Initiative Celebrates Centennial of Women’s Right To Vote

League of Women Voters and Sewall-Belmont House & Museum Join Forces on March 30

Washington, DC (March 30, 2016) – Today, the League of Women Voters of the U.S. (LWVUS) and the Sewall-Belmont House & Museum (SBHM), organizations with roots in the 72 year campaign for women’s voting rights, announced the creation of the 2020 Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative (WVCI), a collaboration commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the passage of the 19^th Amendment, which added women’s right to vote to the U.S. Constitution. 

“I am excited that the League of Women Voters, a voter empowerment organization founded by suffragist leaders, is part of launching WVCI,” said LWVUS President Elisabeth MacNamara. “This initiative will help remind us all of the decades of hard work and perseverance it took to win voting rights for women.”   

The WVCI will be led by a Steering Committee and a larger Task Force, who collectively represent the various segments of the historical women’s suffrage movement, contemporary women’s organizations and scholars.

Sewall-Belmont House & Museum Executive Director Page Harrington noted, “This is an exemplary group of women and men who not only care about the historical significance of women winning the vote, but are also committed to showing the relevance of that struggle today.”

The WVCI Steering Committee will honor the convening of this initiative at a public program hosted by the Sewall-Belmont House & Museum and co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters on Wednesday, March 30^th at 6pm. The program, entitled “Women and Politics: Advocacy, Activism, and Influencing Policy,” will include remarks from private collector and political strategist Ann Lewis and others.  Registration is required.

The first project of the WVCI is a slogo contest. The Initiative is inviting individuals and groups to contribute their design skills and creativity to the development of a logo and slogan (slogo) for use by anyone celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the 19^th Amendment. The contest, which opens March 30^th, will accept submissions through June 30^th, 2016, and a celebrity judge panel will help select the winner in time for an announcement on Women’s Equality Day, August 26^th, 2016. Details for the Slogo Contest and WVCI activities can be found on SBHM’s website.

Contact: Kelly Ceballos, 202-321-3758 or [email protected].

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