Historical Talks

1. Voting Down the Rose: Florence Brooks Whitehouse and Maine’s Fight for Woman Suffrage

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This talk is based on the above-named book I wrote about my great-grandmother, Florence Brooks Whitehouse, published in 2014. Florence was a novelist, painter, vocalist, and mother of three sons when she first joined the suffrage movement in 1914. We explore Florence’s life up to 1914 and her leadership in moving suffrage forward in Maine, joining forces with national leader Alice Paul in a desperate, last-ditch effort to ensure that the Maine legislature ratified the 19th Amendment through which women nationwide won voting rights. Slides of historic photos accompany this lively talk, which lasts 40-45 minutes. It is suitable for libraries, historical societies, women’s groups, and high school and college students. See Florence's website at www.florencebrookswhitehouse.com.

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2. We Demand: America’s First Cross-Country Automobile Trip for a Cause

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In September 1915 four women embarked in an open car from San Francisco’s Panama Pacific International Exposition on the country’s first cross-country road trip for a cause. They were carrying a petition to Congress and President Wilson demanding an amendment to the United States Constitution enfranchising women. Over rough, poorly signed roads and through blazing heat, rain, snow, and mud, they battled their way across the country, stopping in towns along the way to collect more signatures and to raise awareness that most women in the country were prohibited from voting. This lively talk is accompanied by historic slides. 

 

3. Patriotism, War, and Woman Suffrage

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In February 1917 voting rights activists were jubilant when the Maine legislature approved the state’s first ever referendum on woman suffrage. The vote was set for September 10th. But even as Maine suffragists prepared their campaign to convince their men that women deserved the vote the country was preparing to enter the war in Europe. The wave of patriotism that followed the US joining the war collided with women’s efforts- in Maine and nationally- to secure voting rights for women. It also gave unprecedented powers to government agencies to limit free speech and to forcibly quarantine those "reasonably suspected" of having venereal disease- mostly women. There are some interesting parallels to events happening today. This provocative talk is accompanied by historic slides. 

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4.  “There’s Nothing Complicated about Ordinary Equality”: The Equal Rights Amendment: Past and Present

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Alice Paul arranged for the Equal Rights Amendment to be introduced into Congress in 1923. After almost half a century of lobbying, it received the necessary support from two-thirds of the US House and Senate, and was sent to the states for ratification; but Congress imposed a time limit. But they were still three states short when that time limit expired. Since 2017, however, three states have ratified. How did we get to this point? And what are the prospects of finally including women in the country’s foundational document, the US Constitution? This timely talk is accompanied by historic slides. 

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5.  “All Power is Inherent in the People”:  A History of Maine Voting Rights

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Voting rights have evolved from the time of Maine’s founding to the present day. Which groups were initially excluded from voting rights? Why did it matter? What did it take for these marginalized groups to win the right to vote? How do voting rights continue to evolve in Maine? This talk is accompanied by historic slides and is suitable for a wide range of audiences.

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6. The Clean, Clear Right: Women’s Historic & Ongoing Fight for Equality

 

In this talk we begin with Maine’s suffrage history—including the life and legacy of my great-grandmother, Florence Brooks Whitehouse— and examine other struggles for equality to understand how hard women have always fought to be counted, and the ways in which it remains difficult but necessary for all to have the “clean clear right” to live, work - and vote - in a democracy.

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