VSU Wins American Library Association Grant for Women’s Suffrage Project

VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University’s Odum Library will participate in the American Library Association’s Let’s Talk About It: Women’s Suffrage, a scholar-led reading and discussion initiative designed to spark conversations about United States history and culture through an examination of the women’s suffrage movement.

More than 100 libraries across the nation applied to participate in this learning opportunity. Twenty-five libraries were selected.

Odum Library, working in collaboration with VSU’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program, received a $1,000 grant from the American Library Association to support programming costs plus 10 copies each of five books covering the struggle for women’s suffrage in the U.S.

Directed by Emily Rogers, Odum Library professor, the Let’s Talk About It: Women’s Suffrage project at VSU will kick off on March 10 and continue over a series of 10 weeks, with a new book introduced every two weeks. Discussions will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the William H. Mobley IV Reading Room inside VSU’s Archives and Special Collections, located on the fourth floor of the Odum Library. Refreshments will be served.

• Thursday, March 10 — Dr. Christine James, professor in VSU’s Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and recipient of the national Fuller E. Callaway Professional Chair award, will lead a discussion about “The Women’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote” by Elaine Weiss.

• Thursday, March 24 — Dr. A.J. Ramirez, coordinator of VSU’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program and lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice, will lead a discussion about “Women Making History: The 19^th Amendment Book,” essays compiled by the National Park Service.

• Thursday, April 7 — Dr. Josphine Chaumba, associate professor and director of VSU’s Social Work Program, will lead a discussion about “Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells” by Michelle Duster.  

• Thursday, April 21 — Dr. Sarah Wolk FitzGerald, assistant professor in VSU’s Department of History, will lead a discussion about “Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All” by Martha S. Jones.

• Thursday, May 5 — Dr. Shelly Yankovskyy, assistant professor in VSU’s Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice, will lead a discussion about “The Once and Future Witches” by Alix E. Harrow.

VSU’s Let’s Talk About It: Women’s Suffrage project application was coauthored by Rogers; James; Deborah Davis, director of Archives and Special Collections and Odum Library professor; and Robert Taylor, Odum Library assistant professor.

The American Library Association’s Let’s Talk About It: Women’s Suffrage educational initiative is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Please visit https://bit.ly/3vfdXjK to register for the discussions and learn more. Books will be distributed on a first come, first served basis.