Her March to Democracy

National Votes For Women Trail
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 Welcome to Her March To Democracy where we're telling stories along the National Votes For Women Trail. The trail chronicles the fight for voting rights for women. If you are a historian, history enthusiast, heritage tourist, or simply want to be inspired, listen to the stories of these remarkable and heroic activists who never wavered in their belief in democracy and the rule of law. 

  1. S02 E19 Connecticut: No Taxation and Munitionettes

    MAR 18

    S02 E19 Connecticut: No Taxation and Munitionettes

    In this episode, we talk about the suffrage movement in Connecticut.   ● Abby & Julia Smith – two sister farmers who refused to pay the unfair increase in their taxes declaring: no taxation without representation. ● Mary Townsend Seymour was a Black suffragist who worked as a union organizer as well as creating inter-racial coalitions to address issues including working conditions, segregation, education, and housing. ● Elsie Vervane worked in a munitions factory during WWI to support her family and was active in the union as well as promoting women’s suffrage. ● Helena, Elsie and Clara Hill were three sisters who worked in the suffrage movement with Helena and Elsie picketing the White House and serving jail time. ● Emmeline Pankhurst visited Connecticut in 1913 and gave her most famous speech, “Freedom or Death” in Hartford’s Parson’s Theater. About our Guest: Joanie DiMartino has spent decades in the museum profession, specializing in the history of women in social justice movements. She has a MA in public history from Rutgers University. She serves as the CT Coordinator for the National Votes for Women Trail through the National Collaborative of Women’s History Sites, which she represented on the Connecticut Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission. She now serves as co-President of the NCWHS. Links to People, Places, Publications: Connecticut & the 19th Amendment (here) Abby & Julia Smith story (here) Mary Townsend Seymour Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Mary Townsend Seymour marker (here) Elsie Vervane Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Elsie Vervane historical marker (here) Katherine Houghton Hepburn Biographical Sketch (here) Emmeline Pankhurst Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Katherine Houghton Hepburn–Emmeline Pankhurst marker (here) Elsie Hill Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Hill Sisters’ marker (here) Visit the Katherine Luddington marker (here) Visit the Emily Pierson marker (here) CM Marihugh is a public history consultant and currently conducting independent research for a book on commemoration of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. She has an M.A. in Public History from State University of New York, and an M.B.A. from Dartmouth College. Learn more about: National Votes for Women Trail (here)National Votes for Women Trail - William G. Pomeroy historical markers (here)National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (here)Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion? Get in touch! Send an e-mail to NVWTpodcast@ncwhs.org

    41 min
  2. S02 E18 Utah: Early Voters & the Hawaiian Connection

    FEB 11

    S02 E18 Utah: Early Voters & the Hawaiian Connection

    In this episode, we talk about the suffrage movement in Utah.   Some of the activists and events in the UT voting rights campaign: Hannah Kaaepa, a native Hawaiian living in a Latter-day Saints community in Utah, spoke powerfully for women’s suffrage alongside national leaders of the movement.Elizabeth Taylor was a suffragist, journalist, and equal rights leader, and in 1904, she established The Western Federation of Colored Women. Emma McVicker was a bridge builder in the suffrage movement and actively worked to put women forward as candidates for public office.Lucy Rice Clark was chosen as the first female delegate to attend and vote at the Republican National Convention in 1908 and declared, “It means so much for the cause of woman suffrage!”In 1911, a slate of women candidates was entered into a town council election as a joke by some men. The five women won in a surprising result and proceeded to improve the town in multiple ways over their two-year term.About our Guest: Katherine Kitterman is the Executive Director of Better Days, a nonprofit centered on Utah women’s history, and manages the Women's History Initiative at the Utah Historical Society. She is a public historian with a specialty in Utah women's history of suffrage and advocacy. She co-authored two books about Utah women’s work for suffrage: Champions of Change: 25 Women Who Made History, and Thinking Women: A Timeline of Suffrage in Utah. Links to People, Places, Publications: Utah & the 19th Amendment (here) The Story of Utah Women’s Suffrage (here) Visit the “A Path Forward” memorial (here) Emma McVicker Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Emma McVicker marker (here) Elizabeth Taylor Biographical Sketch (here) See the Trinity AME historic church  (here) Lucy Rice Clark Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Lucy Rice Clark historical marker (here) Hannah Kaaepa Biographical Sketch (here)  Visit the Hannah Kaaepa marker (here) The 1911 Kanab Town Council story (here) Visit the Kanab Town Council marker (here) CM Marihugh is a public history consultant and currently conducting independent research for a book on commemoration of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. She has an M.A. in Public History from State University of New York, and an M.B.A. from Dartmouth College. Learn more about: National Votes for Women Trail (here)National Votes for Women Trail - William G. Pomeroy historical markers (here)National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (here)Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion? Get in touch! Send an e-mail to NVWTpodcast@ncwhs.org

