August 18, 2020, marked the centennial of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In 1920, women wearing yellow roses stood shoulder to shoulder in Tennessee, awaiting the roll call of men who would cast their votes for or against a woman’s right to a voice in government.
Though this movement won rights for some women—an achievement to be acknowledged and celebrated—the struggle did not end there. Due to states’ laws and prohibitive policies, many women of color were unable to exercise their rights after the Nineteenth Amendment. It was not until much later that all American women were given the same privilege.
In A Yellow Rose Project: Responses, Reflections, and Reactions to the Nineteenth Amendment, editors Meg Griffiths and Frances Jakubek have invited 106 female photographers to look back upon this part of history from various perspectives. The goal of this collaboration is to provide a focal point and physical platform for female image makers in light of the centennial, providing an artistic bridge connecting the past, present, and future.
Opening with essays by Lisa Volpe, curator of photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Shannon Perich, curator in the photographic history collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History; Christina Bejarano, professor of political science at Texas Woman’s University; and Rachel Michelle Gunter, public historian, this work affords readers a multifaceted perspective, celebrating progress made and assessing all that remains to be done.
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