Vid: ‘Votes for Women’ Explored in Exhibition at Nat Portrait Gallery

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has on view “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence,” a major exhibition examining the history of women’s suffrage in the United States opening March 29. The seven-room exhibition features more than 120 portraits and objects spanning 1832 to 1965 that explore the American suffrage movement and the political challenges women have faced.

The exhibition is curated by Kate Clarke Lemay, historian at the National Portrait Gallery and coordinating curator of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.

“Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence” outlines the more than 80-year movement for women to obtain the right to vote as part of the larger struggle for equality that continued through the 1965 Civil Rights Act and arguably lingers today.

The presentation is divided chronologically and thematically to address “Radical Women: 1832–1869,” “Women Activists: 1870–1892,” “The New Woman: 1893–1912,” “Compelling Tactics: 1913–1916,” “Militancy in the American Suffragist Movement: 1917–1919” and “The Nineteenth Amendment and Its Legacy.” These thematic explorations are complemented by a chronological narrative of visual biographies of some of the movement’s most influential leaders.

“Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence” continues through Jan. 5, 2020.