    46 min
  3. S02 E17 Indiana: Suffrage Battles at America's Crossroads

    FEB 2

    S02 E17 Indiana: Suffrage Battles at America's Crossroads

    In this episode, we talk about the suffrage movement in Indiana.   Some of the activists and events in the IN voting rights campaign: Sojourner Truth traveled to Indiana several times to speak in a number of towns, while the state’s 1851 constitution barred Black persons from entering to reside or settle.Helen Gougar mobilized scores of women to show up at the polls around the state in 1894, demanding the right to vote, and she sued her county for denying her suffrage, ultimately testifying before the Indiana Supreme Court.Madam C.J. Walker–pioneering Black business owner of a hair and beauty empire–hosted meetings of the African American Indiana Equal Suffrage Association in her Indianapolis home and donated generously to the movement.Ida Usted Harper was a Hall-of-Fame journalist and worked with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton on the history of women’s suffrage project. About our Guest: Melissa Gentry is the Supervisor of the Paul W. Stout Map Collection at Ball State University Libraries. She was a featured speaker for the Indiana Suffrage Centennial and created a set of maps about the history of Indiana women battling for the ballot. She also serves as the coordinator of the Muncie and Delaware County Notable Women local history project, which won the Outstanding Collaborative Project Award from the Indiana Historical Society in 2023. Links to People, Places, Publications: Indiana & the 19th Amendment (here) Visit the Sojourner Truth statue (here) Naomi Anderson Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Naomi Anderson memorial sculpture  (here) Helen Gougar Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Helen Gougar historical marker (here) Visit the Marie Stuart Edwards statue (here) Ida Usted Harper Biographical Sketch (here) Madam C.J. Walker Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Madam Walker Legacy Center (here) Carrie Barnes Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the May Wright Sewall historical marker (here) Visit the Grace Julian Clark historical marker (here) CM Marihugh is a public history consultant and currently conducting independent research for a book on commemoration of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. She has an M.A. in Public History from State University of New York, and an M.B.A. from Dartmouth College. Learn more about: National Votes for Women Trail (here)National Votes for Women Trail - William G. Pomeroy historical markers (here)National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (here)Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion? Get in touch! Send an e-mail to NVWTpodcast@ncwhs.org

