Proposed Women’s Suffrage Museum needs your support
By Mike Steely
Senior Writer
steelym@knoxfocus.com
The Suffrage Coalition came to visit the Knoxville City Council meeting Tuesday even though it was not on the agenda. The members brought gifts to the council members, including cut sunflowers, to remind them and the public of a special project.
The coalition is planning a Women’s Suffrage Museum and has raised $1 million, but needs to double that amount to secure a location on Gay Street between the Bijou and the Tennessee theatres. October 31st is the deadline for donations to be made at suffragecoalition.org/.
”Your support is critical,” President Wanda Sobieski told those at the meeting last week. Acquiring a permanent physical home on Gay Street would safeguard the powerful story of women’s right to vote and preserve the local suffrage legacy.
Several donation categories are available, including becoming an Individual Founders Circle Member for a $50,000 contribution. A $10,000 donation also brings recognition and benefits.
Businesses and individuals can also donate by mail to Suffrage Coalition, P.O. Box 14322, Knoxville, Tn. 37914 or by texting 1848 to 44321.
The fight for women’s suffrage was one of the longest and hardest transformative movements in America’s history. Tennessee played a vital part in that struggle with the constitutional amendment passing by one vote after the mother of a state legislator pleaded with him to approve it. He did so, and Tennessee was the final necessary vote nationwide.
