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Home » Media » Press Releases & Media Advisories » RELEASE: Suffrage Centennial Kickoff Celebration Launching a Year of Commemorations Celebrating 100 Years Since the 19th Amendment Was Adopted in 1920 Enabling Women to Vote

RELEASE: Suffrage Centennial Kickoff Celebration Launching a Year of Commemorations Celebrating 100 Years Since the 19th Amendment Was Adopted in 1920 Enabling Women to Vote

June 14, 2019 By Kevin Gilnack

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ami Bennitt, Motor Media, 617.797.8267, ami@motormmm.com

Suffrage Centennial Kickoff Celebration

Launching a Year of Commemorations Celebrating 100 Years Since the 19th Amendment Was Adopted in 1920 Enabling Women to Vote

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 | 5-7pm | Faneuil Hall, Boston

Speakers Announced
email for more information, high resolution images, and media credentials
[June 14, 2019—Boston, MA] The Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition of MA (WSCC) and the Mayor’s Office of Women’s Advancement’s Greater Boston Women’s Vote Centennial (GBWVC), supported by the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, proudly announce a Suffrage Centennial Kickoff Celebration, launching a year of commemorations celebrating 100 years since the 19th Amendment was adopted in 1920, enabling women to vote. The event takes place Tuesday, June 25, 2019 from 5-7pm at Faneuil Hall, located at One Faneuil Hall Square in Boston. It is free and open to the public, RSVP encouraged: https://suffragekickoff.eventbrite.com.

Confirmed speakers include Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, Attorney General Maura Healey, Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell, Founder & President Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition of MA, Fredie Kay, Founder & President Barbara Lee Family Foundation, Barbara Lee, Executive Director MassVote, Cheryl Clyburn Crawford, and Author & Historian Barbara Berenson. Shirley Leung of The Boston Globe will serve as master of ceremonies.

The event will be held on the centennial anniversary of Massachusetts being the eighth state to ratify the 19th Amendment and will feature noted speakers, as well as performances by Boston Children’s Chorus and History at Play, who will debut a suffrage theatrical performance piece. Guests are encouraged to wear suffrage colors of white, purple, and gold, and bring children, families, and seniors.

“In 2020, we’ll celebrate the centennial of women gaining the right to vote, a crucial milestone in creating equality for all,” said Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “As we celebrate this anniversary, we look back on the strong, determined women who made this victory possible, and look forward towards Boston’s ongoing work to promote true gender equity throughout our city and region.”

“We have been working up to this 100-year centennial celebration for over a decade,” shared Fredie Kay, Founder and President of the Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition of Massachusetts. “We are proud to mark the anniversary of so much important, historic work done by strong, courageous, committed women. It was a long road to hoe – and the women’s movement still has much work to do – but over the next year and half there is much to celebrate – both in Boston and throughout Massachusetts.”

“I’m pleased to be a partner with the City of Boston and WSCC in celebrating the 100th anniversary of women making their voices heard at the ballot box,” said Barbara Lee, Founder and President of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation. “The suffragists taught us so much, including to never let the way things are limit our imagination of the way things could be. We are at a pivotal moment in history, filled with possibility. One hundred years from now, I hope future generations will look back in awe of all that we accomplished in our time.”

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About the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Coalition

The Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition of Massachusetts (WSCC) is dedicated to commemorating and celebrating the upcoming 100th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote. The WSCC presents events and activities that highlight the history of the women’s suffrage movement and women’s rights. The WSCC is a non-profit coalition that partners and collaborates with many organizations in Massachusetts and throughout the country that are also planning events to celebrate this historic occasion.
https://suffrage100ma.org/

About the Greater Boston Women’s Vote Centennial

The Greater Boston Women’s Vote Centennial, presented by Mayor Walsh’s Office of Women’s Advancement and supported by the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, aims to elevate the ongoing women’s suffrage centennial celebrations throughout Greater Boston. The project will span from June 2019-August 2020 and host a public speaker series, offer grants for suffrage centennial programming, and more. 

Filed Under: Media, Press Releases & Media Advisories

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Copyright © 2023 · Women's Suffrage Celebration Coalition · Site by Tech-Tamer· Log in

Suffragists Support #StopAsianHate

March 2021

Dear Suffrage100MA Community,

Suffrage100MA stands with the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Community and grieves for the eight victims recently murdered in Georgia, six of whom were women of Asian descent.  Carry the victims in your hearts, light candles for them, learn about their lives:  Daoyou Feng, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Paul Andre Michels, Soon Chung Park, Ziaojie Tan, Delaina Yaun and Young Ae Yue.

The words of this song from the 1949 musical “South Pacific” are more applicable than ever:

You’ve got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You’ve got to be taught
From year to year,
It’s got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

“You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” was a highly controversial song, but thankfully, ultimately included in the show. The song was written to address racism against Asians and all people.  The character Lt. Cable, a Caucasian man who has fallen in love with an Asian woman, is distressed by the prejudice against interracial couples and racism in general, sang the song after saying the words “…racism is not born in you! It happens after you’re born…”

James Taylor recorded the song in Nov. 2020.

We must work to end the racism that is “…drummed in your dear little ear…”

In 2020, hate crimes against Asian Americans are up almost 150 percent.  Discrimination against the Asian community has existed in this country since Asians arrived in the late 19th century.  Asians faced discrimination against dignity and equality, and were denied citizenship and the right to vote until the middle of the 20thcentury. After the 19th Amendment was adopted extending the vote to women, discriminatory laws prevented Asian Americans, Native Americans and African Americans from voting for decades and today the crisis for voter accessibility is growing.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “In a backlash to historic voter turnout in the 2020 general election, and grounded in a rash of baseless and racist allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities, legislators have introduced well over four times the number of bills to restrict voting access as compared to roughly this time last year. Thirty-three states have introduced, prefiled, or carried over 165 restrictive bills this year (as compared to 35 such bills in fifteen states on February 3, 2020).”

Suffrage100MA is committed to increasing accessibility to the ballot and inspiring voters to exercise their right to vote by sharing the history of those who fought bravely, sometimes losing their lives, for decades and across centuries, to secure the vote.  Let us each recognize the power and importance of voting to express one’s voice

On behalf of the Suffrage100MA Board of Directors –
With deep appreciation to all of you for being on this journey with us,

Fredie Kay
Founder & President, Suffrage100MA