Celebrating CT Women of Color Who Fought for the Vote: Plaque Unveiling at the Capitol

Celebrating CT Women of Color Who Fought for the Vote: Plaque Unveiling at the Capitol

A picture of the Colored Women's Liberty Loan Committee

Location

Legislative Office Building
300 Capitol Avenue
Hartford Connecticut 06106
See map: Google Maps
Connecticut US
Tuesday, September 20, 2022 - 12:30pm to 2:30pm

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Registration is required if you plan to join for lunch. The deadline to register for lunch is 12:00 PM September 15.

This year on National Voter Registration Day, the League of Women Voters of Connecticut invites you to the Connecticut Capitol to get registered to vote and to celebrate the women of color in the fight for voting rights, past and present. Join us for a special plaque unveiling ceremony honoring these women and view the traveling exhibit   - "The Work Must Be Done: Women of Color and Voting Rights" from the work of Dr. Brittney Yancy, Dr. Karen Li Miller, and Ilene Frank, M.A. to learn more.

In addition to voter registration, we will have election information resources you can take with you to make sure you and your community is ready for the November 8 election.

Schedule
12:30 - 2:30
  • Lunch and Voter Registration Information and Voter Resources Packets (Legislative Office Building)
  • Program Celebrating CT Women of Color who Fought for Suffrage - Past and Present
  • Walk to the Capitol to view The Work Must Be Done Traveling Banner Exhibit (Capitol concourse)
  • Plaque Unveiling (South Lobby of the Capitol)

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Image: Colored Women’s Liberty Loan Committee, October 21, 1917, RG012, State Archives, Connecticut State Library | From left to right, Elizabeth R. Morris, Mary A. Johnson, and Rosa J. Fisher

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More about The Work Must Be Done project, traveling exhibit, and plaque:

In 2020, Connecticut joined the nation in commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, enshrining the right to vote for women. The Work Must Be Done: Women of Color and Voting Rights is a collaborative project begun in 2019 by Dr. Brittney Yancy, Dr. Karen Li Miller, and Ilene Frank, M.A., to address the growing need to identify and amplify the stories of the women of color who participated in the fight for suffrage and developed a broader movement focused on voting equity.

With the title inspired by the words of notable African American reformer and political activist, Mary Townsend Seymour, their exciting new research shows the many ways that women of color were active leaders who developed their own associations, both nationwide and state-based, to achieve social and political reforms, including working for women’s suffrage.

Watch the presentation The Work Must Be Done: Women of Color and Voting Rights HERE.

For more, visit the Connecticut Historical Society digital archive HERE.

Traveling Exhibit: For the month of September, the traveling banner exhibit featuring The Work Must Be Done project is visiting the Connecticut Capitol. You will be able to view it in the concourse connecting the Legislative Office Building and the Capitol from September 1 - 30, 2022. For more, view the August 31 NBC Connecticut story - Connecticut in Color: Traveling Exhibit Celebrates Women of Color Suffrage Leaders.

The Plaque: In response to Dr. Yancy and Dr. Tracey Wilson calling attention to the fact that the first League plaque installed at the Capitol in 1934 listed only white suffragettes, the 2020-2022 board of directors created another bronze plaque in honor of 29 women of color involved in the fight for women's suffrage, to be displayed along with the original 1934 plaque.

Read more about the plaque HERE.

Visit us at www.lwvct.org

Contact Information
marketing [at] lwvct.org