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Join us at Bellefontaine Cemetery to continue celebrating the 200th birthday of Virginia Minor
(born Mar 27, 1824)
with readings and a presentation of the
Mayor of St. Louis’ signed Proclamation
Where: Virginia Minor’s grave site at Bellefontaine Cemetery,
4947 W Florissant Ave, St. Louis, MO 63115
When: Saturday, June 22, 2024, 10:00 am
Presenters:
- Nicole Evelina – celebrated author of America’s Forgotten Suffragists – Virginia and Francis Minor will share some readings and thoughts
- Jan Scott – member of AAUW and the League of Women Voters will present the Proclamation signed on March 27, 2024
PLEASE RSVP to Jan Scott if you are coming to give us a count for chair set-up. jan@stlwomenonthemove.com
Organized and Presented by:
- Dan Fuller of the Bellefontaine Cemetery Association
- Jan Scott, AAUW St. Louis
- Victoria Turner, League of Women Voters Metro St. Louis
- Nicole Evelina, Author
- Proclamation courtesy of the St. Louis Mayor’s Office
Read about Virginia Minor at:
https://bellefontainecemetery.org/virginia-louisa-minor/
Nicole Evelina’s book:
https://nicoleevelina.com/the-books/non-fiction/americas-forgotten-suffragists-virginia-and-francis-minor/
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Join us for a presentation:
“Labor, Suffrage, and Social Justice: Cynthelia Knefler’s Contribution to Our St. Louis History”
Sunday, April 7, 2024 – 1:00 – 2:30 pm
Presented by: Rosemary Feurer
Hosted by the Electrical Workers Historical Society at:
IBEW Museum; Henry Miller Museum
2726-28 Martin Luther King Drive, St. Louis MO 63106
- Did you know?
Cynthelia Knefler’s father was a member of the United Mine Workers of America, and she was involved in social work in St. Louis in the early 1900s. - In 1907 Knefler and Hannah Hennessey, a local garment worker, created the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL) of St. Louis.
- Cynthelia also served as auditor in the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League and was able to utilize her positions in both organizations to create overlap between the labor and women’s suffrage movements.
- Cynthelia Knefler recently has been added to the National Votes for WOmen Trail, honoring lesser-known suffragists.
Come view the exhibit before or after the talk. The IBEW Building will be open from noon until 4 p.m. (https://nbew-ibewmuseum.org/index.php)
Our Presenter: Rosemary Feurer is a history professor at Northern Illinois University and the author of Radical Unionism in the Midwest, 1900-1950 and the St. Louis Labor History Tour, among other books and articles (https://niu.edu/clas/history/about/faculty/feurer.shtml ). Rosemary previously curated the exhibit “Dangerous Women,” featuring Mother Jones and Fanny Sellins at the St. Louis Public Library in 2022. This exhibit has been recreated at the IBEW Museum.
There is no cost to attend this event. Light refreshments will be served.
Sponsored by: AAUW St. Louis
Supported by: AAUW of Missouri; League of Women Voters Metro St. Louis
For questions, contact Ellen Irons at ironnew82@gmail.com.
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Join us in Celebrating the 200th Birthday of Virginia Minor!!
What: Mayor of St. Louis Proclamation Signing and Cake Cutting Ceremony
200th Birthday of Virginia Minor (b. Mar 27, 1924)
Where: in St. Louis City Hall, 1200 Market St., 63103, Room 200, the lobby to the Mayor’s office.
When: Wednesday, March 27, 2024, 1:00pm
Who: Anyone who is able to join us! Contact Jan Scott with any questions and to let her know if you are coming (jan@stlwomenonthemove.com)
Organized by the Mayor’s Office, AAUW, and Metro St. Louis League of Women Voters
- Virginia was the founding president of the Woman Suffrage Association of Missouri.
- When Virginia attempted to register to vote in 1878, contending that as a citizen of the U.S., the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteed her right to vote, she was rejected.
- Virginia sued the registrar Reese Happersett, and the case went to the Missouri State Supreme Court, ultimately reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. Her Supreme Court Case lost.
- Virginia’s loss at the Supreme Court led to a shift in strategy to obtain suffrage through a constitutional amendment.
- Minor continued to fight for women’s suffrage for the rest of her life, serving as president of the Woman Suffrage Association of Missouri for many years. At the time of her death in 1894, she was serving as vice president of the state association.
- In December 2013 Minor was announced as an inductee to the Hall of Famous Missourians. Her bronze bust was unveiled in 2014 as one of fortyfour on permanent display in the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.
- Minor was named an honoree of the National Women’s History Alliance in 2020.
- A plaque at the site of her St. Louis home on Olive Street was dedicated in 2022 through the National Votes for Women Trail project.
- See link for more info on Virginia Minor’s background: https://www.wgpfoundation.org/historic-markers/virginia-minor/
- Virginia Minor – SHSMO Historic Missourians
- Virginia Minor and Women’s Right to Vote – Gateway Arch National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
- Virginia Minor – Wikipedia
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The Black Suffragist and the Harlem Hellfighter
A play written by St. Louis Branch Member Sheila Bassoppo-Moyo
Reader’s Theatre Performance
10:00 am, Friday, February 16, 2024
YMCA O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex
4343 West Florissant Blvd, St. Louis, MO, 63115
This play is about Victoria Clay Haley, a Sumner High School graduate, suffragist, and president of the Federated Colored Women’s Clubs of St. Louis, and Sergeant Henry Johnson, the first African American to win the Croix de Guerre medal in France for acts of heroism during World War I. What happens to them in St. Louis in the early 1900s?
The Active Older Adults, The YMCA O’Fallon Park Rec Complex, and The St. Louis Area Agency on Aging