Atlanta History Center preserves fight for women’s suffrage

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - Before the 2022 midterm elections, Atlanta History Center is reminding visitors of the journey women endured for the right to vote.

”We are standing in the exhibit Any Great Change: the Centennial of the 19th Amendment. The centennial was actually back in 2020. We had some other events in 2020 that might’ve distracted us from that a little bit. We have left it open so people can come and see it because it really is an incredible story,” said Vice President of Democracy Initiatives and Author Programs, Claire Haley.

“We are in the Swan House, so there is a second room here that has been transformed to talk about, ‘Women have the right to vote. Now, what do they do with it?’” said Haley.

The fight for women’s suffrage looked very different for white women than it did for women of color.

The exhibition covers the different timelines of voting rights and women’s suffrage. The different stories of women of color are woven throughout the exhibit.

”This exhibit is small but mighty,” said Haley.

This is all part of the center’s effort to use its platform to make a positive impact on our democracy.

“It is a way we are looking to connect history, to how we can all be more informed and engaged citizens in our local communities,” said Haley.

History might be made up of events of the past, but the ideas behind history’s stories can be taken into whatever our future holds.

”History can be hard, it can be difficult and we don’t shy away from that, but it can also be inspiring,” said Haley, ”There are so many stories of people in the past who have done incredible, amazing things, and the good news is they are just humans too.”

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