100th Anniversary Celebration of Women’s Suffrage

The Special Collections Highlights Series celebrates the centenary of the 19th amendment on Women’s Equality Day. On Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th amendment was signed and sealed by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby, prohibiting both states and the federal government from denying the right to vote on the basis of sex.

Lauren Santangelo, lecturer in Princeton University’s Writing Program and author of  Suffrage and the City: New York Women Battle for the Ballot, will talk about her book, along with Sara Howard, librarian for gender and sexuality studies and student engagement, and Julie Mellby, graphic arts curator.

Throughout the conversation the speakers will be playing the 1908 suffragette board game Pank-A-Squith! Printed as a fundraiser for the Women’s Social and Political Union in Britain, Pank-a-Squith was named after the suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst and Herbert Asquith, British Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916 and a strong opponent of women’s suffrage. While the game is British, the focus of our talk will be the American anniversary and resources available in the Princeton University Library.