The public memory of women's suffrage in Iowa

This paper examines the concept of public memory by comparing two created memories marking the achievement of women's suffrage in Iowa: (1) the installation of a memorial honoring suffragists in 1936; and (2) the 50th anniversary of the League of Women Voters (and the Nineteenth Amendment) in 1969-1970. Both memories depended heavily on the agendas of the organizations doing the remembering. The paper shows how socially mainstream organizations attempted to shape public suffrage memories in ways that posed little threat to contemporary social structures. Their memories of suffrage bolstered their particular visions of women's societal role. The paper also charts how suffrage memories became less concerned with individuals and local events as years passed.