19th Amendment centennial events postponed by virus concerns

To The Press

Iowa’s 19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration Committee has announced all planned activities to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment are postponed until it is safe for citizens to congregate.

“With the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, it’s only prudent to postpone events to prevent the spread of the virus,” said Doris Kelley, committee chairwoman.

“We anticipate many activities planned for 2020 will occur later in the year and some may carry over to 2021,” she said.

More than 100 different 19th Amendment-related statewide projects were planned for just the first six months of 2020. A public notice regarding activity postponements has been posted on the committee’s web page, https://19th-Amendment-Centennial.org. Events are noted by date and location at the bottom of the website homepage.

“During this time of self-isolation and home schooling, parents and children may want to take advantage of the resources on the website,” Kelley said.

These include:

• A six-minute video explaining the 72-year-long fight to garner women’s right to vote.
• A six-part self-study educational 19th Amendment curriculum designed for students in grades 9-12.
• The 27-part “Profiles of Courage and Persistence” – stories of key Iowa suffragists like Amelia Jenks Bloomer, Sue M. Wilson Brown, Carrie Chapman Catt, Mary Jane Coggeshall, Helena Downey, Anna B. Lawther, Arabella Babb Mansfield, Gertrude Rush, Vivian B. Smith and Mattie Woods. Seventeen additional profiles and stories will be published on a bi-weekly basis until the end of the 2020 calendar year.
• A reading list of grade-appropriate as well as adult books that discuss the fight for women’s right to vote.

“All Iowa citizens should mark Tuesday, May 5, on their calendar as the date to watch Iowa PBS’s hour-long documentary titled ‘Carrie Chapman Catt: Warrior for Women,’” Kelley said.

“Catt, of Charles City, devoted most of her life to the expansion of women’s rights and is recognized as one of the key leaders of the American women’s suffrage movement,” Kelley said.

A special screening of the documentary along with a discussion panel was presented March 1 at the Charles Theatre in Charles City.

Iowa’s 19th Amendment Centennial Commemoration Committee, which is composed of representatives from 17 not-for-profit and non-partisan agencies and institutions, started planning events in 2017.

To date, 10 Iowa-based foundations, eight companies and 86 philanthropic individuals have made contributions to the committee to support projects like two replica 1913-1920 Suffrage Wagons that will be available for city parades, and the 19th Amendment High School curriculum which is accessible free to the public.