32 more bricks dedicated in Carrie Lane Chapman Catt Lane during ceremony Saturday

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Thirty-two new engraved bricks were dedicated and brick donors recognized as part of “Carrie’s Lane” at the Carrie Lane Chapman Catt Girlhood Home Saturday morning.

That brings the total number of dedicated bricks to 785, said Ivadelle Stevenson, event chair for the National 19th Amendment Society event and Carrie Chapman Catt’s great-great niece.

The annual dedication ceremony for the new bricks was held indoors in the Interpretive Center at the museum complex because of rain, but most of the couple of dozen people who attended braved the sprinkles to venture out and look at the new bricks after the short service was over.

The brick pathway is part of the girlhood home museum and interpretive center that honor Chapman Catt, who grew up in the home south of Charles City and who, as an adult, was instrumental in the passage of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote.

Engraved bricks are available for purchase as a fundraiser to help with continued support of the facility. Bricks can be purchased as memorials, or as a lasting way to honor a person, family, organization, business or event.

Stevenson said the origins of Carrie’s Lane go back to 1995 when the National 19th Amendment Society was challenged to raise $5,000 in support of reconstructing the girlhood home, in return for a donation of some letters that had been written by Chapman Catt to a friend between 1875 and 1937.

The letters contained reflections by Chapman Catt on her life, Stevenson said. The suffrage leader died in 1947 at the age of 88.

The society decided to establish Carries Lanes and sold dedicated bricks for $50 each and raised almost $9,000 the first year, Stevenson said. The promised letters were donated to the museum in 1997.

Anyone interested in purchasing an engraved brick to support the museum can pick up a form at the museum site, or call 641-228-3338.

Thirty-two more bricks were added to the Carrie Lane Chapman Catt Lane at the Girlhood Home and Interpretive Center run by the National 19th Amendment Society south of Charles City.

The society held its annual brick dedication ceremony Saturday morning at the suffrage leader’s home.