A Graphic Design professor is marking the anniversary of women's right to vote with a series of colorful posters.
Part of an upcoming exhibition in The Galleries at Moore, the posters designed by Graphic Design Professor Gigi McGee use historical photographs and imagery related to the time period to highlight the battle for suffrage.
August 18, 2020, is the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote. It reads: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
McGee researched the project during her spring semester sabbatical.
"During the process of research and ideation I learned a great deal about the suffragette struggle and the persistence they displayed over a 7-decade fight for the basic right to the elective franchise," she said. "This project proved timely. The similarities between the fight for suffrage and the Black Lives Matter protests were noteworthy. The women’s rights movement was closely allied with the antislavery movement with Black and White people like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass working together in common cause. The suffragettes were apparently the first group to protest outside the White House on Lafayette Square. Their peaceful protests lasted for years and some were jailed for exercising their right to free speech. Ultimately their protests worked and effected change."
McGee will discuss her work at the online event "Art at Dinner–Celebrating 100: The 19th Amendment" October 22 at 6 pm.
Celebrating 100 runs October 24 to December 5, 2020, in Wilson Gallery.
