Deputy Archivist Debra Steidel Wall to Serve on Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission
Press Release · Thursday, December 6, 2018

Washington, DC

EnlargeDownload Link

Deputy Archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall. National Archives photo.

Deputy Archivist Debra Steidel Wall has been appointed to the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, and participated in the Commission’s first meeting at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, on Oct. 29. Created in 2017 through the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission Act, the commission will lead national efforts to educate, and celebrate the centennial of the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

“I am excited and honored to work on this milestone centennial celebrating women’s right to vote in our country,” said Ms. Wall. “I hope to use my role on the Commission to share more widely the National Archives’ records on women’s suffrage, including the original 19th Amendment that will be featured in our upcoming exhibit Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote.”

“I am delighted to appoint Debra to the Women's Suffrage Commission,” said Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero.  “Given her passion for women’s rights, history, and public service, she is the perfect fit for this position. I have no doubt she will use her role to help all Americans celebrate this milestone anniversary of the 19th Amendment's ratification.”

In addition to Ms. Wall, the other Commission appointees include:  

• Chair Rebecca Kleefisch, lieutenant governor of Wisconsin
• Vice Chair Kay Coles James, president of The Heritage Foundation
• Jovita Carranza, 44th treasurer of the United States
• Susan Combs, assistant secretary for policy, management and budget at the U.S. Department of the Interior
• Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List
• Heather Higgins, president and CEO of Independent Women’s Voice
• Karen Hill, president and CEO of Harriet Tubman Home
• Julissa Marenco, assistant secretary for communications and external affairs at The Smithsonian
• Barbara Mikulski, former senator from Maryland
• Nicola Miner, professor at the College of San Mateo
• Cleta Mitchell, partner at Foley & Lardner
• Jennifer Siebel Newsom, documentary filmmaker/actress
• Colleen Shogan, deputy director for national and international outreach at the Library of Congress

The Commission will meet at least once every six months until it terminates on April 15, 2021. The next meeting will be held on Friday, December 7, in Washington, D.C. and will be open to the public.

Debra Steidel Wall became Deputy Archivist of the United States in July 2011. She previously served as the agency's Chief of Staff (2008-2011), and in a variety of management
positions relating to bringing NARA’s archival holdings to the public online. She joined the National Archives in 1991 as an archivist trainee with a specialty in film, and holds an undergraduate degree in history and government from Georgetown University, and a graduate degree in film from the American University.

Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote. This exhibit commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment by looking beyond suffrage parades and protests to the often overlooked story behind this landmark moment in American history. This fuller retelling of the struggle for women’s voting rights illustrates the dynamic involvement of American women across the spectrum of race, ethnicity and class to reveal what it really takes to win the vote for one half of the people. Opens March 8, 2019, in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Museum.