Bernadette
Cahill of Richland Parish has published two books on women’s struggle to obtain
the vote, a right that has only been in existence since 1920.
Cahill’s
books are “Alice Paul, the National Woman’s Party and the Vote: the First Civil Rights Struggle of the 20th Century” and “Arkansas Women and the Vote: The LittleRock Campaigns 1868-1920.”
The “Alice Paul” book, a story of
the national campaigns, examines the pioneering non-violent votes for women
campaign from 1913-1920 based in Washington, D.C., while the Arkansas book
tells the same story from the local perspective of Little Rock. The campaign
for votes for women resulted in the largest enfranchisement of citizens of the
United States — 26.5 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau in
1920. The anniversary of the 19th Amendment passage approaches in
2020.
Cahill was
producer and the host of the former KEDM radio show “Memories” at UL-Monroe,
she was a classical music host when KEDM was launched and has been an
occasional contributor on women’s history to the Richland Beacon-News. Cahill
has made many presentations about votes for women, including one at the Clinton
School of Public Service in 2012 when the 19th Amendment document on display at
the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. Her talk is available to watch here.She is currently researching and writing about the women’s campaign for equal rights, specifically the vote, from 1776 to 1876, with special focus on Reconstruction, when women were excluded from the equality established for men then by Congress and national reformers. She also often produces specialized articles on women’s history and writes each summer about historic themes and travel for “High Country Magazine” in Boone, NC.
Women’s History Month
The University of Louisiana at
Lafayette’s Center for Louisiana Studies observes Women’s History Month with LA
Femme/Women of Louisiana: A Symposium on Wednesday at the Paul and LuLu
Hilliard University Art Museum’s A. Hays Town Building. The free day-long symposium
culminates with an evening book launch of “Louisiana Women: Their Lives and
Times, Volume Two,” co-edited by Mary Farmer Kaiser, dean of the ULL Graduate
School and published by the University of Georgia Press.
The program includes sessions on
the state of women’s studies in Louisiana, health accessibility and disparity,
intimate partner violence, campus culture and gender issues and a discussion of
defining women and inclusivity. A Brown Bag Lunch Talk with Dr. Janet Allured
will focus on her forthcoming book, “Remapping Second-Wave Feminism: The Long
Women’s Rights Movement in Louisiana, 1950-1997.” Speakers are drawn from the
university community, including faculty, undergraduate and graduate students,
as well as the community.
To reserve your seat and see the
full program, visit http://lafemmesymposium.eventbrite.com/ The
Brown Bag Lunch Talk requires separate registration and payment for lunch. For
more information, visit http://louisianastudies.louisiana.edu/,
email clspresents@louisiana.edu or call (337) 482-6027.
Cheré Dastugue Coen is
the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris
Bags and Sachets.” She
also writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie
Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.
