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Voting Down the Rose: Maine's Fight for Woman Suffrage

  • Cumberland Historical Society Cumberland Fire Station, Lower Level, 366 Tuttle Road Cumberland, Maine 04021 (map)

This talk is based on the book "Voting Down the Rose: Florence Brooks Whitehouse and Maine's Fight for Woman Suffrage", about the author's great-grandmother. Florence was a novelist, painter, vocalist, and mother of three sons when she first joined the suffrage movement in 1914. We explore Florence’s life up to 1914 and her leadership in moving suffrage forward in Maine, joining forces with national leader Alice Paul in a desperate, last-ditch effort to ensure that the legislature ratified the 19th Amendment that would give women voting rights. Slides of historic photos accompany this lively talk, which lasts about 40 minutes.