All Episodes - Ballot & Beyond
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the enfranchisement of women in America, Preservation Maryland and Gallagher, Evelius & Jones LLP has created Ballot & Beyond, an audio biography series on the contributions of Maryland's remarkable women, past and present.
View Podcast Details50 Episodes
Edith Houghton Hooker | Dynamic Suffrage Driver
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Diane E. Weaver, Ph.D. The reader is Diane Weaver. Edith Houghton Hooker was a critically important and arguably an essential figure in the Maryland campaign for women’s suffrage. Without her drive and dynamism, we would have little awareness of the commitment of Maryland suffragists to achieve the right to vote. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
Margaret Brent | Colonial Suffragist
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Audrey Partington. The reader is Kalin Thomas. Two hundred years before the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, Margaret Brent became the first woman in the American colonies to request the right to vote. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
Billie Holiday | Voice of Protest
This episode of Ballots and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was edited from the Maryland Archives biography by Kalin Thomas, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. It is read by Larzine Talley, musician who frequently performs Billie Holiday’s music and sings in her style. In just a short lifetime, Baltimore-raised Holiday became one of the nation’s most famous African American jazz musicians. In 1938, she joined Artie Shaw’s Orchestra, forming one of America’s first racially integrated bands. Her talent helped her break the segregation rules of Jim Crow, as she enjoyed access to some of the best labels, orchestras, and song choices throughout America and Europe. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
Mary Risteau | Early Elected State Delegate
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Kathi Santora, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. In 1922, just two years after the 19th amendment empowered women with the right to vote, Harford County citizens elected Jarrettsville resident Mary Eliza Watters Risteau to the Maryland House of Delegates. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
DuBois Circle | Inspired Fighting Against Injustice
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Beverly Carter, Archivist of the DuBois Circle, and read by Reverend Canon Sandye A. Wilson, President of the DuBois Circle. In 1906, a distinguished group of women in Baltimore, Maryland was handpicked to organize an auxiliary group to work with and support the activities of Dr. W. E. B. DuBois and the members of the local branch of the Niagara Movement, in their fight to address the social, political and economic injustices faced by African Americans. The DuBois Circle continues to address issues relating to the fulfillment of America’s promise of equity, justice, and freedom. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
Florence & Bertha Trail | Sisters in the Struggle
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and is being read by Dr. Amy Rosenkrans. The Trail Sisters worked diligently to win the vote for Maryland’s women. Their writing, speeches, and constant activism did not end when the battle was won. Both sisters continued to be active in the community. Bertha was elected President of the Frederick County Republican Club in 1920 where she spearheaded the registration of new women voters. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
Madeleine Ellicott | By Women, For Women
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Diane E. Weaver. The reader is Dr. Diane Weaver. Madeleine Ellicott’s lifelong goal was to improve the lives of women and children and to secure equal rights for all human beings. She fought alongside thousands of women in pursuit of women’s right to vote. She firmly believed that only equal suffrage could right the wrongs against women. After the successful passage of the 19th Amendment, Ellicott's compassion and activism for women's political equality continued to shine bright and make change. She was the founder and twenty-year president of the Maryland League of Women Voters. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
Quaker Women of Sandy Spring | Education & Equality
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Pamela Young. The reader is Allison Weiss, Executive Director, Sandy Spring Museum. Sandy Spring, Maryland, was settled in 1727 by Quakers who strongly valued education and social justice. Many were active in social movements promoting peace and the abolition of slavery. Quakers believe in equality of all persons, so women are considered equals to men. With this emphasis on human equality, education, and justice, it is not surprising that Sandy Spring fostered activism for women's suffrage. In 1889, a local women's suffrage association was organized and went on to serve as a hotbed of suffrage activity emanating out of the rural Montgomery County community. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state’s largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.
