Who are these two women? Left, Doris Stevens. Right, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Both weren’t shrinking violets. However, if you learned conventional history in school they were overshadowed by men in the story of this nation. We’re in the midst of suffrage centennial fever that started with state centennial celebrations launched by the western states.

In recent years, the following states celebrated their centennials of women winning the vote prior to 1920: Wyoming (1890), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), Idaho (1896), Washington (1910), California (1911), Arizona (1912), Kansas and Oregon (1912). Montana and Nevada observed one hundred years of women voting in 2014 with special events, projects and activities. New York’s centennial celebration is scheduled for 2017, with Michigan, Oklahoma and South Dakota to follow. And oh, yes. There’s the upcoming national suffrage centennial in 2020.

We aren’t going back far in time to hunt for feisty and amazing ancestors and family members. They’re speaking to us from the past NOW. Suffrage Wagon News Channel has been on the case, publishing since 2009, to bring you up to date. We’re not balanced and full and effective human beings without embracing those who came before us. That’s why we’re clearing the decks so that Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Doris Stevens can speak their truth. Love them or hate them, we stand on their shoulders. Now’s the time to let them speak their minds.

THREE AUDIO PODCAST SERIES SHOW THE U.S. SUFFRAGE ACTIVISTS FOR THE COMPLEX AND PERSISTENT AND FESITY INDIVIDUALS THEY WERE:

(1.) “Trouble Brewing in Seneca Falls.” Podcast #1. Podcast #2. Podcast #3. Podcast #4. Podcast #5. Podcast #6. Podcast #7. The story of the women of Seneca Falls, NY who planned the 1848 women’s rights convention. These audio podcasts tell how these activists had to get out of their comfort zone to pull off a social revolt in mind and spirit that sent shock waves through the nation in 1848. These selections by Elizabeth Cady Stanton are from her memoir, Eighty Years and More. Audio by LibriVox. Production by Suffrage Wagon News Channel.

(2.) “Playing Politics with the President.” Podcast #1. Podcast #2. Podcast #3. Podcast #4. Podcast #5. Podcast #6. Podcast #7. Podcast #8. Podcast #9. This podcast series shows how from 1913 to 1917 that bolder tactics and strategies would become necessary if American women were to win the right to vote. Success came about as a result of everyone working together, especially the contributions of feisty devil-may-care types who worked alongside more traditional types of women. These podcasts are from Jailed For Freedom by Doris Stevens. Audio by LibriVox. Production by Suffrage Wagon News Channel.

(3.) “The Night of Terror.” Podcast #1. Podcast #2. Podcast #3. Podcast #4. Podcast #5. Podcast #6. Podcast #7. Podcast #8. The story of how militant women suffrage activists were beaten and terrorized one night in their prison cells near the nation’s capitol in 1917. This audio narrative series isn’t for the faint of heart. The stories told here don’t represent the sentiment of all of the suffrage activists, but rather a segment of them who didn’t mind stepping out of women’s traditional roles and putting their bodies on the line. All of the activists contributed to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. These podcasts are from Jailed For Freedom by Doris Stevens. Audio by LibriVox. Production by Suffrage Wagon News Channel.

Suffrage Wagon Cafe has launched its storytelling series with the tale of how Bess, the best friend of Edna Kearns, got in trouble with her parents for a radical book circulating the rounds among young women of that generation. Stop by the Suffrage Wagon Cafe and meet Bess.

Meet your friends at the Suffrage Wagon Cafe. Follow Suffrage Wagon News Channel on Facebook and Twitter. Quarterly newsletters just by signing up. Suffrage Wagon News Channel has a video platform on Vimeo. 

Follow SuffrageCentennials.com for news and views about upcoming suffrage centennials. “Choose it and Use it” is a video reminding us of how the past is linked to what we do today and its impact on the future.