March 15, 2003
Raleigh City Museum Examines Local Contributions
Made to the Women's Suffrage Movement

RALEIGH, N.C. (March 15, 2003) - In celebration of Women's History Month, the Raleigh City Museum is excited to announce the opening of a new exhibit entitled "A Voice of Their Own: Raleigh & the Women's Suffrage Movement." The exhibit, which will be on display to the general public beginning March 28, 2003, debuts with an opening reception scheduled for Thursday, March 27 at 6:00 p.m. The reception features a talk by Dr. Pamela Tyler, Associate Professor of History at North Carolina State University, regarding the suffrage issue from a southern perspective. The opening reception is free to current museum members and full-time students, and $10 for all others.

"This is a far more intriguing story than I originally expected," said Ken Peters, the museum's education coordinator and lead researcher for the exhibit. "While I anticipated a great deal of political activity in Raleigh during this time period, I was surprised to discover how much deeper the issues - and attitudes - regarding the women's suffrage movement were in the South and in our own community."

The exhibit presents a broad overview of the national women's suffrage movement while concentrating on those individuals and events that played pivotal roles on the local level in Raleigh and Wake County. Incorporating historical photographs, interpretive text panels, audio interactives and artifacts, the exhibit explores several facets of the movement. Highlights include a review of the earliest suffrage activity in North Carolina, an overview of the major pro-suffrage leaders in Raleigh as well as those opposed to it, an examination of the local anti-suffrage movement and its ties to North Carolina's white supremacy campaign, the North Carolina General Assembly's tumultuous 1920 ratification debate regarding the Federal Suffrage Amendment, and an analysis of the movement's legacy in Wake County and the state.

"A Voice of Their Own: Raleigh & the Women's Suffrage Movement" will be on display at the Raleigh City Museum through February 2004. The exhibit is an official event of the museum's 10th Anniversary Celebration and is sponsored in part by Virginia Stevens, the Wake County Historical Society, the Woman's Club of Raleigh, the Woodson Family Foundation and other anonymous donors. Hours of operation for the Raleigh City Museum are Tuesdays through Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free to the general public.

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