Special Event: Forward Into Light
“Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, 1916.” One of the banners used in a memorial service for Inez Milholland, the lawyer who became a martyr to the suffrage movement following her death from anemia while campaigning for the 19th Amendment. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. |
Dear Colleagues,
August 26 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. With funding from the American Women’s History Initiative, Because of Her Story, the Smithsonian, along with many other cultural and historic institutions around the country, will mark the anniversary by illuminating our buildings in the historic suffrage colors of purple and gold.
The “Forward into Light” campaign, organized by The Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, in partnership with federal, state, and local leaders, is named in honor of the suffrage slogan, “Forward through the Darkness, Forward into Light.”
Institutions nationwide have committed to illuminating their structures to honor the suffragists who lobbied, marched, picketed, and protested for the right to the ballot, never giving up on the fight for equality. Buildings and landmarks that will light up in purple and gold at nightfall on August 26 include The White House, the One World Trade Center, Niagara Falls, the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Library of Congress Jefferson Building, the National Archives Building, and presidential libraries, and more than 50 National Park Service sites across the U.S.
Among the Smithsonian museums participating are:
- National Museum of the American Indian
- National Air and Space Museum
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- Arts and Industries Building
- Smithsonian Castle
- National Museum of American History
- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Anacostia Community Museum
- D.W. Reynolds Center, including the American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery
- Renwick Gallery
The right to vote is at the forefront of our rights and responsibilities as Americans. If you can safely do so from your car, bicycle or while carefully social distancing, we encourage you to come downtown tomorrow evening between 8:00 p.m. and midnight and share in this stirring spectacle—a reminder of the struggle for suffrage that can never be taken for granted.
Please maintain social distancing and remember that the District of Columbia requires all those over the age of two to wear face coverings in public.
We’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our facilities and security staff. Without their efforts, we would not be able to create special events such as “Forward Into Light.”
Kevin Gover
Acting Under Secretary for Museums and Culture
Co-chair, American Women’s History Initiative
Stephanie Stebich
The Margaret and Terry Stent Director, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Co-chair, American Women’s History Initiative
Julissa Marenco
Assistant Secretary for Communications and External Affairs
Chief Marketing Officer
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Posted: 25 August 2020
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Categories:
Collaboration , Education, Access & Outreach , History and Culture , Volunteer Voices
