Sharon Verhoff presented the program “Women Suffrage” during the April 19th Zoom meeting of the Fayette County Genealogical Society. Sharon’s presentation included the famous women of the suffrage cause focusing on those women from Ohio which included Harriet Taylor Upton from Warren, Florence E. Allen from Cleveland, Hallie Quinn Brown from Wilberforce, Pauline Permutten Steinem from Toledo, Bettie Wilson from Cincinnati, and Belle Sherwin from Cleveland.
Also, included with these Ohio women was Carrie Williams Clifford who was originally from Chillicothe. Two of the more famous nationally known women were two former slaves, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. Sojourner Truth delivered her famous rally speech, “Ain’t I Woman,” in Akron, Ohio. This was the same famous rally speech she delivered at suffrage rallies across the nation.
Generations of women who were eventually known as suffragettes fought for over 100 years to win the right to vote for women in the United States. The movement which began before the Civil War ended in victory on Aug. 18, 1920 when the 19th Amendment to United States Constitution was ratified and American women were enfranchised with all the rights and responsibilities as all other citizens of the United States.
Sharon Verhoff is a retired Chillicothe High School social studies teacher who, besides teaching high school classes, taught college courses for several years at the Ohio University in Chillicothe. Sharon is a long-time member of League of Women Voters in Ross County.
The next meeting of the Fayette County Genealogical Society will be a Zoom meeting on Monday, May 17 at 7 p.m.
The program will be “Exploring Newspaper Records” presented by Tom Neel Library Director at the Ohio Genealogical Society. For information concerning this meeting, Society membership, or membership in any of our Lineage Societies, please contact Lineage Chair Cathy Massie White at 1-740-333-7227 or [email protected], Research Chair Peggy Lester at 1-740-495-5720 or [email protected], or President Sue Gilmore at 1-614-864-9609 or [email protected].
