Cleo Redd Fisher Speaker Series starts Sept. 21
Katherine Durack
The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum in Loudonville has announced its popular Speaker Series will return this fall in a virtual format.
The museum’s Speaker Series hosts experts on a number of historical topics and often draws standing-room-only crowds. The last series, which began fall 2019, was cut short in March due to the pandemic.
“Unfortunately, there’s no way we can bring together 100-plus guests at a time like this, so we made the decision to move to a virtual format for the upcoming series,” said Kenny Libben, curator of the museum.
Libben said those not comfortable with technology or lacking internet access may have difficulty joining the programs live, but the recorded video will remain available to watch at a later time.
“One advantage,” Libben said, “is that we now have the ability to welcome speakers from across the country and around the world including Louis Bromfield’s biographer and a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing.”
The series will kick off Monday, Sept. 21 with Katherine Durack of The Genius of Liberty podcast presenting “Ohio’s Role in Woman Suffrage: Three Reasons to Celebrate the 2020 Women’s Vote Centennial.” As early as 1878, legislation had been introduced in Congress to pass a women’s suffrage amendment to the United States Constitution. The majority of American women still were not allowed to vote, and for decades the women’s suffrage movement — led by names such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton — fought for the rights of all women to vote.
In 1919 the 19th Amendment was finally approved and issued to the states for ratification. One year later in 1920, the amendment was officially adopted and guaranteed women the right to vote in all state and national elections. Among the states to ratify the amendment, Ohio was one of the leaders in the suffrage movement. In fact, Ohio was one of only two states to host multiple National Woman Suffrage Conferences and influenced other states’ decisions to ratify the amendment.
Durack is the originator of The Genius of Liberty, a podcast series created in partnership with Cincinnati’s Mercantile Library about Ohio and the fight for woman suffrage. She serves as Ohio’s representative on the National Board for the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association and is a member of the 2020 Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative task force. She also consults with arts and cultural organizations on Ohio suffrage centennial celebrations.
A former college professor, Durack has been researching and sharing stories about woman suffrage since 2015 when she launched her Suffrage in Stitches project. For Suffrage in Stitches, she creates original crochet designs inspired by the women, events and artifacts of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. Her stories and patterns have been featured in PieceWork magazine, as well as Vogue Knitting and Yarn Market News.
The virtual program will be held live at 7 p.m. with a Q-and-A to follow. The program will be streamed to the museum’s Facebook page and YouTube account, ensuring guests will not have to download any special software to access it; however, those platforms may require registered accounts in order to submit live questions during the Q-and-A session.
The broadcast links for this program will be posted to the museum’s website at www.crfmuseum.com under the Calendar of Events page in advance of the program, so interested persons will need to visit that event listing prior to 7 p.m. or subscribe to the museum’s Facebook or YouTube accounts to receive notification when the program goes live.
Anyone with questions regarding how to join the live broadcast or subscribe to future events is encouraged to call the museum at 419-994-4050 or visit www.crfmuseum.com.