On Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020 we hosted our very first Zoom panel discussion, German-Americans and the Woman Suffrage Movement, to give an overview of the movement’s history, explore reactions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries’ German-American community, as well as learn more about German-American women’s rights pioneers. Our three distinguished panelists were

• Dr. Alison Efford, Marquette University
• Kate Howard, JD, Vote Girl Vote
• Dr. Mark Louden, Director of the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison

On Aug. 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment. It took more than one year, after it had been passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, to overcome the final hurdle of obtaining approval by three-fourths of the states. The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, and prohibited states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to U.S. citizens on the basis of sex. In honor of the centennial of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, we have prepared a fully virtual exhibit giving an overview of the movement’s history, how it was received by the German-American community, and short biographies of several prominent German-American women’s rights advocates. Please note that the exhibit has an audio component; to listen to the recordings, please click on the speaker symbol that appears in some slides.

To view our virtual exhibit, please scroll down to start the slide presentation.