The Waynesboro Heritage Foundation, Inc. invites you a special exhibition exploring the centennial of women’s suffrage in the U.S. Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence is a compelling exploration of the women’s suffrage movement and its relevance to Americans’ lives today. On view August 12, 2020 – September 30, 2020. The poster exhibition is brought to you courtesy of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.

Equality Is the Sacred Law of Humanity, c. 1903–1915

The use of symbols drawn from ancient Greece and Rome appealed to conservative values and asserted the respectability of the suffragist movement.

A woman in profile wears a winged petasos helmet to illustrate her role as a divine messenger of equality, while the bundle of sticks around an axe symbolizes strength through unity.

Egbert Jacobson, a graphic designer and a leader in color theory and typography, was married to a prominent suffragist, Franc Delzell Jacobsen—and he, like many men, supported her cause.

Equality Is the Sacred Law of Humanity, c. 1903–1915  Lithograph by Egbert C. Jacobson Courtesy of Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

Ida B. Wells

An investigative reporter who crusaded against lynching, Ida B. Wells (1862–1931) was one of the most important journalists of the late 1800s.

At the 1913 suffrage march in Washington, D.C., she refused to walk in the back where Black women were being segregated. Instead, she took her place at the front of the Illinois delegation.

Albumen silver print by Sallie E. Garrity, c. 1893 Courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery. This project received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.