Exploring Women's Suffrage through 50 Historic Treasures, with author and curator Jessica D. Jenkins
Exploring Women's Suffrage through 50 Historic Treasures, with author and curator Jessica D. Jenkins
From hunger strikes to massive parades, the American women’s suffrage movement grabbed the attention of citizens and politicians around the United States. Posters, lapel buttons, and even luncheonette plates carried the iconic phrase, “Votes for Women.” Over time this phrase became not only a slogan, but a rallying cry for the movement. Today, museums, libraries, universities, and historic sites across the country care for the objects and places that tell the story of suffrage. Exploring Women’s Suffrage through 50 Historic Treasures brings together a selection of these cultural gems representing the milestones, people, and legacy of the long campaign for women’s voting rights. Through color photos and short essays detailing each object’s story, readers will not only find themselves in the action of a groundbreaking social and political movement, but they are also transported around the nation to the institutions and sites that are the keepers of the country’s past.
Author Jessica D. Jenkins has worked in museums and cultural institutions for over ten years, specializing in collection and exhibition curation. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts in history at Quincy University she completed a Master of Arts in public history from Central Connecticut State University. As a graduate student Jessica undertook the study of the women’s suffrage movement, continuing to deepen her knowledge and study of the subject since. Her previous publications on the topic include articles for the journal Connecticut History and the magazine Connecticut Explored. In addition to her work on suffrage, Jessica co-authored the 2015 book, House of Worth: Fashion Sketches, 1916-1918 and has written on other historic topics such as World War I poster art. She previously served as curator of collections for the Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield, Connecticut, where she was responsible for the management of the institution’s museum collection and exhibition program of its two museums – the Litchfield History Museum, and the Tapping Reeve House and Litchfield Law School. In her current role as Vice President of Collections and Storytelling for Minnetrista, Muncie, Indiana, Jessica plays a key role in the care of the institution’s historic collection and the telling of its stories.
“Voting Was Just the Beginning: 100 Years of Women Making History” marks the centennial of women’s suffrage and celebrates achievements of women leaders nationally. Presented in partnership with Fairfield County’s Community Foundation’s The Fund for Women & Girls and the League of Women Voters of Fairfield, CT, and supported by CT Humanities.