Recognizing
the Importance of women's Suffrage Everywhere
Upper
Peninsula
This is a backup website! (URL: http://pages.mtu.edu/~fmorriso/riseUP/) (The official webpage will be www.riseupkc.org)
For more information: riseUP-info-l@mtu.edu.
The mission of riseUP is to:
- Commemorate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States,
- Commemorate the suffrage and acquisition of full citizenship rights by all populations,
- Highlight the civic and cultural contributions of women,
- Encourage everyone to exercise their right to vote
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Next event of riseUP or related to riseUP's mission:
- Next meeting of riseUP: None planned due to the pandemic. Zoom meetings of the whole will be announced here. All welcome. All committees are open to new members and there are several spots available on the Board.
- Book club readings: Planning in the works for June 2020 by Zoom. Stay tuned! The discussion will be recorded and archived on the website of the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, https://carnegiekeweenaw.org/.
- Flilmshowing: Maiden,
Wednesday, June 17, 2020 / 6:30pm 308 Cooper Ave., Hancock, MI
49930. Women's achievements in sport include the thrilling story
of Captain Tracy Edwards and her all-woman crew who competed in the
1989-1990 Whitbread Round the World Race. (documentary, 2019,
directed by Alex Holmes)
Hosted by Faith Morrison and Tom Co.. - Women’s Suffrage from an
African-American
Perspective, Jessica
Anderson,
(New date: 9 August
2020, tentatively by Zoom) 10:30am 2nd Sunday at the
Keweenaw Unitarian
Universalist
Fellowship (KUU), BHK Building. The Zoom the link can be
requested from worship@keweenawuu.org.
- Friends of Fashion Show, July 12, 2020. The Friends of Fashion at the Chassell Heritage Center use their collection of vintage clothing and accessories to perform their unique combination of a fashion show, moving exhibit, and history lesson. In 2020, the Friends of Fashion is including Suffrage in their summer show, as one of 3 segments. Join us in the Chassell Historical Society Center.
- 15 August 2020 Suffrage Parade Led by winged Victory on a white horse, evoking the suffragist parade of 1913 in Washington D.C., this parade will mark the 100th anniversary since the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Significant contributors to the success of the seven-decade suffrage struggle, both national and local, are highlighted. Come join the celebration!
- Women and Women's Suffrage in the Copper Country. Opening reception, date TBD, approximate. Local riseUP researchers are hard at work gathering historical evidence of the fight for women's suffrage in the Keweenaw. Meet Cora Doolittle Jeffers and her husband Fred A. Jeffers, avid suffragists. Fred became Superintendent and Cora Principal of the Adams Township School District in September 1894. Jeffers School is named for them. Cora and Fred worked tirelessly for suffrage from their home in the U.P. And there's so much more! The date listed for the opening of the exhibit is approximate, as the materials are under development. Check back for details. Want to help? Message us!
- Faith Morrison, Secretary
- Elise Nelson
- Susanna Peters
- You! To join the board, email fmorriso9@yahoo.com.
- Parade
- Inclusivity
- Publicity
- Exhibits and Events (several subcommittees)
- Art/Culture
- Educational Outreach
- Finance
riseUP and Related
Events Archive
2019
Donate
to riseUP (THANKS!).
The League of Women Voters of the Copper Country has agreed to be our
fiduciary for accepting donations. Please send your check made
out to LWVCC to:
LWVCC, P.O. Box 815, Houghton, MI 49931 with this donor
form. Please write
"riseUP" in the memo line of your check.
riseUP Publicity Posters
riseUP in the News
2019
- Sunflowers Across the Keweenaw Kansas suffragists adopted the state’s sunflower symbol for their campaign in 1867. Yellow then became the color of the suffragist movement, and suffragists were encouraged to wear the color and flower to show their support, according to the National Museum of American History. The Arts and Culture Committee has created a wave of sunflowers across the Keweenaw; others are working on spreading this to the UP. The sunflowers are on display at 5th & Elm Coffeeshop in Houghton among other places.
- 26 August 2019.
Women's Equality Day (US holiday). At the behest of Rep. Bella
Abzug (D-NY), in 1971 and passed in 1973, the U.S. Congress
designated August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day.” The date was selected
to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the
Constitution, elimiating restrictions on women voting.
- Constitution Day, Michigan Technological University, 17 September 2019. Celebrating the 19th Amendement to the Constitution. The Van Pelt and Opie Library, the League of Women Voters of the Copper Country, and riseUP are cosponsored a suffrage-themed movie for Constitution Day, 17 September 2019. The movie Iron Jawed Angels was shown in the East Reading Room of the Library on Tech's campus at 7:30pm followed by a discussion led by Michigan Tech Lecturer Susanna Peters, J.D.. We attracted a crowd of about 30 interested viewers. Thanks for coming and thanks for the discussion!
- Parade of Nations 21 Sept 2019 (participant). riseUP marched in the Parade of Nations kicking off the local public celebration of 100 years of Women's Suffrage in the U.S. Women and men of all ages payed homage to the suffragists who fought to eliminate gender restrictions from the Constitution. To get into the spirit, check out the 70's song from Schoolhouse Rock: Sufferin' 'til Suffrage.