    50 min
  4. S02 E16 Maryland: Silent Sentinels and Effigy Ashes

    10/10/2025

    S02 E16 Maryland: Silent Sentinels and Effigy Ashes

    In this episode, three guests talk about the suffrage movement in Maryland. Some of the events and activists in the MD voting rights campaign: In 1648, Margaret Brent went before the Maryland Provincial Assembly and demanded a voice and a vote as a property owner in the Maryland colony.Augusta Chissell and Margaret Hawkins were African American women who held many suffrage meetings in their homes in Baltimore.Estelle Hall Young was a Black suffragist who created the Baltimore Women's Colored Women's Suffrage Club in 1915.Gladys Greiner was a competitive golfer whose militant suffrage activity–such as picketing the White House and going to prison–disappointed her prominent parents, who wrote an op-ed distancing themselves from her actions.Corrine Robert Redgrave was a professional actor who used the stage to put on suffrage plays and spread the suffrage message.Elizabeth Forbes was a suffrage leader willing to advocate for confrontational actions through the Just Government League.About our Guests: Kate Campbell Stevenson is the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center’s Board Chair. She is an activist for women’s and girls’ rights and has been honored by the Maryland State Education Association with the Dorothy Lloyd Women’s Rights Award.  Dr. Ida B. Jones is the Associate Director of Special Collections and University Archivist at Morgan State University in Baltimore and co-president of the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites. She received her PhD in American History from Howard University. Dr. Amy Rosenkrans received her PhD from Notre Dame of Maryland University. She has been awarded the Joseph L. Arnold Prize for Outstanding Writing on Baltimore History by the Baltimore City Historical Society. She is the Secretary of the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center and served as one of the researchers for the Suffrage Bicentennial Project.   Links to People, Places, Publications: Maryland & the 19th Amendment (here) Augusta Chissell Biographical Sketch (here) Margaret Hawkins Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Augusta Chissell and Margaret Hawkins historical marker (here) Estelle Hall Young Biographical Sketch (here) Gladys Greiner Biographical Sketch (here)  Elizabeth Forbes Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Elizabeth Forbes historical marker (here) Corrine Robert Redgrave Biographical Sketch (here) CM Marihugh is a public history consultant and currently conducting independent research for a book on commemoration of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. She has an M.A. in Public History from State University of New York, and an M.B.A. from Dartmouth College. Learn more about: National Votes for Women Trail (here)National Votes for Women Trail - William G. Pomeroy historical markers (here)National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (here)Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion? Get in touch! Send an e-mail to NVWTpodcast@ncwhs.org

    50 min
  5. S02 E15 Colorado: She Voted from the Mountaintop

    07/16/2025

    S02 E15 Colorado: She Voted from the Mountaintop

    In this episode, Andrea Malcomb discusses the suffrage battle in Colorado. We talk about the events and activists in the CO voting rights campaign: Mrs. Margaret Brown (Molly Brown) was a staunch supporter of women’s suffrage and contributed her skills, time and funding to the campaign.Elizabeth Ensley and Ida Clark DePriest were African American activists who worked for women’s suffrage as part of the Colorado Non-Partisan Equal Suffrage Association as well as many organizations advocating for their communities. Dr. Caroline Spencer, an ardent suffragist, went to the summit of Pike’s Peak in 1916 to plant a banner for the National Women’s Party.Agapito Vigil, a Mexican American stock raiser and farmer, was a delegate to the Colorado Constitutional Convention in 1875 where he voted to include women’s suffrage in the state constitution.The Every Word We Utter statue in Loveland features national suffragists including Susan B. Anthony who campaigned in Colorado.About our Guest:    Andrea Malcomb is Vice President of the organization Historic Denver and the Director of the Molly Brown House Museum. She is focused on elevating the house museum as a nationally recognized women’s history site while also expanding the museum’s education partnerships across Denver. Under her leadership, the museum has elevated its public history impact through programs and interpretation that superimpose feminized narratives of historical events onto contemporary place-based activities, prompting audiences to explore a new, woman-centered dynamic between past and present. She currently sits on the board of the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, Museum of Denver, and Irish Network CO. Links to People, Places, Publications: Colorado & the 19th Amendment (here) Molly Brown Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Molly Brown House Museum and historical marker (here) Minnie Reynolds Biographical Sketch (here) Elizabeth Ensley Biographical Sketch (here)  Ida Clark DePriest Biographical Sketch (here) Dr. Caroline Spencer Biographical Sketch (here) Agapito Vigil Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Every Word We Utter statue here) Visit the Olney and Mills historical marker (here) Visit the Salida historical marker (here) CM Marihugh is a public history consultant and currently conducting independent research for a book on commemoration of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. She has an M.A. in Public History from State University of New York, and an M.B.A. from Dartmouth College. Learn more about: National Votes for Women Trail (here)National Votes for Women Trail - William G. Pomeroy historical markers (here)National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (here)Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion? Get in touch! Send an e-mail to NVWTpodcast@ncwhs.org