Dr. Lillian Welsh | Academic Voice for Suffrage
This episode of Ballot & Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Tina Sheller, assistant professor of Visual and Material Culture at Goucher College. The reader is Tina Sheller. During the early years of the twentieth century, the leadership of newly-established women’s colleges played a pivotal role in advancing the cause of women’s suffrage. At the Woman’s College of Baltimore, soon to be known as Goucher College, faculty took an active role in advocating for women’s suffrage and influenced students to join the movement. One of the leading suffragists among the faculty was Lilian Welsh. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher, Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.
Harriet Tubman | Abolitionist & Suffragist
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is adapted from a biographical sketch of Harriet Tubman written by Dr. Kate Clifford Larson. Dr. Larson is a scholar and the author of the Tubman biography, “Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero.” The reader is Jean Thompson, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. Best known for her heroism on the Underground Railroad, abolitionist Harriet Tubman also was an advocate for women’s rights and equality. When interviewed at the turn of the 20th century, Tubman noted that she had been a member of “Miss Anthony’s organization,” the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. She remained in contact with many white suffragists but championed the activism of black women leaders in responding to the racism they confronted in the predominantly white National Woman’s Suffrage Association. Near the end of her life, Tubman encouraged a fellow suffragist, “tell the women to stand together..." Tubman died in 1913, seven years before women got the vote. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state's largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.
Mary Pickersgill | Star-Spangled Seamstress
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Amanda Shores Davis, Executive Director of the Star-Spangled Banner House. The reader is Kate Campbell Stevenson, member of the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center Board of Directors and Maryland Women’s Heritage Center Board Cultural Ambassador. A resident of Baltimore for more than fifty years, Mary Young Pickersgill was a successful businesswoman and an outspoken advocate for the working women of the city. Mary Pickersgill’s greatest contribution to Maryland and to the entire United States was as a flag maker during the War of 1812. The Star-Spangled Banner made by Mrs. Pickersgill became the inspiration for Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became the national anthem of the United States in 1931. Today that flag resides in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher Evelius & Jones.
Margaret Briggs Gregory Hawkins | Education is Power
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Ida Jones, Ph.D, University Archivist, at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Dr. Jones is the reader. Margaret and her active West Baltimore social and civil contemporaries were engaged in social justice and sought to secure the franchise for African American women along with other women for the purpose of reaping the full benefits of citizenship, community improvement, and having a voice in the public square. Her far-reaching active memberships include the Druid Hill Branch of the YWCA, Maryland Training School for Colored Girls, Maryland Training School Board, Civilian Defense Mobilization, DuBois Circle, Progressive Women’s Suffrage Club...and allowed for frivolity and was a member of the Fortnightly Whist Club and a sewing club. Margaret was a neighbor to fellow suffragist, Augusta Chissell, also featured on the Ballot & Beyond podcast. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher, Evelius & Jones.
Lilian Reeves Crawford | Local Suffrage Leader
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is written and read by Christine R. Valeriann, founder of the Women’s Equality Day Celebration across Maryland Coalition and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. Inspired by the Suffrage Hikers that came through rural Western Maryland in 1913, Crawford helped organize and lead the Washington County Woman’s Suffrage League. Then in 1916, the organization worked hastily to host the annual Maryland state suffrage convention in Hagerstown - cementing the rural town's role in the suffrage movement. Crawford enjoyed the right and responsibility of voting until her death at the age of 80. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher Evelius & Jones.
Elizabeth Forbes | Jailed for Freedom
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and is being read by Dr. Amy Rosenkrans. Women from all parts of the state fought to gain the right to vote. Elizabeth Forbes of Harford County was one of those women. While many in her social situation may have preferred to remain at home and quietly participate in local clubs, Elizabeth advocated for woman suffrage on the local, state, and national level. That advocacy even landed her in a Washington, D.C. Jail. Forbes and the other women who served time in jail for the suffrage cause, were awarded a small silver "Jailed for Freedom" pin. As the only Harford County suffragist who served time in jail, she became affectionately locally known as the “Jailbird.” Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state's largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to Maryland's public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.
