Join the Chicago Women's History Center, the Chicago League of Women Voters, and partner organizations for a timely virtual conversation about the Suffragette movement in Illinois from 1869 to the passing of women’s suffrage in 1920.

Timed to coincide with the Chicago run of the acclaimed Broadway musical Suffs, this program explores the parallel stories of Alice Paul — immortalized in the show — and Catharine Waugh McCulloch, a Chicago lawyer and suffragist whose strategic brilliance helped secure women's voting rights in Illinois and beyond. McCulloch's story is told in the documentary Shall Men Vote (coming Jan 2027), which reveals how Chicago and Illinois were central to the national suffrage movement and the ongoing struggle for equality for Black and white women alike.

Together, these two stories illuminate the courage, coalition-building, and persistence required to make progress — and what it means to carry that work forward today.

Presenter: Dr. Gwen Jordan, Legal Historian

We'll explore what these histories teach us about today's urgent need to protect and preserve women's achievements, and open a conversation about next steps in the ongoing march toward justice and equality.

Format: Free virtual event via Zoom