Exhibition

Clinton Presidential Center

Women’s Voices,

Women’s Votes,

Women’s Rights

of the ratification of

the 19th Amendment

of the Fourth World Conference

on Women in Beijing

Every day, women speak out to make the world a more

just and safe place. They continue what Secretary

Hillary Rodham Clinton calls “the unfinished business

of the 21st century.”

This work is neither new, easy, safe, nor quick. Women

demanding the vote regularly confronted ingrained,

often violent prejudice as they struggled to convince

men — who had sole control over their governments —

to recognize that the ballot belonged

to women, as well as men.

No matter where women lived, they knew that the

right to vote meant more than casting their ballot.

It meant their status as equal citizens — their human

rights — could no longer be discounted.

Even though most women had the right to vote as the

century ended, many still fought to have their voices

heard. Then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's

proclamation that “women’s rights are human rights and

human rights are women’s rights” ricocheted around the

equator and jump started a global movement.

Every day, women speak out to make the world a more

just and safe place. They continue what Secretary

Hillary Rodham Clinton calls “the unfinished business

of the 21st century.”

This work is neither new, easy, safe, nor quick. Women

demanding the vote regularly confronted ingrained,

often violent prejudice as they struggled to convince

men — who had sole control over their governments —

to recognize that the ballot belonged

to women, as well as men.

No matter where women lived, they knew that the

right to vote meant more than casting their ballot.

It meant their status as equal citizens — their human

rights — could no longer be discounted.

Even though most women had the right to vote as the

century ended, many still fought to have their voices

heard. Then First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's

proclamation that “women’s rights are human rights and

human rights are women’s rights” ricocheted around the

equator and jump started a global movement.

Courtesy of Ralph Appelbaum Associates

Courtesy of Hollis Chatelain Courtesy of Michael CummingsCourtesy of Shin-hee Chin

The Exhibition:

In 2020, the Clinton Presidential Center will commemorate these

world-changing events by mounting Women’s Voices, Women’s

Votes, Women’s Rights — a vibrant, multimedia exhibit exploring

the risks women and their male allies took to win the vote, expand

democracy, and elevate human rights.

Tracing the story from the early days of slavery until today, the

exhibit recounts the struggle to adopt the 19th Amendment, pass

the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and mount a global movement for

women’s equality. Student artists bring the narrative forward, into

the present, using their work to champion equality, human rights,

and the vote.

The Art Quilts:

Women’s Voices will be as dynamic as its subject. Just as activists

seized every medium at their disposal, this exhibit will feature 18

vibrant, powerful art quilts created especially for this exhibit by

world-renowned artists. This intricate art form incorporates

stitching, photographs, painting, and text to augment the artifacts,

documents, and video used throughout the exhibit. Together,

these contemporary works of art along with historic artifacts give

voice to those who hazarded all they had to advance human rights

and secure the vote.

Courtesy of Ralph Appelbaum Associates

Courtesy of Hollis Chatelain Courtesy of Michael CummingsCourtesy of Shin-hee Chin

The Exhibition:

In 2020, the Clinton Presidential Center will commemorate these

world-changing events by mounting Women’s Voices, Women’sVotes, Women’s Rights — a vibrant, multimedia exhibit exploring

the risks women and their male allies took to win the vote, expand

democracy, and elevate human rights.

Tracing the story from the early days of slavery until today, the

exhibit recounts the struggle to adopt the 19th Amendment, pass

the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and mount a global movement for

women’s equality. Student artists bring the narrative forward, into the present, using their work to champion equality, human rights,

and the vote.

The Art Quilts:

Women’s Voices will be as dynamic as its subject. Just as activists

seized every medium at their disposal, this exhibit will feature 18

vibrant, powerful art quilts created especially for this exhibit by

world-renowned artists. This intricate art form incorporates

stitching, photographs, painting, and text to augment the artifacts,

documents, and video used throughout the exhibit. Together,

these contemporary works of art along with historic artifacts give

voice to those who hazarded all they had to advance human rights

and secure the vote.

“If there is one message that

echoes forth from this

conference, let it be that

human rights are women’srights, and women’srights are human rights,

once and for all.”

Hillary Rodham Clinton

September 5, 1995

About the Clinton Presidential Center:

Since 2004, more than 4.9 million visitors – including 435,000 students who tour at no charge – have experienced the Clinton Presidential Center. Funding for student tours is made possible through the generous support of Clinton Center

Members and Clinton Foundation donors.

The Clinton Center offers a unique perspective of the work – past, present, and future – of the 42nd President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton. It also provides year-round educational and cultural opportunities to visitors

of all ages that reflect President Clinton’s lifetime commitment to advancing opportunity for everybody, instilling responsibility throughout our society, and

cultivating a sense of community within our great nation.

Image Credits:

Front: Women March in a Suffragette Parade in Washington, D.C., ca. 1913.

Courtesy of the National Archives

Prepared by Ralph Appelbaum Associates