- (endorsed) The Women of the Copper Country Author Visit 8-9 October 2019. Award Winning Author Mary Doria Russell to Visit Houghton for two special events centered around her recent novel, "The Women of the Copper Country." The Portage Lake District Library (PLDL) and the J. Robert Van Pelt and John and Ruanne Opie Library are excited to host her for a two-part presentation series. A formal lecture will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8 in the East Reading Room of the Van Pelt and Opie Library. A social hour and book signing will follow the presentation. The second event, an informal book talk and book signing, will take place from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 9 in the PLDL. Refreshments will be served at both events and all are welcome to attend.
- Educating at the Area-Wide Teacher Inservice, 11 October 2019, Houghton High School
- Educating at the Keweenaw Art Affair, 9 November 2019, Houghton High School. Stop by our booth for information and a sunflower pin (while supplies last).
- (endorsed ) Sounds of Finnish music - Finnish Independence Day - 6 Dec 2019 In honor of the 175th anniversary of the birth of Finland’s beloved feminist writer and champion of the underprivileged – Minna Canth, and centennial of diplomatic relations between the United States and Finland, and looking towards the year 2020 – the centennial of 19th Amendment of the Constitution granting American women the right to vote - the theme of this celebration of word and song will be “Minä olen”: Finnish Women of Strength. The program will include Sibelius pieces by pianist Kathleen Alatalo-Arten, solos by Matti Riutta and Marja Kilpelä and area women representing Finnish and Copper Country Finnish-American women who have impacted our history. A reception of Finnish and holiday goodies will follow the program.
- Educating at the Poor Artists Sale, Saturday, 7 December 2019 at the CLK Gymnasium in Calumet from 11am-4pm. Stop by our booth for information and a sunflower pin (while supplies last).
- Sirkka:
Past
and Present, 9 January 2020, 2pm and 6pm, a documentary film
by Krisitn Ojaniemi. Sirkka is alive still and is an early
feminist and political progressive. She will turn 100 in 2020.
This is a a project of the Finnish American Heritage Center; DVDs are
on sale at Finlandia University North Wind Books
(http://www.myfinnishamericanlife.com/blog/sirkka-the-movie).
This is the opening event of Heikinpäivä 2020.
- Women's March, 1pm Saturday 18 January 2020. The Board of riseUP joined with the sponsors of the Fourth Annual Women's March (Keweenaw edition) and the LWVCC to march for women's rights and equality. The 4th annual event was held in conjunction with the national Women’s’ March, with similar Sister Marches held across the country and around the world. About fifty marchers gathered in heavy snow in BridgeView park with their signs and walked across the Portage Lake Lift Bridge. Local organizer was Susan Burack (sburack@pasty.net).
- Heikinpaiva Parade on Jan 25 2020, Hancock. riseUP marched! 11 a.m. – Parade, downtown Hancock..
- Copper Country Chorale,
postponed March 15,
2020, "Justice for
All: A Celebration of the Women's Suffrage Centennial,"
special guests Susan Byykkonen and the Copper Country Brass
Quartet. Celebrates the suffrage anniversary by opening their
spring concert with “The March
of the Women,”
a song composed by Ethel Smyth in 1910, to words by Cicely Hamilton. It
became the official anthem of the Women's Social and Political Union
(WSPU) and more widely the anthem of the women's suffrage movement
throughout the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Activists sang it not only
at rallies but also in prison while they were on hunger strike.
The
Choral will also perform Sir Hubert Parry’s “Jerusalem,” including a
brass quartet in the rendition. Concert is at 3pm at St. Paul
Evangelical Lutheran Church, Laurium.
- Equal Pay Day Commemeration (31 March 2020). cancelled. Equal Pay Day symbolizes the extra days women work, on average, to catch up to what the average man earned the previous year. Red is worn on this day as a symbol of how far women and minorities are “in the red.” Join us in raising awareness of this persistent problem. In 2020 for the first time Equal Pay Day falls in March (not April). This represents some progress on the issue of equal pay for women.
- Arts Night Show, postponed Houghton Elementary, 5:30-7:30 pm. April 7, 2020, Elementary Gymnasium. Please join us in celebrating the arts at Houghton Elementary. The Arts Night Show will include the exhibit by Mrs.Hronkin's first grade class, who collaboratively created a sunflower mural in honor of the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote in the US. riseUP will be there, distributing literature, answering questions, appreciating the art.
- Petticoat
Patriots: How Michigan Women Won the Vote, Carnegie Museum,
Houghton, Virtual visit online. Opening reception was March 5,
2020 6:30-8pm; exhibit closed
13March due to covid-19 pandemic; SEE video visit
made by the Carnegie Museum and this PDF
of exhibit panels. This travelling
exhibit is from Michigan Women Forward, formerly the Michigan Women's
Historical Center & Hall of Fame. Funding and logistics
for this project is provided by the League of Women Voters of the
Copper Country. The opening reception included performances
by the "Suffragists Singers" and the Copper Country Chorale and also
present were the Friends of Fashion sporting 1920s attire.
