Welcome Remarks for "Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson and the Fight for the Right to Vote"
McGowan Theater, National Archives Building, Washington, DC
March 8, 2019
Good afternoon, and welcome to the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives. I’m David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and I’m pleased you could join us for today’s program, whether you are here in the theater or joining us through Facebook or YouTube.
Before we hear from Tina Cassidy about Alice Paul’s fight for woman suffrage, I’d like to tell you about two other programs coming up soon in the McGowan Theater.
On Monday, March 18, at noon, Jessie Morgan-Owens will tell us the story behind a photograph that transformed the American abolitionist movement, which she explores in her new book, Girl in Black and White: The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement.
And on Thursday, March 21, at 7 p.m., we will screen three historical documentaries as part of the 2019 Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital. Pare Lorentz’s two classic works—The Plow that Broke the Plains and The River—and Joris Ivens’s Power and the Land offer a portrait of rural American life during the Great Depression.
Check our website, Archives.gov, or sign up at the table outside the theater to get email updates. You’ll also find information about other National Archives programs and activities.
Another way to get more involved with the National Archives is to become a member of the National Archives Foundation. The Foundation supports the work of the agency, especially its education and outreach programs. Visit its website—archivesfoundation.org—to learn more about the Foundation and join online.
In two months we will open a new exhibit upstairs in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery. Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote will use National Archives records to tell the story of women’s struggle for voting rights as a critical step toward equal citizenship.
Rightfully Hers and other programs, exhibits, and events planned for the coming year celebrate the 100th anniversary of the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which extended to women the right to vote.
In June 1919, the Senate passed the amendment, and in August 1920 the amendment became part of the United States Constitution. But as the upcoming exhibit reminds us, the right to vote was won through the work of generations of tireless activists. And one of the leaders in the campaign for voting rights was Alice Paul.
Today we look forward to hearing from Tina Cassidy about the complex relationship between Paul and President Woodrow Wilson during the fight for women’s equality.
Tina Cassidy is the executive vice president and chief content officer at the public relations and social content firm InkHouse and also a board member at the New England Center for Investigative Reporting.
She wrote two books before this - Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born and Jackie After O: One Remarkable Year When Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Defied Expectations and Rediscovered her Dreams.
Previously, she was a journalist at the Boston Globe, where she covered politics, sports, fashion, and business.
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Tina Cassidy.