Suffrage100MA In the News

It took American suffragists more than 70 years to make it from Seneca Falls to the voting booths — a marathon, not a sprint. But the ballot box was not the finish line.

Learn more about the women in Massachusetts who contributed to the suffrage movement at the Suffrage100MA website, and check out the calendar to find events throughout the year commemorating women.

Suffrage100MA will host a virtual commemorative event with speakers including Gov. Charlie Baker, First Lady Lauren Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and more.

On January 23rd, Fredie Kay, Founder & President of Suffrage100MA was the League’s guest. The show focused on three topics regarding the celebration of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1920, prohibiting the federal and state governments from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex.

Fredie Kay, Founder and President of Suffrage100MA, provides an overview of the suffrage movement in American history, with special attention to Massachusetts activists who paved the way for women’s suffrage, including African Americans and other marginalized groups at Old South Meeting House. This program is made possible with funding from the Lowell Institute.

Suffrage100MA; the Commonwealth Museum, a Division of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, William F. Galvin; and the Boston Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement honored African-American suffragists from Massachusetts at the Swan Boats in the Public Garden.

All ages dressed up, all the way infants in their fancy gear to older people whose own parents may have been around in the 1920s.

The allure of the era is as strong as ever, and the promise of reliving it for a day (or two) drew thousands to the annual Roaring Twenties Lawn Party at Castle Hill.

Working a display stand near the house was Fredie Kay of the Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition of Massachusetts.

Founder and president of the organization, she reminded people of the upcoming centenary of women getting the vote in 2020.

Kay noted it took over 72 years of campaigning and activism “and at that, it was down to one vote in Tennessee.”

Suffrage100MA, the Greater Boston Women’s Vote Centennial, and the Boston Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement kicked off a year of commemorations, celebrating 100 years since the 19th Amendment was adopted in 1920, at Faneuil Hall.

The Randolph Women’s Club has become a partner in Suffrage 100 MA, a statewide organization which plans events throughout the year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote.

This video presents selected scenes from a reading of the play ‘I Want To Go To Jail’ at the State House on Feb. 28, 2019.

The play is about six suffragettes arrested and jailed in Boston in February 1919 for picketing during President Woodrow Wilson’s visit. The presentation in the Boston State House was hosted by the Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition of Massachusetts, the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center and the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail.

Fredie Kay of Needham, founder and president of the Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition of Massachusetts, organized the event at the Grand Staircase. The performance was by the theater troupe “We Did It For You! Women’s Journey through History.”