Clara Barton | Battlefield to Ballot Box
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Audrey Partington. The reader is Kalin Thomas. Clara Barton is best known for founding the American Red Cross and nursing wounded soldiers during the Civil War. Lesser known is Barton’s support for reform movements like free schools, abolition, and women’s rights. She worked with Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other leaders of the movement to enfranchise women. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher, Evelius & Jones.
Edna Latimer | Hiking for Suffrage
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Judy A. Carbone, President of AAUW-Garrett County Branch and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. Edna Story Latimer was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1878. She was a staunch suffragist involved in campaigning against President Wilson and national anti-suffrage candidates, as well as one of the organizers of the Maryland Just Government League. Latimer is best known for organizing suffragists on multi-state publicity and outreach hikes - for her leadership, she was known as General Edna Latimer within her suffrage ranks.
U.S. Senator Verda Welcome | True Public Servant
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Ida Jones, Ph.D, University Archivist, Morgan State University in Baltimore. Dr. Jones is the reader. Verda Mae Freeman Welcome was an American teacher, civil rights leader, and Maryland state senator. Welcome was the second black woman to be elected to a state senate in the U.S. (Cora Mae Brown was the first in 1952). She spent 25 years in the Maryland legislature and worked to pass legislation that enforced stricter employment regulations and discouraged racial discrimination. The advocacy, legislation, and historical example of Verda Welcome inspired generations of women and African Americans to pursue public office. Verda Welcome was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 1988.
Elizabeth King Ellicott | Women in Government
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Diane E. Weaver, Ph.D. The reader is Diane Weaver. Elizabeth King Ellicott was a central figure in the Maryland campaign for women’s right to vote. Her vision of a government that included women was at the center of her commitment toward state and national governmental reform. She was instrumental in changing the perception of women in society. She achieved this largely through her involvement in broadening the scope of women’s organizations and through the movement for women’s suffrage. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher, Evelius & Jones.
The Melvin Family | Rural Suffrage Leaders
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written, and read by Jean Thompson, an independent researcher and volunteer writer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. The library and archives at Goucher College were invaluable for research. Nannie V. Melvin, a journalist, social reformer, and political activist, is one of the Maryland women credited with planting suffrage club chapters on the Eastern Shore for the Just Government League. This episode's researcher and reader, Jean Baker, is also featured on the Ballot & Beyond podcast for her pioneering research and advocacy on behalf of women's history and leadership in the United States.
Lucy Fisher Gwynne Branham & Lucy Branham | Mother-Daughter Suffrage Team
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Kathi Santora, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. Two of the gutsiest Maryland women who fought for the 19th Amendment were Lucy Fisher Gwynne Branham and her daughter Lucy Branham. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and supported by the Maryland Historical Trust.
Henrietta Lacks | The Immortal
This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Dr. Adele Newson-Horst, Professor of English at Morgan State University. The reader is Dr. Newson-Horst. Henrietta Lacks is best recognized for her immortal HeLa cell line (named for the first two letters of her first and last names). Since her death in 1951, her cells divide again and again and rebuild after each division. It is because HeLa cells can be grown continuously in labs, researchers started to rely heavily on them for their experiments.
Ballot & Beyond: Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn | African American Suffrage History
Through her historical scholarship and teaching career, Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn chronicled the work of African American suffragists, whose contributions had largely been ignored or erased in the official histories of the movement. Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn work excavated these hidden stories from the historical canon, rescuing many heroic women from obscurity and adding the true diversity and challenges of the movement to the public record.
Ballot & Beyond: Victorine Q. Adams | Energizing African American Voters
To improve the representation of African American women and energize women to take advance of their right to vote, Victorine Q. Adams registered Baltimore's African American voters by the thousands in the 1940s. Adams would also serve on the Baltimore City Council as the first African American woman to serve as a city councilwoman in Baltimore.
Ballot & Beyond: Lavinia Margaret Engle | Protecting Women's Voting Rights
For all women, the ratification of suffrage did not mark the end of the fight for women’s voting rights. Women needed to stay organized to overcome any obstacles they might face in exercising their new voting rights, so Lavinia Margaret Engle, helped to establish the Maryland League of Women Voters. Engle led the organization for more than a decade, helping defend Maryland women's voting rights. Listen to this episode of Ballot & Beyond to learn more about this dedicated suffragist, state legislative delegate, and civil servant.
