The Latah County Historical Society and League of Women Voters of Moscow are sponsoring a performance of the play  "May’s Vote" to be presented virtually by Key City Public Theatre. The presentation commemorates the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 19th Amendment, which paved the way for women to vote in all U.S. elections.

The play tells the story of two northwest suffragists, prim and proper Emma Smith DeVoe and outrageous, flamboyant May Arkwright Hutton. The two worked side by side -- but seldom eye to eye -- to win the vote for women in Washington state in 1910. DeVoe, based in western Washington, was a professional suffrage organizer trained by Susan B. Anthony.  She believed that in order to win the vote, it was imperative to approach men in a ladylike manner: “persuade them, convince them, argue their resistance down.”  Hutton, a Spokane millionaire who had struck it rich in the Idaho silver mines, thought that the way to get the vote from men was to “clap ‘em on the back, pass out cigars, and swap stories with ‘em.”

"May’s Vote" presents Emma and May from their respective childhoods through the noisy public struggle that ended with success in 1910, and demonstrates that we do not always have to agree in order to achieve a common goal. It was written by Toni Douglass in 1988 under a grant from the Washington State Centennial Commission.  

The play will be offered at 6 p.m. Wednesday (Nov. 18). To reserve a virtual seat at this production, visit https://keycitypublictheatre.org/2020/maysvote/. The 45-minute play will be followed by a question and answer session with the actors. The presentation is also made available to the public, free of charge, by Zions Bank and the Latah County Arts & Culture Committee.