment was sent out to the states to get two thirds of them to sign off on ratifying, which would then become law. This part of the exhibition covers the militant suffragists, explains why they were doing what they were doing. Then in the last room, were going to look at the 19th amendment, see what it says and see how womens political voices change after being granted the right to vote, but also look at which women didnt have the right to vote and what they did about that. When women finally got the right to vote, then they had a political voice, and then they were voters. Different parties recruited them in different ways. Youve got Calvin Coolidge running for Vice President and warren g. Harding for the Republican Party tickets in november of 1920. Exclaiming to women, for your own good, vote republican ticket. Theyre producing all this kind of recruitment, basically, ephemera, this published in vogue. Clearly it was engaging as the new female voter. It was for harding and coolidge and then on the piece of paper on which the ribbon was sold, it says, souvenir of this greatest event of my life. So they really dramatized the act of voting. But honestly for some women this really was the greatest event of their life. It meant they had achieved the first step toward equality and gaining a more democratic experience as a citizen of the United States through the Voting Rights that they had achieved. In the concluding gallery of this exhibition, i wanted make sure to point out the text of the 19th amendment and what it says and what it doesnt say. It reads, the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied by the United States or by any state on account of sex. So letting that sink in, when you think about the wording of the 19th amendment as it applies to giving the right to vote for women, nowhere does it say, guaranteed the right to vote. That makes a big difference in achieving the right to vote for everybody. What we think the 19th amendment did and the reality of what it did. So in this moment, states can still find ways through which to disenfranchise voters. And up to our contemporary moment in 2019, there are states and laws out there seeking to disenfranchise voters. Were still contending with the wording of this 19th amendment because its not as specific as we would like it to be. And it wouldnt be until the Voting Rights act of 1965 that things became very Crystal Clear and that people had the right to vote and were guaranteed the right to vote and not be discriminated against based upon their race. Im standing in front of a portrait of a person, who, like other native americans of her generation, was forced to attend carlisle boarding school, which created assimilation of native americans with a White Society by not allowing them to speak their native languages, placing them in western dress. As a result she became bilingual, if you will. She understood the culture of her native tribe, she was a sioux indian, and also she was able to bridge the gap and talk with white leaders. As a result she was able to with other native americans, found this society of the american in the end. This was an activist society that really promoted equal rights for native americans. It was a long and lonely road. This is four years after the 19th amendment up ostensibly granted citizens the right to vote. That did not apply to native americans. Ever since, native americans continue to fight for their right, including in north cota when voter enfranchisement laws actually made it so you cannot vote unless you have a physical address. Lots of native americans living on reservation. They are not allowed to vote under these current laws. I wanted to point out the latinx citizens of the United States who include citizens of puerto rico, we are looking at a portrait made in 1992. She was quite elderly at this time, but she had been elected as the first female governor of san juan. In 1932, she was a suffragist she was and actually advocating for the right to vote among literate white women in puerto rico. So she was trying to advocate for suffrage but it was the step approach and wasnt until 1935 that women across puerto rico, all women, were given the right to vote. Later she was elected as mayor of san juan, which she held for many terms through 1968. Shes a beloved figure. Shes not the only suffragist from puerto rico. We dont have a portrait of the most renowned puerto rican suffragette. We couldnt get one in time for this exhibition. This is a portrait from our own collection we were able to use to represent latinx populations in the United States. Finally im showing you a portrait of someone who is active for native american rights, and she was the Expert Witness when there was a civil rights case in 1879. He was able to help the native americans choose where to live. They had been moved left and right all over the place. In this case she was actually able to help make into law the rights of native americans to choose where they were able to live. This is another example of an activist who is not single issue focused only on suffrage, but working in all these other ways to help improve womens lives and rights of women in the native communities who just didnt have that one issue they were working towards, but lots of issues that coincided with suffrage. We are looking at a portrait of Fannie Lou Hamer, a great activist, especially in the 1964 democratic convention. She gave a speech that galvanized the American Public, because it was televised. She said, im sick and tired of being sick and tired. She was alluding to her long struggle to have a life as an africanamerican, citizenship right in the United States. Earlier she had attempted to vote in the early 50s and was denied because she was illiterate. As a young woman she had to give up going to school in order to help her family and so she never learned to read. This is one example of an activist whose words are spoken from the heart, and she really had this unmeasurable success in influencing the American Public at large, because her speech was televised in 1964. So, the Voting Rights act was signed in 1965, in part because of that convention in which Fannie Lou Hamer played a major role, and it was signed by president lyndon b. Johnson. This is a later portrait of patsy mink she also had been working on the Voting Rights act. She also seen and witnessed the infringement of her Citizenship Rights. So part of her legacy is not the Voting Rights act but also title ix. After the Voting Rights act, she went on to help design, to be the architect of the title ix amendment, which is basically the equal opportunity education act that a lot of us women have benefited from. So these two figures help to take the story up to 1965 and even beyond to how Citizenship Rights is an ongoing conversation and and how these activists really influenced american law. So im so excited to have told you a little bit about this exhibition. It included this six galleries and this long hallway and was really covering the time from 1832 to right up to 1920, also pointing to the events that happened after, so right up to the 1965 Voting Rights act. Through the portraits of these women, what im hoping people come away with is that these women were empowering themselves and help to empower us today. They were looking at the past and at what had not been done. They had set out a task to change the unites states constitution. They did it and they have set the example to take our Voting Rights and to ensure that they remain sacred and that they remain unquestioned and safeguarded for eternity, for american citizens. And so in thei exhibition, not only are you learning history, but hope you are feeling empowered yourselves. This was the second of a twopart tour of the National Portrait gallerys votes for women exhibit, marking the centennial of the 19th amendment. You can watch this and other american artifacts programs by visiting our website at cspan. Org history. Good evening, welcome to the William G Mcgowan theater at the national archives. Im deborah, deputy archivist of the United States. Im pleased you could join us. Whether you are here at the theater or joining us through facebook, youtube, or cspan. Tonights discussion of women suffragists and the men who