- Notable Women in Hancock History, Zoom presentation by John Haeussler, 20 April 2020, 7pm talk, sponsored by the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, moderated by Faith Morrison of riseUP. Notable Women in Hancock History is about a small sampling of prominent women, all one-time residents of Hancock, Michigan, whose influence extends throughout the world. Audience participation is encouraged.Talk begins at 7:00 Questions & discussion to follow presentation. The talk will be recorded and archived on the website of the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, https://carnegiekeweenaw.org/.
- Women in Sports Zoom presentation by Dr. Elizabeth Benyi, 19 May 2020, 7pm talk. Share a tour of Women in Sports by Elizabeth Benyi, cosponsored by riseUP and the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw. Benyi begins at the beginning and narrates women's achievements and participation in sports the US, Michigan, and elsewhere. Do you have a "women or girls in sports" story or experience? Please share it with us during the meeting (or by email to fmorriso9@yahoo.com). The talk was recorded and archived on the website of the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw, https://carnegiekeweenaw.org/.
- Make sunflowers with
CCCAC (postponed;
contact Cynthia Cote). The
date and time of this event is
tentative. The sunflower was one of the flowers adopted by
the fight for women's suffrage, and here in the Keweenaw, we celebrate
the 100th anniversary of winning the fight for the vote by sporting the
sunflower. Join us at the CCCAC to exercise our creative juices
by making sunflowers. Also, Clubs and civic beautification
committees go all in planting sunflowers across the Keweenaw.
- Copper Traces, postponed May 12, 13, 14 2020. This is an event in which all 4th grade classes from the Western UP (500 kids) come to a mini local history fair run by the National Park Service. riseUP is planning a booth (contact Kristine Bradof to volunteer)
- Cora Jeffers, Physical Education and the Fight for Equal Rights, postponed March 19, 2020, 6:30 social, 7pm talk. Carnegie Museum Houghton, Dr. Laura Walikainen Rouleau, Michigan Tech. Cora Jeffers worked for the rights of women throughout her life. She traveled the Copper Country speaking out for women’s suffrage in the 1910s, and was a teacher and then principal of Painesdale (now Jeffers) High School for over 50 years. In 1934 when the swimming pool addition was built, Cora Jeffers, aged 64, learned to swim so she could then teach “swimming and fancy diving to all girls in the school.” Laura Rouleau, lecturer in Social Sciences at Michigan Tech, will talk about Cora Jeffers’ lifelong dedication to the equal rights and empowerment of women.
- Women and
Women's
Suffrage in the Copper Country. April 2020 Display under
development
at the Carnegie Museum of Houghton.
- Bridgefest Parade. cancelled. riseUP will participate in the 2020 Bridgefest parade, June 2020.
- 26 August 2020. Women's
Equality Day (US holiday). At the behest of Rep. Bella
Abzug (D-NY), in 1971 and passed in 1973, the U.S. Congress
designated August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day.” The date was selected
to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the
Constitution, eliminating restrictions on women voting.
- Friends of Fashion,
July 2020 (tentative)
- 15 August 2020 Suffrage Parade Led by winged Victory on a white horse, evoking the suffragist parade of 1913 in Washington D.C., this parade will mark the 100th anniversary since the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Significant contributors to the success of the seven-decade suffrage struggle, both national and local, are highlighted. Come join the celebration!
- 26 August 2020. Women's
Equality Day (US holiday). At the behest of Rep. Bella
Abzug (D-NY), in 1971 and passed in 1973, the U.S. Congress
designated August 26 as “Women’s Equality Day.” The date was selected
to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the
Constitution, eliminating restrictions on women voting.
- Constitution Day,
Michigan Technological University, 17 September 2020 (TBA, perhaps 15th
Amendment: The right of
citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.)
- Parade of Nations
19 Sept 2020 riseUP marches!
- (endorsed ) Keweenaw
Symphony
Orchestra Concert, 17 October 2020. Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra
will perform a piece by composer Stella Sung called "Rockwell
Reflections," which is based on five paintings by Norman Rockwell,
including one that depicts the Mississippi Burning murders (1964) that
played a central role in the Civil Rights Movement. For more
information, contact Joel Neves,
jbneves@mtu.edu.
riseUP Publicity Posters
- 7 July 2019: riseUP introduction and four events: 15 August 2020 Parade, Sunflowers Across the Keweenaw, Petticoat Patriots
- 3 Sept 2019 What's Up with the Sunflowers? Explains the Sunflower project
- 3 Sept 2019
Decal at 5th and Elm, What's up with the Sunflowers? Explains the
Sunflower project
- 17 Sept 2019: Publicity for the film "Iron Jawed Angels at Michigan Tech
- 6 November 2019: Trifold information brochure for educating on the history of woman suffrage in the U.S.
- 1 March 2020 Poster of riseUP list of events (prior to the Stay at home order)
- 1 April 2020 riseUP
poster, "What's with the Sunflowers?"
riseUP in the News
