I hope you voted today and are now kicking back with a beverage of some kind. Votes for Women: A Visual History is an upcoming exhibition at the Brandywine River Museum of Art. Though it’s not until February 1, 2020 (through June 7, 2020), it will be here before you know it so mark your calendars.
“The year 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which guaranteed women the right to vote. The long road to women’s suffrage, spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, played out very differently from political movements today. In the absence of televised and digital media, the suffragists spread their message through magazines, political cartoons, posters, plays, parades and even through fashion.
This exhibition will examine the visual culture of the suffrage movement, revealing how the “look” of women’s rights developed, drawing upon such wide ranging allegorical and historical figures such as ancient heralds, Columbia, Joan of Arc and Betsy Ross. Votes for Women: A Visual History will include drawings, illustrations, and posters from museums, historical societies and private collections that visualize the complex political messages conveyed by suffragists. Also included will be historic photographs of marches, rallies and the celebrated procession in Washington DC held in March of 1913. Examples of the costumes, clothing, sashes and other emblems of women’s activism worn by suffragists will enliven the presentation, drawing comparisons between the representations and realities of women’s struggle to win the vote.”
