Suffrage Celebration Kickoff Event Speakers Announced

The Women's Suffrage Centennial Coalition (WSCC) and the Mayor's Office of Women's Advancement's Greater Boston Women's Vote Centennial (GBWVC), supported by the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, proudly announce a Boston Suffrage Centennial Kickoff Celebration, launching a year of commemorations celebrating 100 years since the 19th Amendment was adopted in 1920, enabling women to vote. The event takes place Tuesday, June 25, 2019 from 5-7pm at Faneuil Hall, located at One Faneuil Hall Square in Boston. It is free and open to the public, RSVP encouraged: https://suffragekickoff.eventbrite.com.

Confirmed speakers include Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, Attorney General Maura Healey, Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell, Founder & President Women's Suffrage Celebration Coalition, Fredie Kay, Founder & President Barbara Lee Family Foundation, Barbara Lee, Executive Director MassVote, Cheryl Clyburne Crawford, and Author & Historian Barbara Berenson. Shirley Leung of The Boston Globe will serve as master of ceremonies.
The event will be held on the centennial anniversary of Massachusetts being the eighth state to ratify the 19th Amendment and will feature noted speakers, as well as performances by Boston Children's Chorus and History at Play, who will debut a suffrage theatrical performance piece. Guests are encouraged to wear suffrage colors of white, purple, and gold, and bring children, families, and seniors.

"In 2020, we'll celebrate the centennial of women gaining the right to vote, a crucial milestone in creating equality for all," said Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh. "As we celebrate this anniversary, we look back on the strong, determined women who made this victory possible, and look forward towards Boston's ongoing work to promote true gender equity throughout our city and region."

"We have been working up to this 100-year centennial celebration for over a decade," shared Fredie Kay, Founder and President of the Women's Suffrage Celebration Coalition of Massachusetts. "We are proud to mark the anniversary of so much important, historic work done by strong, courageous, committed women. It was a long road to hoe - and the women's movement still has much work to do - but over the next year and half there is much to celebrate - both in Boston and throughout Massachusetts."

"I'm pleased to be a partner with the City of Boston and WSCC in celebrating the 100th anniversary of women making their voices heard at the ballot box," said Barbara Lee, Founder and President of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation. "The suffragists taught us so much, including to never let the way things are limit our imagination of the way things could be. We are at a pivotal moment in history, filled with possibility. One hundred years from now, I hope future generations will look back in awe of all that we accomplished in our time."