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Actor-playwright Ossie Davis is shown speaking at the Civil Rights Conference in Mount Holyoke’s Chapin Auditorium. Political activists Malcolm X and Michael Harrington were scheduled to speak but did not arrive in time due to travel issues.…

This flyer produced by the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association was handed out on Mount Holyoke’s campus during Suffrage Day on April 24. The progressive message of the flyer demonstrates the changing opinion regarding suffrage among students.…

Distributed by the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1916, these flyers, originally sized 5” x 7”, were created to spread awareness for the cause in a convenient handheld size. They contained information about the main tenets of…

Participants of the Mount Holyoke Debate Society agreed that the subject of equal suffrage was relevant for their annual inter-society debate. An unknown observer left penciled comments on the program summarizing each argument. The affirmative…

Representing the Prohibition candidate, Carolyn Sewall ‘10 is campaigning for a mock presidential election by making a speech on the back of a wagon to a crowd of enthralled listeners. Drawn by two horses, the wagon carries an oversized liquor…

From 1860 to the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920, Mount Holyoke students held elaborate mock campaigns and elections on campus. This included mock state conventions where they dressed as male candidates, gave speeches, sang political songs, and…

In February of 1965, Mount Holyoke co-hosted a Civil Rights Conference alongside Amherst, Smith, and the University of Massachusetts. A variety of guest speakers attended the conference and gave lectures, including Dave Dennis, Howard Zinn, and Ossie…

This statement from the Mount Holyoke President in 1965 shows that the Civil Rights Conference caused some tension and controversy due to its radical speakers. President Gettell defended the Conference on the basis of “freedom of inquiry and…

Many college students participated in the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, including 29 students from Mount Holyoke. This photo from the march shows signs with the variety of issues they were protesting for: voting rights,…

Before 1920, Mount Holyoke students held mock campaigns and elections in which they dressed up as the presidential candidates of that election year. These photos show students dressed as various figures from the 1916 national election including…

This photo shows Mount Holyoke students marching in support of the Prohibition Party which was nationally headed by Silas Swallow in the 1904 election. The main belief held by the Prohibition Party was temperance—opposition to the sale or…

In a letter to her mother postmarked October 25, Susie ‘11 mentions attending a mock Republican Convention. She notes that “[a]ll the girls were dressed like men, and had wigs + beards” to impersonate various candidates. Students dressed as…

This letter shows that the Committee on Civil Rights worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in their fundraising efforts, specifically mentioning the group’s involvement in voter registration activism. Signed by the organizers of…

These flyers are an example of propaganda distributed by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). In addition to pro-suffrage arguments, they addressed topics such as arguments of anti-suffrage organizations, benefits experienced in…