Program: History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement – POSTPONED

“The Movement is a Sort of Mosaic”: A History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, presented by Lucia McMahon, Ph.D.

Reflecting on the women’s suffrage movement, Alice Paul remarked: “the movement is a sort of mosaic. Each of us puts in one little stone, and then you get a great mosaic at the end.” This program examines the long history of women’s activism over the course of the 19th century, to highlight the multi-faceted mosaic of the women’s suffrage movement. Traditional accounts of the women’s suffrage movement tend to focus on key events, such as the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 or the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade held in Washington, D.C. Yet such famous moments were part of a much larger movement that created ripples across American society and politics. Throughout the 19th century, many women became involved in a number of reform movements, including educational access, abolitionism, charitable societies, married women’s property rights, temperance, dress reform, and of course, the suffrage movement. Participants will explore the diverse paths that led women to engage in civic and public life to make a difference in their own communities.

Lucia McMahon, Ph.D. is currently Professor and Chair of History at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ, where she regularly teaches courses in historical methods, early national U.S. history, and women’s history. Her research broadly focuses on women’s intellectual and educational history, with a particular focus on the recovery of relatively “unknown” women’s voices and experiences. McMahon is the author of several books and articles, including Mere Equals: The Paradox of Educated Women in the Early American Republic (Cornell University Press, 2012), and The Journal of Rachel Van Dyke, 1810-1811 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000).

This program is a Public Scholars Project which brings the humanities to locations throughout our state, allowing participants to exchange ideas and explore challenging subjects with nuance and complexity. At NJCH, we believe in the power of the humanities to strengthen our communities and are proud to offer this program to your organization. [email protected]g.