Ballot & Beyond: Eunice Kennedy Shriver | Special Olympics Founder
After years of planning, Eunice Kennedy Shriver opened the first Special Olympics game in 1968. Her brother, Robert Kennedy, was assassinated just seven weeks before. Today, by one estimate, more than three million Special Olympic athletes from all 50 states and 181 countries around the world take part in year-round training for the games. Shriver believed in justice for those with different abilities. Join us on this episode of Ballot & Beyond to learn more about the founder of the Special Olympics.
Ballot & Beyond: Sandi Timmins | Reducing Domestic Violence Against Women
To Sandi Timmins, equality for women includes the right to be free from domestic violence. While defending that right is everyone’s duty, as executive director of House of Ruth Maryland, Timmins has increased outreach and built innovative training programs for communities, professions, employers, and past abusers. Join us on this episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Timmins and House of Ruth Maryland lead help prevent domestic violence.
Ballot & Beyond: Maxwell, Kelly, Howard | First Female Voters of Maryland
On Maryland's Eastern Shore, the farming village of Still Pond wrote in its charter a guarantee that women taxpayers had the right to vote in all municipal elections. In 1908, 14 women registered to vote including two African American women. On election day, three of the women along with 72 men showed up to vote. Those three women who went down in history as Maryland's first women to vote are: Anna Baker Maxwell, Eliza Lily Deringer Kelly & Mary Jane Clark Howard.
Ballot & Beyond: Judge Diana G. Motz | Protecting Women's Rights
Judge Diana G. Motz was the first Maryland woman appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She believes that her experiences as the rare woman in the classroom and in the courtroom later benefitted her as a judge. As a member of The Federal Bench, one of Judge Motz's signature opinions arose in a case that dealt with the outright prohibition of women to the Virginia Military Institute. Listen now to this episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Judge Motz works on protecting women's rights.
Ballot & Beyond: Lucille Clifton | Maryland State Poet Laureate
In her work, poet Lucille Clifton explored the African American experience and exalted the human capacity to persevere. As a result of her aptitude for compelling and relevant writing, Clifton won major awards and widespread appreciation. This included in Clifton's distinguished role as Maryland State Poet Laureate from for over 10 years. Join us on this episode of Ballot & Beyond to learn more about poet Lucille Clifton.
Ballot & Beyond: Lucy Diggs Slowe | First Lady of Tennis
In 1917, Baltimore-native Lucy Diggs Slowe won the first-ever championship match held by the newly established American Tennis Association and thus became the first African American woman to win a national championship in any sport. After her tennis career, Diggs Slowe went on to be appointed as the first Dean of Women at Howard University in Washington, DC. Join us for this episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Lucy Diggs Slowe paved the way for African American women in academics.
Ballot & Beyond: The Honorable Rita C. Davidson | Serving Maryland's Highest Court
The Honorable Rita C. Davidson accomplished a number of firsts in her civil service career; as the first woman to serve Maryland’s cabinet, the first to serve on the intermediate appellate court, and the first to serve on Maryland's highest court.
Ballot & Beyond: Dr. Liebe Sokol Diamond | Renowned Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon
Dr. Liebe Sokol Diamond was a pioneer in many ways, and one of the nation's leading pediatric orthopedic surgeons. Liebe was born with congenital ring constriction syndrome which caused the loss of several fingers and toes while in the womb. By the time she was a teenager, she had undergone 25 surgical procedures. As a surgeon, Dr. Sokol Diamond focused on hand and limb deformities, particularly orthopedic aspects of genetic diseases in children similar to her own and a medically underserved group at that time.
