Minnesota women from our North Star state played a unique role in the fight for woman suffrage. Citizen explores the multigenerational march of Minnesota women for the franchise. From pioneering activists like Julia B. Nelson and Sarah Burger Stearns to Progressive Era leaders like Nellie Griswold Francis, the vote was seen as a mark of fuller citizenship and tool of change for concerns like healthcare, children, and women’s rights. But how did tensions between Black and white, native born and immigrant, and radical and moderate mar the movement? How did Minnesota’s suffragists mirror the national effort? This chronicle of Minnesotans’ role in achieving the 19th Amendment also suggests that the 70+ years of activism was itself an important badge of change and true democracy. 

Daniel Pierce Bergin

Daniel Pierce Bergin is a producer, writer, and director whose work focuses on history, diversity, and community concerns. The Twin Cities PBS Executive Producer is a winner of 15 regional Emmy Awards. His notable productions include Jim Crow of the North, Lost Twin Cities 5, North Star: Minnesota’s Black Pioneers; Homeless Youth: Finding Home, and Out North: MNLGBTQ History. His documentary With Impunity: Men & Gender Violence was named ‘Best Documentary of 2012’ by Mpls/St. Paul Magazine. Bergin’s narrative films have screened at the American Film Institute, KQED San Francisco’s Living Room Film Festival, the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival, The Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, and the Hollywood Black Film Festival. The Minneapolis native and University of Minnesota graduate has served as a director on the boards of several community media organizations including FilmNorth and PollenMidwest. Bergin has been an adjunct instructor at St. Cloud State University and lectured and presented in countless schools, colleges, and community settings. He has been recognized as a MN State Arts Board Fellow, a City Pages Artist of the Year, and was awarded a Bush Leadership Fellowship for his work in community media. 

Anne Guttridge

Anne Guttridge is a Production Assistant at Twin Cities PBS where she works on local productions with the Minnesota Media Group. Since her start at TPT as an intern, she has worked on Emmy award-winning films and short-form video content for broadcast and digital platforms. In addition to her work with the Minnesota Experience team as an archival researcher, she has taken her passion for Minnesota history to TikTok, where she attempts to remind audiences that public media can be fun and cool.