Ballot & Beyond

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Kathi Santora, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

In 1922, just two years after the 19th amendment empowered women with the right to vote, Harford County citizens elected Jarrettsville resident Mary Eliza Watters Risteau to the Maryland House of Delegates. 

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Beverly Carter, Archivist of the DuBois Circle, and read by Reverend Canon Sandye A. Wilson, President of the DuBois Circle.

In 1906, a distinguished group of women in Baltimore, Maryland was handpicked to organize an auxiliary group to work with and support the activities of Dr. W. E. B. DuBois and the members of the local branch of the Niagara Movement, in their fight to address the social, political and economic injustices faced by African Americans. The DuBois Circle continues to address issues relating to the fulfillment of America’s promise of equity, justice, and freedom.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and is being read by Dr. Amy Rosenkrans. 

The Trail Sisters worked diligently to win the vote for Maryland’s women.  Their writing, speeches, and constant activism did not end when the battle was won.  Both sisters continued to be active in the community.  Bertha was elected President of the Frederick County Republican Club in 1920 where she spearheaded the registration of new women voters.  

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Diane E. Weaver. The reader is Dr. Diane Weaver.

Madeleine Ellicott’s lifelong goal was to improve the lives of women and children and to secure equal rights for all human beings. She fought alongside thousands of women in pursuit of women’s right to vote. She firmly believed that only equal suffrage could right the wrongs against women. After the successful passage of the 19th Amendment, Ellicott's compassion and activism for women's political equality continued to shine bright and make change. She was the founder and twenty-year president of the Maryland League of Women Voters. 

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Pamela Young. The reader is Allison Weiss, Executive Director, Sandy Spring Museum.

Sandy Spring, Maryland, was settled in 1727 by Quakers who strongly valued education and social justice. Many were active in social movements promoting peace and the abolition of slavery. Quakers believe in equality of all persons, so women are considered equals to men. With this emphasis on human equality, education, and justice, it is not surprising that Sandy Spring fostered activism for women's suffrage. In  1889, a local women's suffrage association was organized and went on to serve as a hotbed of suffrage activity emanating out of the rural Montgomery County community.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state’s largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.

This episode of Ballot & Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Tina Sheller, assistant professor of Visual and Material Culture at Goucher College. The reader is Tina Sheller. 

During the early years of the twentieth century, the leadership of newly-established women’s colleges played a pivotal role in advancing the cause of women’s suffrage.  At the Woman’s College of Baltimore, soon to be known as Goucher College, faculty took an active role in advocating for women’s suffrage and influenced students to join the movement.  One of the leading suffragists among the faculty was Lilian Welsh.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher, Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust. 

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is adapted from a biographical sketch of Harriet Tubman written by Dr. Kate Clifford Larson. Dr. Larson is a scholar and the author of the Tubman biography, “Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero.” The reader is Jean Thompson, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

Best known for her heroism on the Underground Railroad, abolitionist Harriet Tubman also was an advocate for women’s rights and equality. When interviewed at the turn of the 20th century, Tubman noted that she had been a member of “Miss Anthony’s organization,” the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. She remained in contact with many white suffragists but championed the activism of black women leaders in responding to the racism they confronted in the predominantly white National Woman’s Suffrage Association. Near the end of her life, Tubman encouraged a fellow suffragist, “tell the women to stand together..." Tubman died in 1913, seven years before women got the vote.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state's largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes. 

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Amanda Shores Davis, Executive Director of the Star-Spangled Banner House.  The reader is Kate Campbell Stevenson, member of the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center Board of Directors and Maryland Women’s Heritage Center Board Cultural Ambassador. 

A resident of Baltimore for more than fifty years, Mary Young Pickersgill was a successful businesswoman and an outspoken advocate for the working women of the city.  Mary Pickersgill’s greatest contribution to Maryland and to the entire United States was as a flag maker during the War of 1812.  The Star-Spangled Banner made by Mrs. Pickersgill became the inspiration for Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became the national anthem of the United States in 1931.  Today that flag resides in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher Evelius & Jones.

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Ida Jones, Ph.D, University Archivist, at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Dr. Jones is the reader. 

Margaret and her active West Baltimore social and civil contemporaries were engaged in social justice and sought to secure the franchise for African American women along with other women for the purpose of reaping the full benefits of citizenship, community improvement, and having a voice in the public square. Her far-reaching active memberships include the Druid Hill Branch of the YWCA, Maryland Training School for Colored Girls, Maryland Training School Board, Civilian Defense Mobilization, DuBois Circle, Progressive Women’s Suffrage Club...and allowed for frivolity and was a member of the Fortnightly Whist Club and a sewing club. 

Margaret was a neighbor to fellow suffragist, Augusta Chissell, also featured on the Ballot & Beyond podcast. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher, Evelius & Jones.

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is written and read by Christine R. Valeriann, founder of the Women’s Equality Day Celebration across Maryland Coalition and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

Inspired by the Suffrage Hikers that came through rural Western Maryland in 1913, Crawford helped organize and lead the Washington County Woman’s Suffrage League. Then in 1916, the organization worked hastily to host the annual Maryland state suffrage convention in Hagerstown - cementing the rural town's role in the suffrage movement. Crawford enjoyed the right and responsibility of voting until her death at the age of 80.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher Evelius & Jones.