    45 min
  6. S02 E14 Missouri: The Music Beneath the March

    06/11/2025

    S02 E14 Missouri: The Music Beneath the March

    In this episode, Cynthia Holmes and Elyssa Ford discuss the suffrage battle at sites in Missouri.  Virginia and Francis Minor were a St. Louis power couple determined to get votes for women and took their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided citizenship did not mean the right to vote. Anna Holland Jones was an African American activist who in August 1915 wrote an article entitled, “Woman Suffrage and Social Reform” in which she asked the question, why should a woman “not have the legal means – the ballot – to widen and deepen her work?”Alma Nash and the Missouri Women’s Military Band energetically supported women’s suffrage and travelled to Washington D.C. for the 1913 parade and were moved to the lead to open the way for marchers.  The Golden Lane Parade in 1916 saw 7,000 women lining the streets of St. Louis during the Democratic National Convention and silently staring-down the delegates as they walked from their hotels to the convention to illustrate how women had been silenced by the continued denial of the vote. About our Guests    Cynthia Holmes is an attorney in St. Louis serving families and small businesses and is the State Coordinator for the National Votes for Women Trail.     Dr. Elyssa Ford is a professor of history at Northwest Missouri State University. She is a scholar of gender and sexuality with a focus on the West. Her first book Rodeo as Refuge, Rodeo as Rebellion: Gender, Race, and Identity in the American Rodeo looks at race- and group-specific rodeos across the US, and her second book Slapping Leather: Queer Cowfolx at the Gay Rodeo traces the history of gay rodeo in the United States as a site of queer activism and contestation. As a public historian, she is committed to local history and has written extensively on the Midwest and Northwest Missouri, including an article on women’s suffrage for the National Park Service. Links to People, Places, Publications Missouri & the 19th Amendment (here) Virgina Minor Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Minor historical marker (here) Anna Holland Jones Biographical Sketch (here)  Visit the Jones historical marker (here) Alma Nash Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Nash historical marker (here) The Golden Lane March of 1916 (here) Visit Golden Lane historical marker (here) CM Marihugh is a public history consultant and currently conducting independent research for a book on commemoration of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. She has an M.A. in Public History from State University of New York, and an M.B.A. from Dartmouth College. Learn more about: National Votes for Women Trail (here)National Votes for Women Trail - William G. Pomeroy historical markers (here)National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (here)Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion? Get in touch! Send an e-mail to NVWTpodcast@ncwhs.org

