Knox County Public Library to present Dr. James Stovall, editor of Seeing Suffrage, a collection of photographs on the Woman Suffrage Procession
Some say it was the world’s first media event. On March 3, 1913, photographers from all over were invited to take pictures as thousands of women and men marched through the streets of Washington DC in support of voting rights for women. The event’s organizer, Alice Paul, believed that if the world could see the kaleidoscope of color, people and ideas, they would be impressed, and the issue of suffrage would rise to a higher plane.
On Sunday March 3, 2013, the 100th anniversary of the Woman Suffrage Procession, Knox County Public Library presents Dr. James Glen Stovall, author of Seeing Suffrage. The program starts at 2:00 pm in the auditorium of the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street Admission is free.
Seeing Suffrage is a collection of the most interesting and informative photographs taken at the march. Dr. Stovall, Edward J. Meeman Distinguished Professor of Journalism in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media at UT, discovered the photographs while doing general research on women’s suffrage, and as a journalist, was fascinated by the way Alice Paul used the media available at the time to forward her cause.
In addition to Dr. Stovall’s presentation, the public is invited to view the famous letter in which Mrs. Burn admonished her son, Tennessee State Representative Harry T. Burn, to “be a good boy” and vote for suffrage. His vote in favor broke the deadlock and the 19th amendment to the US Constitution became law. The Burn letter is a temporary part of a larger exhibition on suffrage in the Voices of Opportunity section of the East Tennessee History Center’s permanent exhibit.