A one-hour car parade will wind through Columbus at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 19 to commemorate the centennial of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote.
Organizers with a new, local, non-partisan group of women known as the Centennial Suffrage Society are working alongside the IUPUC Constitution Day Committee and IUPUC student groups to invite organizations, businesses and others to consider decorating a vehicle and participating in the event which will travel from IUPUC to Mill Race Center.
The event, the Suffrage Centennial Car Parade, is meant to be the safest, socially-distanced way to mark the anniversary, according to the society’s Cate Hyatt. Facial coverings will be required, organizers said.
Hyatt said in a letter distributed to publicize the event that she hoped people would "get creative and use this opportunity to let our community know that you treasure our right to vote by clearly identifying the group you represent."
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She said it’s too early to tell how many people or vehicles might be involved.
"This issue was such a historic moment," Hyatt said. "So, I think that, no matter which side of the aisle you are on, you must think this is such a critical time to be exercising that right to vote."
Centennial organizers had worked since early this year on a series of events to mark the occasion. But those were scrapped when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
In Bartholomew County, the first two women to register to vote were Elizabeth "Lizzy" Hubbard and Fannie Davis Johnson, both Black and both members of Columbus’ Second Baptist Church. That fact is especially interesting since of the battles over a nearly 80-year period to allow women to vote included arguments over women should be granted the right before Black citizens.
Pamela Morris, an IUPUC communication studies assistant professor, is part of the local society planning the event.
"One of the important messages that we want to convey is that voting rights are important for all people," Morris said. "We still have issues today involving accusations of different groups blocked from voting. So it’s important that we stand up for everyone’s right to go to the polls safely."
When Morris first learned of the suffrage movement, she didn’t yet fully appreciate the involved fight.
"I had seen pictures of marching women with (votes for women) sashes in some history books," Morris said. "But I certainly didn’t know it was a 78-year effort. There was so much more to it than we traditionally have learned.
"There was an awful lot of politics involved, and even among the women who wanted to pass the amendment, there were a lot of different competing organizations. Race was involved. State rights were involved."
And it passed by only one vote in Tennessee.
The parade will include a chance for people to register to vote and a chance for people to receive information about an application for mail-in ballots.
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Organizers of the Suffrage Centennial Car Parade are encouraging participants to consider vehicle decorations that include flags, banners, sashes or costumes of some sort.
United States suffragette colors were purple, white and gold. Yellow roses also were symbolic. Suggestions for posters and signs supporting suffragettes and voting rights are available online.
Information: [email protected] or pammorri@iupuc,edu
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