Ballot & Beyond: Sara A. Whitehurst | Jury Service for Women
When women finally secured the right to vote in 1920 after a generations-long fight known as the Women's Suffrage movement, women did not receive the responsibility and opportunity for service via jury duty. Sara A. Whitehurst of Baltimore led the Maryland Committee for Jury Service, an umbrella group of 30 women's groups and advocated for the final passage of the law that allowed women on a federal jury in 1947. Join us for this episode of Ballot & Beyond to learn more about the post-Suffrage fight that allowed women to be considered the peers of men in the eyes of the law.
Ballot & Beyond: Rachel Carson | Science Writer
Rachel Carson changed our world for the better, quite literally, with her 1962 book “Silent Spring,” bringing attention to the contamination of our environment by the use of pesticides. Consequently, Carson gained the title of "the mother of the modern environmental movement." Prior to her groundbreaking book, Carson, was a researcher and biologist at the U.S. Department of Interior. Her self-designed home in Silver Spring, Maryland, still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Join us on this episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Rachel Carson spread environmental awareness through her narrative approach to writing about science.
Ballot & Beyond: Emma Maddox Funck | Leading Maryland Suffragist
Emma Maddox Funck was a Baltimore woman committed to the cause of women's suffrage. One of her major achievements as President of the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association President was successfully lobbying the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to bring their 1906 annual national convention to Maryland. Funck’s legacy lies in her stewardship of the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association through the critical years of the early 20th century, which brought thousands of Maryland women into political and civic life for the first time.
Ballot & Beyond: Sarah Hemminger | Social Fabric for Students
Sarah Hemminger is the co-founder of Thread, an organization that supports cohorts of struggling students in the Baltimore City's public school system and builds volunteer families around them. This method aims to create a new social fabric for students who are confronting significant challenges outside of their control. Listen to this episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Hemminger came to understand the effects of isolation and the benefits of strong social supports.
Ballot & Beyond: The Honorable Gladys Noon Spellman | Teacher Turned Legislator
U.S. Representative Gladys Noon Spellman was a civic-minded Maryland school teacher and PTA advocate when she signed onto a reform slate running for the Prince George's County commission in 1962. She became the first woman on the commission and by 1966. In her legislative tenure, Spellman fought for cost-of-living raises against making the civil-service more vulnerable to political swings. Today, the memory of Gladys Noon Spellman is kept alive by the Maryland stretch of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway named in her honor.
Ballot & Beyond: Virginia Hall | Allied Spy of WWII
Virginia Hall served the United States and the Allied forces during WWII as an incredibly vital asset. The Nazis called her “the most dangerous of all Allied spies” in Occupied France and called for her elimination. But Virginia Hall, who had a false leg from a childhood incidence, outran the Gestapo and helped secure victory for the Allies. Listen to this episode of Ballot & Beyond for more about the most valuable female Allied spy of World War II.
Ballot & Beyond: Mary Bartlett Dixon | Suffragist Arrested for Protesting
Mary Bartlett Dixon was a skilled nurse and active suffragist who was one of many arrested while silently protesting and demanding the vote for women in front of the White House in Washington, DC in 1917. As a nurse, Dixon was well-aware of the terrible conditions that imprisoned activists endured during the years of the Women's Suffrage movement. Nevertheless, she persisted. Dixon’s persistent activism and engagement with the public through her writing helped shape the course of Maryland’s suffrage movement. After ratification, Dixon founded the Talbot County League of Women Voters and continued to engage with medical and charitable causes throughout her life.
Ballot & Beyond: Bea Gaddy | Bringing Everyone to the Table
Bea Gaddy was a great champion and protector of the hungry and homeless in Baltimore, Maryland. While she also sat on the Baltimore City Council for one term, she is perhaps best remembered today for hosting free Thanksgiving dinners for all.
Ballot & Beyond: Sally Michel | Connecting Parks & People
Sally J. Michel was a great champion of protecting the environment and providing access to Baltimore’s outdoors to the city’s youth.Over the course of her impactful life, Michel was on the board over 57 local and state organizations, including being a founding force for the Parks & People Foundation and Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School. She lived by the motto: Help us to remember that what we keep, we lose, and only what we give remains our own.
