July 6 , 2020 I www.ggrwhc.org  I 616-574-7307
Zoom, Television, & a Graveside Visit
Three events in July offer differing perspectives on the history of the 19th Amendment. First, PBS will recount the suffrage story on the national level; then in mid-month, you can pay personal tribute to Michigan’s greatest leader. And to end July, Zoom in on women community activists from across the state!
PBS: The Vote on American Experience
On Monday & Tuesday, July 6th & 7th, PBS will premiere The Vote on American Experience, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the largest expansion of voting rights in US history. This two-night event relives the unrelenting, fiery, and dramatic 72-year campaign that led to passage of the 19th Amendment: pbs.org/thevote

If you miss The Vote this week, be sure to catch it online later and meet unsung heroes whose campaign developed into a transformative cultural and political movement. 
Ketcham grave marker
On July 16th, 2020, between 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm, we will honor “Michigan’s greatest suffragist,” Emily Burton Ketcham, at an informal gathering by her grave site on the anniversary of her 1838 birth in Grand Rapids. Please plan on social distancing and have a mask, just in case. Feel free to bring a chair, a drink, and one or more flowers. Even a single stem would be a lovely tribute as we gather casually and share information about Ketcham during the month before the centennial of the 19th Amendment!

Ketcham died early in 1907 and, like her friend Susan B. Anthony, did not live to enjoy the right to vote. Watch for fuller directions soon for Rosedale Memorial Park, O-50 Lake Michigan Drive NW, Standale.
Getting the Vote: Michigan Women and the Path to Suffrage
Saugatuck-Douglas History Center, Tuesday Talks
July 28 at 11:00 a.m.
Check back for RSVP information via Eventbrite
Grand Rapids school board election, 1888
This program by GGRWHC board member Ruth Stevens has gone virtual! Stevens shifted her program, “Getting the Vote: Michigan Women and the Path to Suffrage” from in-person to Zoom for the Tuesday series of the Saugatuck-Douglas History Center.

She will offer highlights from the decades-long fight for women's suffrage in Michigan and illustrate how persistent activists from large and small communities across the state finally won full voting rights for Michigan women in 1918.  Yes, 1918 --almost two years before the 19th Amendment guaranteed these rights to all citizens nationwide.

Get a fascinating look at how the 1867 granting of school suffrage to Michigan women led to the first elective offices held by women on school boards as early as the 1880s and paved the way to full voting rights.

Watch for information about how to register for the presentation, which will require an RSVP through Eventbrite: sdhistoricalsociety.org   
If you haven’t yet visited our new digital suffrage exhibit and other materials, check them out now! 
Digital Suffrage Landing Page
During this challenging year, the Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council has pivoted to virtual salutes after losing in-person celebrations of the centennial of the 19th Amendment. We have rededicated ourselves to honoring the long and costly battle for the universal right to vote at the same time we pause to reconsider how we will more fully and effectively embrace all of our community’s women’s histories.
 
Please continue to celebrate with the Greater Grand Rapids Women’s History Council virtually and in print! Watch for us via this electronic newsletter, follow us on Facebook, find our monthly features in  Women’s Lifestyle Magazine , and sign up for our hard-copy newsletter, if you haven’t already – at ggrwhc.org ! Stay tuned, stay safe, and stay exercised!
Stay home and stay safe--but celebrate with us virtually and in print! 
GGRWHC |   www.ggrwhc.org   | 616-574-7307
Hats off to the historical women who have shaped West Michigan!
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Thank you for your interest in preserving and celebrating the history of the many phenomenal women who've helped to shape West Michigan!  If you aren't already a supporter of the Greater Grand Rapids Women's History Council, consider investing in our work as a volunteer or with an annual donation .  Visit our  website  for more information and the ability to donate online.