OHC to Present Smithsonian’s “Suffrage Stories: A Complicated Narrative”

OKLAHOMA CITY — On Thursday, August 27, at 5 p.m., 16 Smithsonian Affiliates, including the Oklahoma History Center, in collaboration with scholars from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, will present a special online lecture entitled “Suffrage Stories: A Complicated Narrative.” After the speakers’ presentations, this hour-long program will include the opportunity for audience members to submit questions in the chat.

The event will be a simultaneous webinar broadcast to Smithsonian Affiliate partners across the United States. Those interested in participating should register for the webinar at bit.ly/SuffrageStories.

After generations of struggle for suffrage, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1919 and ratified in August of 1920, granting women the right to vote—although not all women were included. At the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, this program will explore the suffrage movement through the stories of activists whose work is popularly known, as well as those whose efforts are less broadly discussed.

The session will be moderated by Michelle Delaney, assistant director for history and culture at the National Museum of the American Indian. Delaney is chair of the editorial committee for the 2019 publication “Smithsonian American Women,” and is a current board member for the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a Smithsonian Affiliate.

Panelists will be Cécile R. Ganteaume, a curator at the National Museum of the American Indian; Lisa Kathleen Graddy, a curator in the Division of Political and Military History at the National Museum of American History; and Dr. Crystal M. Moten, curator of African American History in the Division of Work and Industry at the National Museum of American History.

Ganteaume serves on the curatorial committee of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative and is a recipient of a 2011 Secretary of the Smithsonian’s Excellence in Research Award and a team recipient of the 2018 Smithsonian Excellence in Exhibitions Award. Graddy’s recent work includes the voting rights section of the museum’s new exhibition, “Creating Icons: How We Remember Woman Suffrage,” and writing for and serving on the editorial committee for “Smithsonian American Women.”

Moten has taught at small liberal arts colleges on the East Coast and in the upper Midwest. Her research and curatorial interests include the intersectional connections between African American labor, business and civil rights history with emphasis on post-World War II Black freedom movements in the urban Midwest.

The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, National Archives and is an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people.

Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.