Why a Woman Suffrage Museum?

The Suffrage Coalition has spent decades locating and preserving the history of Tennessee woman suffrage. The posters, postcards, letters and other artifacts bring to life the passions on both sides. In the presence of such artifacts one can feel some of the sting of the ridicule and insults the suffragists often faced. Reading their own words, you can begin to understand what they endured against all odds, and understand why they continued to work toward woman suffrage when there was no energy left, and hope was dim. A dynamic Suffrage Museum will serve as a resource for teachers, students, researchers and lifelong learners. Properly constructed, a Suffrage Museum will serve as a meeting house for groups interested not only in woman suffrage, but in social and political justice. It can demonstrate the many "Shades of Suffrage," preserving the contributions of all people, of all races and creeds, and to tell the story of the courageous men who stood up for woman suffrage.