Two exhibits celebrating the history of women’s suffrage in Indiana continue through June 28 at the Gary Public Library and Cultural Center.
The “sister” exhibits opened May 30 with displays on the main floor of the library near the north entrance at 220 West 5th Ave. Hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Calumet Area, the exhibits launched in February through March in the second-floor gallery at the Hammond Public Library.
The first of the free dual exhibits is titled “A Right Worth Fighting For: The History of the League of Women Voters of the Calumet Area” and was curated by the League of Women Voters of the Calumet Area (LWVCA) in partnership with the Gary Public Library and Cultural Center.
Comprised of more than 50 objects, including historical documents, photographs, clothing, and other artifacts, the exhibit traces the founding of the various Calumet area leagues that ultimately merged to become the LWVCA.
Susan Eleuterio, a member of the League of Women’s Voters and one of the exhibit’s designers, said the traveling exhibits include vintage clothing items.
“Some of the favorite pieces in this collection are two long dresses that we chose to display to show the suffragettes as they were at the time of their marching,” Eleuterio said.
“Another great item is a photograph in Hammond in 1910 of women riding in a float for women’s suffrage.”
Eleuterio said this exhibit celebrates the work that has been done during a 100-plus-year history “to encourage women and all citizens to be informed and to exercise their right to vote.”
“It was a hard-fought battle to win the vote in 1920, but the work did not stop there,” Eleuterio said.
“For more than a century, the League of Women Voters has continued the fight to educate and empower voters and encourage civic engagement.”
A selection of books, newspaper clippings and ribbon-sashes worn, all designated to women’s suffrage, including several focused on the efforts to achieve access to voting rights for Black women, are displayed near the two exhibits.
The second component of the paired exhibit is a traveling stand-alone kiosk on loan from the Indiana Historical Society titled “Securing the Vote: Women’s Suffrage in Indiana,” focused on the history of women’s suffrage across the state of Indiana.
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“From the first Indiana Women’s Rights Convention held in Dublin, Indiana, in 1851 to the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, Hoosier women fought hard for more than 70 years to gain the right to vote,” said Carolyn Jacobs of St. John, who joined the League of Women Voters last year.
“This wonderful state traveling exhibit ‘Securing the Vote: Women’s Suffrage in Indiana’ explores how women all across Indiana passionately labored for suffrage through countless meetings, campaigns and other grassroots efforts. Despite many defeats and setbacks, they persisted towards the goal of full citizenship and the power to make change through voting.”
It was the 19th Amendment, nationally ratified in 1920, which granted women the right to cast their votes during the presidential term of Woodrow Wilson.
“Securing the Vote: Women’s Suffrage in Indiana” is a project of the Indiana Women’s Suffrage Centennial, supported by Indiana Humanities, the Indianapolis Propylaeum, the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana Historical Bureau, with support from Lilly Endowment Inc.
For more information, call 219-886-2484 or visit www.garypubliclibrary.org.
The same two exhibits will move on from the Gary library location to the Crown Point Library as a free exhibit during the month of July and conclude with a final opportunity during the month of August at the main branch of the Lake County Library on U.S. 30 in Merrillville.
The League of Women Voters of the Calumet Area is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization with a mission to protect and expand voting rights and ensure fair representation in democracy through advocacy and education, with more details available at www.lwvcalumet.org.
Philip Potempa is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.