Today’s Agents of Change with the Virginia Museum of History & Culture

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment in the United States granting women the right to vote, the Commonwealth of Virginia organized a statewide commemoration led by the VMHC.

One of the signature projects of the 2020 Commemoration was the VMHC-organized special exhibition, Agents of Change: Female Activism in Virginia From Women’s Suffrage to Today, which explored women’s civic activism in Virginia. In association with this exhibition, the VMHC engaged a group of contemporary female changemakers to recreate an iconic photograph of the Virginia suffrage movement.

A 1915 sepia-toned photograph of a group of 17 women representing the Equal Suffrage League of Richmond was taken on February 28, 1915 at the Virginia State Capitol in downtown Richmond, Virginia. About 100 years later, in the same month, at the same place, the VMHC brought together another group of female agents of change from across the state to recreate this image and highlight the diversity of women's activism in Virginia today.

Although not a comprehensive picture, this 2020 group portrait captures the dynamism and diversity of female activism in Virginia today. The photograph was displayed at the VMHC during 2020 in conjunction with Agents of Change exhibition and reproduced in a limited-edition print series.

Learn more about the project and the women featured in Today's Agents of Change. 

Video produced by Orange Frame, LLC for the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. Thank you to our in-kind sponsors: Garnish, Gianna Grace Photography, Linden Row Inn, Reggie Nash, RVA on Wheels, Orange Frame, LLC, and Worth Higgins & Associates.