This month, the Aurora Public Library (APL) is recognizing the year 2020 as historically significant for several reasons that impact all members of our community, State, and Country. August 18, 1920, after a campaign for suffrage led by some of the greatest heroes of their time, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed. It secured the right to vote for women in the United States. As we celebrate Women’s History Month and the 100th anniversary of the landmark year that brought us closer to true democracy in our Nation, we share the collective responsibility to choose a new United States president and representatives at the federal, states, and local levels, the outcomes of which have the potential to change the course of our collective history and our shared identity as Americans.
Against a concurrent backdrop of an unprecedented U.S. Census complete count campaign, Santori Library is situated as a ground zero for objective and reliable information concerning the civic responsibilities we have to our community, our country, ourselves, and each other.
In alignment with the women’s suffrage movement and the passage of the 19th Amendment, the League of Women Voters will celebrate 100 years as a nonpartisan grassroots civic organization. Founded through of the women’s suffrage movement, the League works to educate all U.S. residents on their civic duties and advocate for government and social reform legislation.
With this hefty charge, the League of Women Voters Aurora Area chapter reconvened in late 2019 and has been an integral partner with the Aurora Public Library since its inception. From You Count! Census 2020 to presentations on the Vote411 and Ballot Ready toolkits for informed decision-making, the League has worked to provide important information to library visitors on several fronts.
Perhaps most compelling, however, is the recent installation of Rightfully Hers: The Right to Vote interactive exhibit in the Santori Library Atrium throughout March. Visitors to this exhibit can go back to 1920 and feel the energy of impassioned social change and the women who risked their lives to secure democracy in the United States.
Protest posters feature key suffrage slogans and verbiage, including “Votes for Women!”, juxtaposed alongside photographs of those collecting in opposition to the measure. Displays of early 20th Century dress and accessories help understand the fashion of the time. It was made possible by the Aurora Historical Society. We all should recognize the modern, industrial machines that eagerly eat our voting cards today, but viewers of Rightfully Hers can witness the unassuming and austere ballot boxes of the period in which women were fighting to submit their cards. Historical relics, such as these described, remind us that social and political rights are not innate, but historically situated, contextual, and contested.
For added historical context, visitors are invited to submit an historical ballot of the period! On the ballot are four questions, and are in the ballot box and have your voice heard! Every Saturday through March, representatives from the League of Women Voters Aurora Area will be in the Atrium alongside the exhibit to answer questions related to voting rights and the 19th Amendment. For more information about the exhibit or about the League, please visit the webpage at www.lwvauroraarea.org, or send to lwvauroraarea@gmail.com.