Alexandria, VA – On August 26, 2020, the National Women’s History Museum will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment with a full day of programming and the launch of its new non-partisan voter engagement initiative, Women Vote, Women Win.

Programming will include two virtual “Determined to Rise”: Women’s Historical Activism for Equal Rights panel discussion events, both addressing different topics related to the woman suffrage campaign. In addition, there will be screenings of three short films: Finding Justice, a film about the 2,000-lb. bronze replica of the Liberty Bell that suffragists used as a call to action in their fight for the vote; and two films about suffragist and women’s rights advocate Inez Milholland. The day will end with Women Take the Stage, a free, multi-ethnic virtual concert and rally to increase votes by and for women before the November election.

• August 26, 2020 • 11 a.m. ET
  “Determined to Rise”: Woman Suffrage: The West Came First, presented in collaboration with the Michigan History Center and Michigan Women Forward (Lansing, Mich.)
  The earliest suffrage victories were in the west. The territory of Wyoming granted women the vote in 1869, the same year as the founding of the two national suffrage organizations. When Wyoming became a state in 1890, the new government continued to allow women to vote. Three years later, Colorado became the next woman suffrage state. Utah and Idaho followed in 1896. Suffragists from all over the country traveled to states considering new suffrage laws to advocate for their cause and, in turn, informed the woman suffrage debates that were occurring in the east.
  
  Moderator: Valerie Marvin, Historian and Curator, Michigan State Capitol (Lansing, Mich.)
  Panelists: Dr. Lori Ann Lahlum, Professor, Minnesota State University, Mankato; Dr. Virginia Caruso, Historian and Member of the Board of Trustees, Historical Society of Michigan; and Dr. Molly Rozum, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, The University of South Dakota
   
• August 26, 2020 • 2 p.m. ET
  Finding Justice: The Untold Story of Women's Fight for the Vote Screening & Filmmaker Chat
  Finding Justice: The Untold Story of Women's Fight for the Vote tells the story of how a 2,000-lb bronze bell became a celebrated symbol of the women’s suffrage movement. The creation of suffragists in Pennsylvania who were agitating for the right to vote, the Justice Bell helped rally support around the cause in the last crucial years leading up to the passage of the 19th Amendment. Filmmaker Amanda Owen will participate in a live chat with the screening.
   
• August 26, 2020 • 4 p.m. ET
  “Determined to Rise”: Chicago’s African American Women in the Fight for the Vote, presented in collaboration with the Newberry Library (Chicago, Ill.)
  The conditions for African Americans in the 1890s were very challenging. Following the abolition of slavery in 1865, a prosperous period for the new emancipated slaves started during which African Americans acquired new civil rights, notably the right for Black men to vote. However, in the increasingly racist society of late 19th-century America, womanhood failed to emerge as a universal category. Although instances of interracial collaboration existed within the women’s rights movement, the club movement—so integral to African American women’s activism at the time—was not an integrated experience since African American women were officially excluded from white women’s clubs. Inherently, the position of Black women within the women’s rights movement involved far more complex issues of sexism, racism, and class bias.
  
  Moderator: Dr. Liesel Olson, Director of Chicago Studies, Newberry Library
  Panelists: Dr. Wanda Hendricks, Distinguished Professor Emerita of History, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Carolina; Dr. Kenvi Philips, Curator for Race and Ethnicity, Schlesinger Library of the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; and Dr. Tikia K. Hamilton, Founder, Triple Ivy Writing and Education Solutions, Inc.
   
• August 26, 2020 • 8 p.m. ET
  Inez Milholland - Forward Into Light and Into Light Film Screening and Discussion
  Join this free virtual preview screening of two short films about suffragist Inez Milholland: Inez Milholland - Forward Into Light and Into Light. The films will be followed by a panel discussion with actress Amy Walker, producer Martine Melloul, and Forward Into Light filmmaker and advisor Martha Wheelock. Inez Milholland - Forward Into Light will introduce you to Milholland, the woman who rode the white horse as Joan of Arc on March 3, 1913. This film will be followed by Into Light, which takes us to Blanchard Hall in Los Angeles on October 23, 1916, as Milholland addresses 1,500 cheering and curious attendees. The outcome of that evening would be an inspirational and emotional impetus for the final push for woman suffrage.
   
• August 26, 2020 • 9 p.m. ET
  Women Take the Stage Concert & Rally
  The National Women's History Museum is pleased to partner with top musicians, changemakers, and activist icons for Women Take the Stage: a free, livestreamed multi-ethnic concert and rally to increase votes by and for women before the November election. Join Gloria Steinem, Dolores Huerta, Alicia Garza, Vanessa Williams, Idina Menzel, Lily Tomlin, Billie Jean King, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Indigo Girls, BETTY, Dance Brigade, Pura Fé, DGLS, B-52s’ Kate Pierson, poet Staceyann Chin, founder of The Representation Project Jennifer Siebel Newsom, HBCU president Ruth Simmons, 3rd CTO of the U.S. /shift7 CEO Megan Smith, Time’s Up CEO Tina Tchen, ERA Coalition CEO Carol Jenkins, National LGBTQ Task Force’s Kierra Johnson, Native Action’s Gail Small, disability activist Mia Ives-Rublee, trailblazing transgender politician Andrea Jenkins, and New York's groundbreaking Attorney General, Letitia James.
   

In addition to the August 26 programming, the National Women’s History Museum will launch Women Vote, Women Win, a new non-partisan initiative designed to honor the legacy of the suffragists and all of the women since who have worked to secure voting rights for women. Running through the end of 2020, the initiative will explore the historical context of the 19th Amendment, the critical work that continued after its passage to ensure all women had the right to vote, and contemporary issues around voting through programming, partnerships, resources, conversations, and voter engagement activities. More information about Women Vote, Women Win will be announced soon.