Abolitionist, women’s rights leader to be portrayed at AAUW meeting

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, an abolitionist and women’s rights leader, will be remembered in a historical portrayal during a Monday, September 22, meeting of the Oak Ridge Branch of the AAUW.

The presentation is titled “In Her Own Voice: Elizabeth Cady Stanton Remembers.”

The AAUW will meet at 11:30 a.m. in Room 102 of the Activities Building of First United Presbyterian Church. A catered luncheon will be served at 11:30 a.m., with the program beginning at noon.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, along with Susan B. Anthony, headed a group, which was also interested in women’s rights, that gathered 400,000 signatures on a petition to bring about the immediate passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to end slavery in the United States, a press release said.

Later, the 15th Amendment lifted restrictions on voting on the basis of race and color, but not gender. Stanton then worked, along with others, to secure the right to vote for women. A suffrage bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate every year between 1878 and 1919, and it passed in 1923. Stanton was a proponent of women’s rights in other areas, such as the right to hold property in their own names.

Portraying Stanton at the AAUW meeting will be Teresa Collard, director of the University of Tennessee at Martin’s Women Center. Collard is a member of the Department of Communications faculty at UTM, and she teaches courses in public speaking and interpersonal communications.

Lisa LeBleu, graduate coordinator and professor of family and consumer sciences education at UTM, will introduce the production, play the guitar, and lead the audience in singing suffrage songs.

The public is invited to attend, the press release said. To make reservations for the luncheon of sandwiches and soup provided by the Soup Kitchen, call Mary Uziel at (865) 483-1043 or Marge Congdon at (865) 483-3120.

AAUW (American Association of University of Women) is a nationwide organization which “advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research.” The Oak Ridge Branch of AAUW meets the fourth Monday of the month at noon and welcomes inquiries about membership.