Inductions for the Thomas Jefferson History Honor Society took place on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 3rd. Matt McGuire, the society’s sponsor, arranged for Dr. Johanna Neuman to address the group in the 3rd floor forum. Dr. Neuman recently published Gilded Suffragists: The New York Socialites Who Fought for Women’s Right to Vote and is currently a scholar in residence at American University. Dr. Neuman spoke on the topic of historical social change through the lens of her research into American women’s suffrage. She started by endorsing the study of history and commending “the people who thrive on its telling and on its meaning,” including the students in the audience. She gave an overview of the more staid and more radical branches of the women’s suffrage movement around 1918, made an argument for the importance of the involvement of blueblooded socialites in bringing the cause into the mainstream, and concluded by discussing the fight for African American women’s suffrage taken up by activists like Carrie A. Tuggle.
The Foundation provided an honorarium for Dr. Neuman in gratitude for her presence today. Matt McGuire applied for this funding through our enhancement grant program and plans to use the remainder of the grant to provide honorariums for more HHS speakers throughout the year.
The 2018-19 Annual Fund supports all of our enhancement grants. Make your gift here.