Ballot & Beyond: Juanita Jackson Mitchell | Early African American Women in Law
Juanita Jackson Mitchell was the first African American woman to practice law in Maryland. She fought for justice wherever she found injustice. Juanita Jackson Mitchell was also the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Maryland School of Law. Significantly, her example paved the way for African American women in law. Juanita Jackson Mitchell drew from a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy, intellect, and determination. Join us on this episode of Ballot & Beyond to learn how Juanita Jackson Mitchell became a leader among women in law.
Ballot & Beyond: Estelle Hall Young | Leading African American Suffragist
Estelle Hall Young was a leader of civic and suffrage organizations in Baltimore, Maryland that supported African American visibility and racial equality. In a racially segregated movement, Young organized an African American Women’s Suffrage Club in 1915 to organize and activate Black women in support of the vote. Even after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, African American women stayed highly-engaged in civil rights work because unlike white women, Black women still faced legal voting restrictions until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which barred racially discriminatory voting practices.
Ballot & Beyond: Willa Bickham | Over 1 Million Served
In the last 50 years there, Willa Bickham, her volunteers and supporters have fed more than one million people from Viva House in Southwest Baltimore, Maryland. Yet, she feels like she’s the one who benefitted, the one who received beneficence.
Ballot & Beyond: Dr. Nancy Grace Roman | Mother of the Hubble
Nancy Grace Roman had a lifelong quest to become an astronomer. However, she had to overcome misconceptions about the intelligence, capabilities and proper role of women in society and academia. Despite this, she went on to become an executive at NASA. It was here that she became known as the “Mother of the Hubble” Space Telescope. Listen to this week’s episode of Ballot & Beyond to hear how Roman paved the way for women at NASA.
Ballot & Beyond: Augusta Chissell | Civic Leader
In the years leading up to what is known as the Women's Suffrage movement, strong female voices were coming together and laying the groundwork for women's political engagement. Augusta Chissell was a civic leader in West Baltimore, Maryland that leadership positions in the Women’s Cooperative Civic League, a club that addressed issues of housing and public health, including food and dairy purity, clean air, and refuse disposal. This position gave her close neighborhood ties and valuable connections that she could later draw upon as an officer in the Colored Women’s Suffrage Club.
Ballot & Beyond: Francis Watkins Harper | Fighting for the Rights of All
Francis Ellen Watkins Harper is a legendary civil rights activist who saw the intersection of the fight for abolition and suffrage. Harper was a published poet and author who had been born free in Baltimore in 1825 and campaigned around the country for temperance, abolition, and women’s rights. In an attempt to create social unity after the American Civil War, American Equal Rights Association members like Harper believed it was the right time to integrate gender, race, and class-based advocacy in a broad push for equality. Harpers integrated goals and ideal was largely unheaded and the suffrage movement was highly segregated.
Ballot & Beyond: Jean Baker | Researching Women's History
Historian and professor Jean Baker played an important role in making a place for women in the historical record. She rightly observed that women are too often excluded from historical and academic accounts and her work in the larger women's movement helped many see that the crux of history doesn't have to be primarily male political leaders; that a traditional women's role is also incredibly important to the understanding of past and current societies.
Ballot & Beyond: The Honorable Barbara Mikulski | Dean of Women
Senator Barbara Mikulski served longer in Congress than any other woman in U.S. history. During her tenure, she became known as Dean of Women. Not only did she gain this title for blazing a trail in government, including wearing slacks on the Senate Floor, but also for mentoring her colleagues.
Ballot & Beyond: Lola Carson Trax & Edna Story Latimer | Hiking for Suffrage
Lola Carson Trax and Edna Story Latimer led a hike of a dozen suffragists across Western Maryland in 1914. The noteworthy nature of a dozen women walking for two-weeks through hills and towns was a noteworthy occurrence and fed suffragists' goal to keep the fight in the public eye. Along their way, Trax and Latimer spoke to the press and the public and gathered signatures and new members for the Just Government League. Their suffrage hikes have gone down in history.