FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT:
Monday, February 1, 2010 Ellen K. Wheeler, (585) 279-7490, ext. 12
Director of Development & Public Relations
Susan B. Anthony House Annual Birthday Luncheon
to feature exciting one-act play
Rochester, NY—The Susan B. Anthony House begins a year of celebrating the 90th anniversary of the ratification in 1920 of the 19th Amendment—the Susan B. Anthony Amendment—at its annual birthday luncheon on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 with a stirring one-act play called Hear My Voice: Win The Vote, about the struggle to gain voting rights for women. The event—the House’s major fundraiser—celebrates Susan B. Anthony’s life, work, and legacy, and is held each year near her February 15 birthday. The Presenting Sponsor is Van Bortel Ford—Van Bortel Subaru.
Hear My Voice: Win the Vote takes us on a journey back to the first two decades of the 20th century, essentially the years between Susan B. Anthony’s death in 1906 and the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The presentation brings this important history to life in a multi-media production, incorporating the sights and sounds of that tumultuous time, when the battle for political equality raged in the Unites States as another battle plunged nations into a world war. We learn the story through Jessica, a young woman devoted to The Cause in spite of her family’s ardent opposition. We see and sense the struggle through her eyes and through her family’s experiences in World War I. We watch everyone in Jessica’s family face their own decisions about what they believe is right and the actions they are willing to take on this pivotal issue. Through these difficulties and conflicts before Susan B. Anthony’s vision of political equality for women finally became law, we gain a new understanding of the legacy of all of these courageous pioneer women.
This presentation is the creation of a national production company called Living Voices as part of its series of significant topics from our nation’s history. Portraying Jessica will be actor Elizabeth Rainer from New York City, who has acted in plays all across the country, in movies—including Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Jack Goes Boating—and in many television shows.
Deborah Hughes, executive director of the Susan B. Anthony House, said, “We are always searching for new and compelling ways to tell history. This performance does all that and more. Most people don’t know the story of the suffrage campaign in its final years and will be both amazed and moved by the courage of the countless pioneer women and men who made it happen. In addition, as part of the House’s contract with Living Voices, and as a gift to the school children of Rochester, the play will be performed the following day in Rochester city schools. Not only is this an important story to tell, it’s important for us to reach as many people as possible with it, especially young people.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, please go to www.susanbanthonyhouse.org or call 585-235-6124, ext. 10.
Mission Statement (adopted 1/2007): The Susan B. Anthony House is a learning center through which we share and interpret Miss Anthony’s life as a champion of women’s rights, thereby inspiring and challenging individuals to make a positive difference in their lives and communities.
The Susan B. Anthony House is supported primarily through the contributions of its members and donors. The Susan B. Anthony House is not affiliated with other organizations bearing her name.
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