Curators at Home: Suffragist Images

On May 15, 2020, VMHC Museum Collections Curator Dr. Karen A. Sherry presented, "Moral, Maternal, Mannish, & Monstrous: Suffragist Images, 1900-1920." This program was part of our Curators At Home Series taped by curatorial staff members from their own homes as they worked remotely in response to COVID-19. 

As the fight for female suffrage in America intensified in the early 20th century, pro- and anti-suffrage forces deployed propagandist imagery to convey their message. Images of suffragists appeared in a range of guises from nurturers fostering a more perfect union to shrews wreaking chaos on the establishment. Discover what period images of suffragists tell us about historical attitudes toward women and their role in American civic life.