    46 min

  7. 05/10/2025

    S02 E13 Pennsylvania: Silent Bells and Land Armies

    In this episode, Robyn Young discusses the suffrage movement in Pennsylvania. We talk about the events and activists in the PA voting rights campaign: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was a prominent speaker for abolition, African American rights, suffrage and education. She also authored poetry, articles, and books. Hannah Patterson helped organize the 1915 "Suffrage Day" at the Philadelphia ball park for a game between the Phillies and the NY Giants and threw out the first pitch.The 1915 Justice Bell Tour took a replica of the Liberty Bell for a 5,000-mile journey around the state during which tens of thousands came to see it. The bell’s clapper was symbolically chained down and would only ring out when women got the vote.Anna Howard Shaw was one of the suffrage movement’s leaders and greatest orators with an estimated 10,000 speeches given around the country over decades. Emma Writt and her sisters Pauline and Mary were African American suffrage leaders in western Pennsylvania when they helped plan and participate in an integrated women’s suffrage march in Pittsburgh in 1914 – the first march in that city.About our Guest: Robyn Young is an independent scholar and women's historian dedicated to sharing women's history with the general public. She is known as the “Marker Lady” as she has had four historical markers approved for the National Votes for Women Trail. She has been a board for NCWHS since 2018 and currently serves as its secretary.  Links to People, Places, Publications: Pennsylvania & the 19th Amendment (here)Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Biographical Sketch (here)Visit the F.E.W. Harper statue (here)Hannah Patterson Biographical Sketch (here)Visit the 1915 Justice Bell Tour marker (here)Anna Howard Shaw Biographical Sketch (here)Visit the Anna Howard Shaw marker (here)Emma Writt Richards Biographical video (here)Pittsburgh’s first women’s suffrage march (here)CM Marihugh is a public history consultant and currently conducting independent research for a book on commemoration of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. She has an M.A. in Public History from State University of New York, and an M.B.A. from Dartmouth College. Learn more about: National Votes for Women Trail (here)National Votes for Women Trail - William G. Pomeroy historical markers (here)National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (here)Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion? Get in touch! Send an e-mail to NVWTpodcast@ncwhs.org

    34 min
  8. S02 E12 Arizona: Creating Coalitions and Continuing Legacies

    02/02/2025

    S02 E12 Arizona: Creating Coalitions and Continuing Legacies

    In this episode, Mary Melcher and Melanie Sturgeon discuss the suffrage battle at sites in Arizona. We talk about the events and activists in the AZ voting rights campaign: Frances Willard Munds, suffragist leader, who said that it made her “blood boil” when women were told to stay in their domestic sphere and not get involved with voting.Sallie Davis Hayden passed on her convictions for women’s suffrage to her son, Carl Hayden, who voted for the 19th amendment as a U.S. congressman.Mary Kane and Amalia Valenzuela were women of Mexican descent who were early women voters at the schoolhouse in the town of Patagonia.Laura G. Cannon travelled around Arizona and spoke nearly every evening in a different town – often to crowds of working men who applauded her and “donated generously” to the suffrage cause.In 1912, Arizona women won the right to vote after 30 years of rejection after rejection by politicians.About our Guests:      Mary Melcher is a historian who specialized in western women’s history, and the twentieth century U.S. She has conducted numerous women’s public history projects in Arizona and recently served on the Statue Committee of the Arizona Women’s History Alliance which installed the statue of Frances Willard Munds in the memorial park next to the Arizona state capitol.     Melanie Sturgeon is the co-founder and Chair of the Arizona Women’s History Alliance and the Chair of the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame. She served as the State Archivist of the Arizona State Archives for 16 years and has always been passionate about women’s history.  Links to People, Places, Publications: Arizona & the 19th Amendment (here) Arizona Women’s Suffrage Timeline (here) Frances Willard Munds Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Frances Willard Munds statue (here) Sallie Davis Hayden Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Sallie Davis Hayden marker (here) Visit the Patagonia marker where Mary Kane and Amalia Valenzuela voted (here) Laura G. Cannon Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the Laura G. Cannon marker (here) Anna Howard Shaw Biographical Sketch (here) Visit the 1912 Anna Shaw speech marker (here) CM Marihugh is a public history consultant and currently conducting independent research for a book on commemoration of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. She has an M.A. in Public History from State University of New York, and an M.B.A. from Dartmouth College. Learn more about: National Votes for Women Trail (here)National Votes for Women Trail - William G. Pomeroy historical markers (here)National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (here)Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion? Get in touch! Send an e-mail to NVWTpodcast@ncwhs.org

    44 min
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About

 Welcome to Her March To Democracy where we're telling stories along the National Votes For Women Trail. The trail chronicles the fight for voting rights for women. If you are a historian, history enthusiast, heritage tourist, or simply want to be inspired, listen to the stories of these remarkable and heroic activists who never wavered in their belief in democracy and the rule of law. 

Information

  • Creator
    National Votes For Women Trail
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Her March to Democracy
  • Show Website
    Her March to Democracy