A Call to Honor Suffragists on Women’s Equality Day

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The Vermont Suffrage Centennial Alliance (VSCA) and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF Burlington) commemorate the historic passage of the 19th Amendment in front of Burlington’s City Hall (149 Church Street).

August 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the landmark 19th Amendment which prohibits the federal government and any state from denying citizens their right to vote on account of sex. In the final push for suffrage, women picketed in front of the White House six days a week, holding banners and using silence as protest. These Silent Sentinels, numbering approximately 2,000 over two and a half years, faced arrest, derision, torture, and jail.

Silent no longer, Vermont women and men urge passers-by to reflect on the importance of the vote for all citizens in our democracy while carrying non-partisan signs, wearing 1920s apparel or Votes for Women sashes, engaging in dialog about the importance of voting, and passing out voter information. We encourage attendees to wear the suffrage colors: white, purple, and/or gold.

Some of our guest speakers include: Lisa Senecal, Chair of the Vermont Commission on Women; Right Reverend Shannon MacVean-Brown, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont; Jean Hopkins, League of Women Voters of Champlain Valley; Robin Lloyd, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; Kesha Ram, candidate for the Vermont Senate; Molly Gray, candidate for Vermont Lt. Governor; Sarah Carpenter, Burlington City Council; Ericka Redic, candidate for Vermont Senate; Madeline Kunin, former Vermont Governor; Zoraya Hightower, Burlington City Council; Kristine Lott, Mayor of Winooski; Carolyn Branagan, candidate for Vermont Treasurer; and more.

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