In this episode, we talk about the suffrage movement in Indiana.

Some of the activists and events in the IN voting rights campaign:

• Sojourner Truth traveled to Indiana several times to speak in a number of towns, while the state’s 1851 constitution barred Black persons from entering to reside or settle.
• Helen Gougar mobilized scores of women to show up at the polls around the state in 1894, demanding the right to vote, and she sued her county for denying her suffrage, ultimately testifying before the Indiana Supreme Court.
• Madam C.J. Walker–pioneering Black business owner of a hair and beauty empire–hosted meetings of the African American Indiana Equal Suffrage Association in her Indianapolis home and donated generously to the movement.
• Ida Usted Harper was a Hall-of-Fame journalist and worked with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton on the history of women’s suffrage project.

About our Guest:

Melissa Gentry is the Supervisor of the Paul W. Stout Map Collection at Ball State University Libraries. She was a featured speaker for the Indiana Suffrage Centennial and created a set of maps about the history of Indiana women battling for the ballot. She also serves as the coordinator of the Muncie and Delaware County Notable Women local history project, which won the Outstanding Collaborative Project Award from the Indiana Historical Society in 2023.

Links to People, Places, Publications:

Indiana & the 19th Amendment (here)

Visit the Sojourner Truth statue (here)

Naomi Anderson Biographical Sketch (here)

Visit the Naomi Anderson memorial sculpture (here)

Helen Gougar Biographical Sketch (here)

Visit the Helen Gougar historical marker (here)

Visit the Marie Stuart Edwards statue (here)

Ida Usted Harper Biographical Sketch (here)

Madam C.J. Walker Biographical Sketch (here)

Visit the Madam Walker Legacy Center (here)

Carrie Barnes Biographical Sketch (here)

Visit the May Wright Sewall historical marker (here)

Visit the Grace Julian Clark historical marker (here)

CM Marihugh is a public history consultant and currently conducting independent research for a book on commemoration of the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. She has an M.A. in Public History from State University of New York, and an M.B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Learn more about:

• National Votes for Women Trail (here)
• National Votes for Women Trail - William G. Pomeroy historical markers (here)
• National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (here)

Do you have a question, comment, or suggestion? Get in touch! Send an e-mail to NVWTpodcast@ncwhs.org