Program examines women’s suffrage
BY RIO FERNANDES
Northwest Guardia

History came to life at Carey Theater on Women’s Equality Day Aug. 26 with a performance from Rachel McClinton that took everyone in attendance through time to witness the women’s suffrage movement.
McClinton began the performance with a quick slideshow that provided background about the battle to secure women the right to vote. Activists’ efforts culminated with the passing of the 19th Amendment Aug. 26, 1920, which changed the face of the American electorate forever. The anniversary of the ratification of the amendment became known as Women’s Equality Day — a nationally-recognized day that commemorates the suffrage movement and celebrates the continued advancement of women around the country.
“Today has particular significance to share this program and to highlight this history for folks that are interested,” said McClinton, the artistic director for Living Voices.
Her performance featured the use of a video background that flashed photos of the suffrage movement and historic landmarks. Using the screen as the backdrop, McClinton acted out a handful of critical moments from the movement through the eyes of a fictional young suffragist.
“The best way to describe the character is that she is a composite character drawn from oral history and individual suffragists of this time period,” McClinton said. “So all the events happened to real people, but the character was created to take us on this historical journey.”
McClinton allowed the audience to see the character learn about the Suffrage movement, protest outside the White House, try to convince her brother and father that her cause was just, be thrown in prison, lobby for political support to pass the amendment and much more. The goal of the performance was both to educate everyone in attendance about the nuances and challenges in the women’s suffrage movement and to remind people how recent the movement was.
“For a lot of folks, both younger and older, it’s hard to imagine that half of the American population so recently achieved the vote,” McClinton said. “This is pretty recent history, to have something so basic in terms of what it means to be a citizen and how difficult and sometimes violent the struggle was.”
The event seemed well received, with a large crowd piling into Carey Theater to enjoy the reenactment of history. Officials said they knew they wanted to do something to highlight Women’s Equality Day, but wanted to think outside the box to make sure people would want to come and remain engaged.
“We went with Living Voices because of the theatrics of it and their ability to present historical facts in a manner that draws a lot of people,“ said Sgt. 1st Class William Allen, 1st Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, who organized the event. “Hopefully, the word of this presentation and how it was done will get out, and people will be more interested in the next Equal Opportunity Office event.”
Current events also made the conversation around women’s equality and the look back at the suffrage movement even more important, Allen said.
“There are a lot of things happening right now in general,” Allen said. “Women (are) being fully integrated into combat roles, so the face of the infantry is changing. It’s important to let everyone know that it’s been a struggle throughout history when it comes to voting and equal rights.