TCC Southeast’s Judith J. Carrier Library is one of 25 libraries nationwide selected to participate in Let’s Talk About It (LTAI): Women’s Suffrage, a grant designed to spark conversations about American history and culture through an examination of the women’s suffrage movement.
The competitive award comes with a $1,000 stipend to support programming costs and 10 copies of five separate books covering the women’s suffrage theme. According to the American Library Association, more than 100 libraries applied for the opportunity.
“We are looking forward to providing this opportunity to our students and community,” said Zena Jackson, vice president of academic affairs at TCC Southeast. “Civic engagement is a longstanding tradition on our campus, and this is a topic that may be relatively unknown to some. These discussions demonstrate the importance of engaging students and others in topics that shape our understanding and views.”
The right to vote has a contentious history, and voting restrictions are still a topic of debate today. This discussion series will focus on the history of women’s suffrage from the beginning of the movement to current issues, including the struggles and different experiences of women of color in securing the vote. Programming will run from March to September 2022.
The book group will kick off on March 23 at 4:00 p.m. in the Judith J. Carrier Library at TCC Southeast. Kristan Foust, associate professor of history, will lead the first discussion on Ida B. the Queen. People can visit the Judith J. Carrier Library to check out a copy of the book ahead of the discussion.
Upcoming discussions will focus on other books on women’s suffrage:
- April 14 at 11 a.m. – Catherine Bottrell, chair and professor of government, will lead a discussion on Women Making History: The 19th Amendment Book
- April 28 at 9:30 a.m. – Jennifer Lawrence, professor of history, will lead a discussion on The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote
Events will be added throughout the grant period. Visit the Library’s website to learn more.
As part of the grant, TCC will receive the following books:
- The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Voteby Elaine Weiss
- Women Making History: The 19th Amendment Book, essays compiled by the National Park Service
- Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for Allby Martha S. Jones
- Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wellsby Michelle Duster
- The Once and Future Witchesby Alix E. Harrow
Celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2022, Let’s Talk About It is a reading and discussion program that involves groups of people reading a series of books selected by national project scholars and discussing them in the context of an overarching theme. The format for a Let’s Talk About It program involves a 10-week series. Every two weeks, a discussion group meets with a local humanities scholar to discuss one of the five books in the theme.
LTAI: Women’s Suffrage is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). To explore resources from past LTAI themes, visit the project website.