Women's History

• Corner in Celebrities: Frankfort Suffragists

  By Kate Hesseldenz, Curator

  Laura Clay and group marching for the Madison, Fayette, and Franklin Kentucky Equal Rights Association, at Democratic National Convention in St. Louis Date, ca. 1916, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center

  Founded in 1888, the Kentucky Equal Rights Association (K.E.R.A.), was the first women’s rights organization in the South. Names such as Laura Clay and Madeline McDowell Breckinridge come to mind as leaders of Kentucky’s suffrage movement. Although not as well known, there were many other women who were involved. 

• This Band of Devoted Women: Preservation Stories of Mount Vernon and Liberty Hall

  By Becky Shipp

  Mount Vernon, 1850s and Liberty Hall, 1934

  Ann Pamela Cunningham of South Carolina established the Mount Vernon Ladies Association (MVLA) in 1853. Her work and legacy of rescuing and restoring Mount Vernon, the former home of George Washington in Virginia, is recognized as the beginning of the historic preservation movement in the United States and the inspiration for many women to become involved in this work in their own communities.