Thursday, March 19, 2020

The Forum, Michigan History Center
702 W. Kalamazoo St, Lansing, MI 48915
6:30pm – 8:00pm
In collaboration with Michigan Women Forward

Topic: Woman’s Suffrage: The West Came First

“Determined to Rise”: Women’s Historic Activism for Equal Rights

Panelists:

• Dr. Molly Rozum, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, The University of South Dakota (Vermillion, SD): Molly P. Rozum, Ph.D., is the co-editor (with Lori Ann Lahlum) of Equality at the Ballot Box: Votes for Women on the Northern Great Plains, published by South Dakota Historical Society Press (2019). The volume includes her article, “Citizenship, Civilization, and Property: The 1890 South Dakota Vote on Woman Suffrage and Indian Suffrages.” Rozum is Associate Professor and Ronald R. Nelson Chair of Great Plains and South Dakota History at The University of South Dakota, Vermillion and teaches the histories of South Dakota, and the Great Plains, and the American West, and Modern Women’s History. Rozum grew up in Mitchell, South Dakota.
• Dr. Lori Ann Lahlum, Professor, Department of History, Minnesota State University, Mankato (Mankato, MN): Lori Ann Lahlum is professor of history at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where she teaches courses on the American West, Minnesota history, and western women’s and gender history. She and Molly Rozum edited Equality at the Ballot Box: Votes for Women on the Northern Great Plains, which came out with South Dakota Historical Press in 2019. Lahlum also publishes on Norwegian America.
• Dr. Virginia Caruso, Historian and Member, Board of Trustees, Historical Society of Michigan (Plainwell, MI): Virginia Paganelli Caruso retired in 2001 after 34 years of teaching history at 4-year liberal arts colleges, and community colleges. She holds graduate degrees from the University of Michigan where she received her MA, has a Specialist in the Arts degree from Western Michigan University, and her PhD from Michigan State University. Her interest in both Michigan and Women’s History dates back to early 1981 when she discovered that the standard texts on Michigan History were inconsistent about when women in Michigan achieved equal suffrage. Focusing on this topic for her dissertation, she has been researching and talking about Woman Suffrage, voting rights, voting in Michigan, and the political activism of women ever since. She currently serves on the board of the Historical Society of Michigan, moderates panels at HSM conferences, serves as a Michigan History Day judge, and is active with the local Friends of Michigan Library Group. She also conducts local history research with the informal local history group that uses the library’s resources.
• Moderator: Valerie Marvin, Historian & Curator of the Michigan State Capitol (Lansing, MI): Valerie Marvin serves as the Historian & Curator of the Michigan State Capitol, a National Historic Landmark. In this capacity, she oversees the Capitol’s historical collections, and conducts extensive research on Capitol and legislative history, sharing her findings through publications, lectures, and social media. She is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan (Bachelor of Arts in Russian Studies, 2005) and Eastern Michigan University (Masters of Science in Historic Preservation, 2009). She is an active member of the Historical Society of Greater Lansing, the Downtown Lansing Inc. Design Committee, and the Lansing Woman’s Club. Valerie lives with her husband David in a 1906 home in downtown Lansing.

To register, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/determined-to-rise-womens-historic-activism-for-equal-rights-tickets-93316306585