When Women Lost the Vote — An Exhibit Featuring Montgomery Voters

Millions of American women were granted the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which marks its centennial in 2020. But more than a century earlier, women and free people of color legally held the vote in New Jersey for more than 30 years.

At least 46 Montgomery Township women voted in 1801, and Rebecca Van Dike was one of them.

In the groundbreaking new exhibition “When Women Lost the Vote: A Revolutionary Story, 1776 – 1807,” the Museum of the American Revolution will explore – as no book, exhibit, or other medium has before – the little-known history of the nation’s first women voters and examine the political conflicts that led to their voting rights being stripped away.

Although New Jersey ultimately restricted the vote to propertied white men in 1807, women’s fight for equality did not end there. Rather, that earlier Revolutionary fight became a rallying cry as another generation of women took up the mantle of the suffrage movement decades later.

When Women Lost the Vote is an inspiring story that will explore how the American Revolution shaped women’s political opportunities and activism and will encourage visitors to reconsider their understanding of the timeline of women’s history in America. It is also a cautionary tale about one of America’s first voting rights crises.

Featuring original objects including textiles, manuscripts, and works of art, the exhibition will bring to life the forgotten stories of the women who first pioneered the vote.

EXHIBIT DETAILS

When:

October 2 – April 25

What:

“When Women Lost the Vote”

Where:

The Museum of the American Revolution

101 S. Third St., Philadelphia, PA

Hours:

Open Thursday-Sunday

10 am - 5 pm