Browse Items (50 total)

Alice Stone Blackwell was a prominent feminist, suffragist, and journalist during her lifetime. In this pamphlet published by the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Blackwell outlines 16 reasons why women should be granted the right to…

Suffragists used valentines and other holidays to spread their message to as many men as they could, since men would ultimately be the ones to write and pass a voting rights amendment. February 14th would later become a significant day for…

These Votes for Women pins are from the memory books of Margaret Niles ‘14 (bottom right), Madeline Wayne ‘15 (bottom left), and Ruth Sonn ‘18 (top center). The phrase “Votes for Women” was a common slogan used on suffrage ephemera and was…

Little is known about this object. It is possible that it was made as a napkin for a suffragist luncheon but was saved as a souvenir.

Two art professors, Sheila McNally and Susan Mangam, and one student, Cheryl Edmonds ‘67, joined the civil rights protesters who marched from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. In this article from The Mount Holyoke News, they describe their experience…

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…

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…

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 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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

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…