“Who was the first woman in your family to vote?” This is the question that Women Leading the Way, an art, history, and storytelling project, asked over 300 high school students from across America, challenging them to delve into the history of the fight for suffrage while connecting it to women in their own families
In these divisive and uncertain times, Women Leading the Way sought to foster unity and a greater sense of community through the eyes of high school students. The exhibition is a colorful and entertaining example of America’s great melting pot, and that out of so many we have emerged as one into a constantly evolving and self-correcting democracy. The project was aptly timed to celebrate not only the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States, and also the 65th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.
For many students, the project was the first time they came to know intimately their ancestors not just as names but as admirable humans with their own aspirations, ideals and dreams. They discovered, often to their surprise, the many sacrifices these women had made on behalf of the family. It has been an up close and personal lesson in civics and the preciousness of voting which they say they would never take for granted again.
Rebecca Tabor of Columbus, Georgia, writes: “Researching incredible, influential women such as suffragist Ida B. Wells-Barnett as well as my great-great-grandmother, Nora Grisham, I have gained new respect for those women before me and an appreciation for my current freedoms as a woman in America.”
Organized by Mireille Miller, art teacher at Lycée Français de New York, the project showcases the work of thirty schools in seventeen states, and boasts a rich collage of intimate family stories and essays about suffrage heroines, enhanced by artistic renderings. It was to culminate in spring 2020 in an extensive exhibition at Sotheby’s New York, but the event was postponed in light of the current pandemic. A virtual exhibition now bears witness to the varied experiences and achievements of hundreds of enthusiastic and committed teenagers. For Mireille, this documentation was essential. “For me, my painting and the entire suffrage movement are part of a fabric that stretches back more than 100 years to the time of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman…” she says. “May it extend far into the future and inspire generations of young and courageous women and men around the world to continue the fight to give a voice to women and all disenfranchised peoples.”
David Hickey, lead teacher from Stony Brook High School, says that the experience of the students reflected this goal. “Not only were the students inspired in learning about the sacrifices and work of these suffragist icons but also were similarly moved by reflecting on the lives and models of their own mothers and grandmothers,” he says.
The exhibition bears testament to this, with students like Jayce Sledge of the Ellis School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, writing of the experience of their own family members. Jayce’s great-grandmother, Naomi Louise Ford, faces an uphill battle for her suffrage. “Like many black people, my grandmother faced harsh discrimination and when it came to voting, it wasn’t much different. She made sure to use her vote in a way that would benefit her and her family, voting for black people in office and voting for certain laws to be passed.”
Jackson Norbutas of Camarillo, California, similarly shared a story about his great-grandmother, who was born into a family of Louisiana sharecroppers. “My favorite part of the essay was talking to elders in my family about what they had to go through. I could tell they loved to have their story told. Learning about the struggles of women and also the struggles of the world helped me broaden my picture of how connected our planet is.”
The project could also be aptly summarized in the experience of Ricky Rubio, a tenth grader at Garcia Early College High School in Laredo, Texas.When he asked his mother, Karen Picasso, for her emotional response to casting her first vote in 2004, she responded with one word: “Pride.”
All of the artwork and experiences of the students can be viewed at www.suffragettes2020.com/exhibition
Women Leading the Way has received support from Sotheby’s New York; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; the National Women’s History Museum; the New York Historical Society; the National Women’s History Alliance; the National Woman’s Party; the Buck Institute for Education; the League of Women Voters, among others. The project is sponsored by the Lycée Français de New York.
About the Author :
Mireille Miller is a professional painter who has been teaching art to elementary grades since 1996. She studied art at The Art Students League of NY, The School of Visual Arts and New York University. At Bank Street College, she followed an intensive program on teaching art to children. Mireille recently completed “Leading the Way: A Tribute to Women of the 20th Century”, a triptych on women of the 20th Century and their important contributions to humanity. The triptych was exhibited in 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.