AASLH Releases Suffrage Value Statement; Chick History President/CEO Served as Chair of Task Force

Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, and many organizations across the country will commemorate this historic milestone for women’s suffrage. In preparation for this important event, the Women’s History Affinity Committee for the American Association of State and Local History (AASLH) released the AASLH 19th Amendment Centennial Value Statement.

Rebecca Price, Chick History President/CEO, served as chair of the Task Force responsible for creating the Value Statement.

“Interpreting this history is both rewarding and challenging. As with all American history, suffrage comes with many victories and inspiring narratives, but it also comes with complexities and flaws,” said Rebecca Price, Chick History President/CEO. “It is our hope that public historians and museum professionals will apply this Value Statement to their 2020 programming and develop robust interpretation that offers deeper historic understandings of the multiplicities and inequalities of suffrage in America.”

Pictured above is Annie Sybil Thomas Jarret at the Republican National Convention in either the 1940s or 1950s held in Chicago. Jarret was an African American teacher born near Saulsbury, Tennessee who left a legacy to her family of the importance of education, civic engagement, and the contributions of African Americans to history. Jarret is among the first generation of African American women voters in Tennessee. Her political history was documented in a project leading up to the commemoration of the 19th Amendment in Tennessee organized by Chick History in partnership with Humanities Tennessee. Image courtesy of Chick History.

Click Here to view the AASLH 19th Amendment Centennial Value Statement.

The Value Statement provides Guiding Principles, Starting Points, and an Abbreviated Bibliography as best practices and encouragement to the field for interpreting the Centennial Anniversary of the Ratification of the 19th Amendment.

The other members of the Task Force were Dr. Felicia Bell, Rosa Parks Museum; Page Harrington, Vice President of Cultural Assets and public historian for Girls Scouts of the USA; and Dr. Noelle Trent, National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. To read more about the process behind this two-year project, visit the AASLH blog.

About the AASLH Women’s History Affinity Group: The AASLH Women’s History Affinity Group (WHAG) is an AASLH professional network comprised of those who are interested in presenting and encouraging accurate, compelling, diverse, and often controversial women’s history. The affinity community encourages thoughtful scholarship, curriculum, interpretive content, public and educational programs, and shares best practices and strategies for including women’s history in sites and locations of all sizes. The group also strives to encourage and promote women’s leadership in the museum and historical fields. The Women’s History Affinity Group is overseen by a diverse committee of professionals who work with AASLH to accomplish the goals and expectations of the group. To learn more, visit the WHAG website.

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