WHAT: Brown Bag Lecture Series
HOSTED BY: UNK Department of History
TITLE: “Without the Vote: Nebraska Women’s Patchwork of Politics Before 1920”
TOPIC: What did women’s political involvement look like before the 19th Amendment gave them the right to vote? Historians underplay the impact of political women in non-suffrage states, where women had to wait until 1920 to vote. Nebraska was one of these states. But as this presentation shows, withholding the vote from Nebraska women did not keep them from participating in politics. Before 1920, Nebraska women engaged in campaigns as suffragists and reformers, pushed for the right to run for school superintendencies and boldly ran for county offices. Even though they were disfranchised, civically minded women participated in a patchwork of politics. Nebraska women are particularly significant for the innovation of their efforts.
PRESENTER: Linda Van Ingen is a professor of history at UNK. She earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Iowa and University of California, Riverside before joining the UNK faculty in 2001. Her teaching and research areas focus on 20th century U.S. history, now understood as historically distinct from both the 19th and 21st centuries. Industrial, technological and political revolutions, including human rights activism, were significant engines of change that created both turmoil and stability in an era uniquely defined by World War II and the Cold War. Van Ingen’s research focuses on the advancements American women made in this era. She is the author of research articles and the book “Gendered Politics: Campaign Strategies of California Women Candidates, 1912-1970,” as well as forthcoming publications on Nebraska women.
TIME: Noon
DATE: Wednesday, Oct. 14
PLACE: Kearney Public Library, 2020 First Ave.
VIDEO: Available on the Kearney Public Library YouTube channel
CONTACT: Nathan Tye, associate history professor, 308.865.8860, tyen@unk.edu