Suffrage movement centennial events & celebrations in 2016 on Vimeo.
IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER: Eighty-one percent of the electorate who will pick the U.S. President in 2016 are either women, people of color, or young people between the ages of 18 and 35.
The National Women’s History Project is requesting donations for a new initiative to make August 26th, Women’s Independence Day (also known as Women’s Equality Day), a federal holiday. The NWHP, now in its 35th year, is hard at work in preparation for the 2020 suffrage centennial, as well as the 2016 launch of the Inez Milholland Centennial, a year-long campaign directed by Marguerite Kearns and Robert P.J. Cooney Jr.
When the NWHP started its work in 1980, NWHP executive director Molly Murphy MacGregor said that few outside of academia knew much about women’s history. Establishing a National Women’s History Week, and then a National Women’s History Month, proved to be a remarkably effective way of making women’s history relevant and visible not just in the classroom but in communities and workplaces as well. Now the NWHP is planning a Women’s History Alliance to connect educators, performers, historic sites, agencies, and organizations in their work of recognizing women’s history and preparing for the woman suffrage centennial in 2020. To make a donation, visit the NWHP web site.
Vision 2020 is planning a prominent exhibit at the National Constitution Center in 2020. Highlights of Vision 2020’s program include:
- Shared Leadership: Vision 2020 Delegates from four states (Iowa, Massachusetts, Utah, Rhode Island) are drafting a CEO Challenge to increase the numbers of women on corporate boards.
- Economic Security: Bobbi Liebenberg, Lisa Passante and Connie Lindsey are serving as conveners, communicators and coordinators of activities to close the gender gap in pay and retirement income by connecting with AAUW delegate leaders in several states and a new Vision 2020 Ally, WISER (Women’s Institute for Secure Retirement).
- Youth Education: Delegates and allies are working on STEM education for girls, with support from the Society for Women Engineers, whose leaders attended the Congress. Others are seeking to incorporate the history of women into secondary education curricula, and some are emphasizing social media.
- Civic Engagement: The Vision 2020 goal of rallying 100% of eligible women to vote in 2020.
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