Steamtown National Historic Site Opens Youth Art Exhibition Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment That Ushered in National Women's Suffrage

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Steamtown National Historic Site Opens Youth Art Exhibition Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment That Ushered in National Women's Suffrage

The following press release was published by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service on Jan. 31, 2020. It is reproduced in full below.

SCRANTON, Pa. - Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) welcomes visitors to view an art exhibition by regional students celebrating the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. That act ensured women the right to vote. The exhibition is available for viewing daily during regular park operating hours through April 30, 2020.

Women in America first collectively organized to fight for suffrage (or voting rights) in 1848 at the First Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY. Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the convention sparked the women’s suffrage movement. Women’s Rights National Historical Park, a National Park Service site in Seneca Falls, commemorates that pivotal event.

Not everyone followed the same path in fighting for women's equal access to the vote, and the history of the suffrage movement is one of disagreements as well as cooperation. While women were not always united in their goals, and the fight for women’s suffrage was complex and interwoven with issues of civil and political rights for all Americans, their efforts led to the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Signed into law on Aug. 26, 1920, the amendment was the result of decades of work by tens of thousands of often forgotten women and men across the country who tirelessly toiled for meaningful social change.

Since then, women’s suffrage has influenced not only national, state, and local politics and government, but initiated an ongoing effort to fully include women within American society, economy, culture, and indeed, politics and government. Over the past 100 years, women’s voting rights have expanded overall civil rights not only for women, but other marginalized populations, and continues to serve as a means to create positive change within a democratic society.

The youth art exhibition, organized in partnership with the International Fiber Collaborative, highlights selected works from nearly 500 elementary through high school students in 23 schools across NE PA. A full list of participating schools can be found at the bottom of this news release.

Although not all the artwork created is part of the current exhibition, Steamtown NHS nonetheless enthusiastically congratulates all participants for their fine efforts to commemorate this important anniversary in United States history! Please join Steamtown NHS in not only celebrating 100 years of women’s suffrage and what “Votes for Women" means for youth as expressed in their artwork, but also to use the exhibition to spur conversations on how to keep American society moving forward in the 21st century!

Steamtown National Historic Site Women’s Suffrage Youth Art Exhibition participating

PA schools are:

Arts Academy Charter Middle School (Allentown)

Blue Ridge High School (New Milford)

Carbondale Area High School (Carbondale)

Dallas Intermediate School and High School (Dallas)

Damascus Area School (Damascus)

Danville Primary School (Danville)

Hazle Township Early Learning Center (Luzerne County)

Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence Charter School (Scranton)

J. M. Hill Elementary School (East Stroudsburg)

C. E. McCall Middle School (Montoursville)

Panther Valley Intermediate School (Lansford)

Pittston Area High School (Pittston)

Pleasant Valley Intermediate School (Kunkletown)

Pocono Mountain West High School (Pocono Summit)

Pottstown Community Arts (Pottstown)

Preston Area School (Lakewood)

Ritter Elementary School (Allentown)

Riverside Junior-Senior High School (Taylor)

Southern Lehigh Middle School (Center Valley)

Wallenpaupack High School (Hawley)

Located in downtown Scranton, Pa., Steamtown NHS is open daily from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (park hours expand to 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. later this spring). From I-81 follow exit 185 (Central Scranton Expressway); then follow the brown and white signs to the park entrance at Lackawanna Avenue and Cliff Street (GPS: N 41.41, W 75.67). General park information is available by phoning (570) 340-5206 during regular business hours, or by visiting the park website anytime.

www.nps.gov/stea

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 419 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov, on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Tags: 19th amendment women's history

Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service

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