100th Anniversary - LWV of the Gunnison Valley

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100th Anniversary Quilt

A group of LWVGV members created this beautiful Suffrage Quilt to be auctioned in the future. Members who worked on the quilt were Sharon Cave, Lyda Hardy, Ellen Harriman, Doris Kuiper, Rochelle Needham, and Shary Templeton. Each tea saucer displays the name of a suffragist. A booklet telling the stories of the twenty-five women on the quilt is now available on Amazon:

100th Anniversary Tea

WSC performers

LWVGV celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the League and the 100th Anniversary of women's suffrage on March 1, 2020 at the Fred Field Western Heritage Center in Gunnison. One Hundred guests enjoyed a tea menu catered by Pedals and Pastries and entertainment by the Western Colorado University Theatre Department. Gunnison Mayor Jim Gelwicks presented a proclamation honoring the Gunnison Valley League from the City of Gunnison.

Ellen Harriman and Lyda Hardy wearing first and second generation suffrage costumes.

Six Minutes for Suffrage: short vignettes on people and events of the suffrage movement. Below are the presentations members heard (or read in the newsletter during the COVID-19 stay at home period).

Six minutes for Suffrage will continue during the 2020-2021 League year. If you are interested in presenting, please contact Programs@lwvgunnison.org
We have some topics we can suggest, if you are not sure about a topic.

September Katie Dix Why Celebrate Women’s Equality

October Sue Oates Women in Politics

November Lyda Hardy Susan B. Anthony Votes

December Lyda Hardy Inez Milholland

January Lyda Hardy Splits in the Suffrage Movement

February Gail Davidson Women Vote in the West

March Lyda Hardy Lucy Stone

April Shary Templeton Black Women in the Suffrage Movement

May Rochelle Needham Susan B. Anthony Visits Lake City

June Narcissa Channell Janette Rankin

Gunnison County proclamation

100th Anniversary Proclamations

LWVGV appreciates having proclamations honoring the organization given by both
Gunnison County and the City of Gunnison.
Thanks to both the County Commissioners and
the City Councilors.

Brenda Freeburn and Lyda Hardy representing LWVGV with John Messner, Roland Mason, and Jonathan Houck, Gunnison County Commissioners

WCU students in front of Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum window display they created

100th Anniversary Displays

During our anniversary year, displays were created at both the Mountain Heritage Museum in Crested Butte and at Treads and Threads in Gunnison. The Mountain Heritage display was curated by a group of students from Western Colorado University, and the Treads and Threads display was created by member Ann Landwehr with Donna Nielsen helping with the installation. Thank you to both organizations and all the people involved.

part of display created at Gunnison business Treads and Threads

100th Anniversary Book Discussion

Prior to the January meeting, interested members discussed the book
Jailed for Freedom by Doris Stevens. The book is a first person account
of the strategies and tactics used by the National Women's Party and their
talented leader Alice Paul during the years 1913 through 1920 as they
lobbied for the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Events included
picketing in front of the White House (the first time any group attempted
this), arrests, incarcerations, hunger strikes, and forced feeding. It was
amazing to see what our foremothers did so that women could vote.
Feel free to use our discussion questions attached here.