VCU Commemorates Centennial Anniversary of the Founding of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia with a March and Building Dedication

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Humanities and Sciences, the VCU Libraries and the Virginia League of Women Voters are commemorating the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, which took place Nov. 20, 1909, at Anne Clay Crenshaw’s house, 919 W. Franklin St.

A suffrage march and official renaming of the building to Crenshaw House will take place at noon on Friday, Nov. 20. Marchers will assemble on the Shafer Court side of Ginter House, 901 W. Franklin St., and will march to the Crenshaw House, 919 W. Franklin St. The public is welcome to participate.

Monica Rao, VCU international alumni relations liaison and spouse of VCU's president, and VCU Rector Panny Rhodes will participate.

Marchers will carry signs and banners promoting women’s suffrage and will sing songs connected to the movement. Some marchers will wear costumes from the era.

The Equal Suffrage League became the League of Women Voters of Virginia in 1920 shortly after the 19 th Amendment was ratified, granting women the right to vote. The Crenshaw family lived in the house for nearly 40 years. It currently is called the Younger House and was purchased by Richmond Professional Institute, now VCU, in the 1960s. It houses the VCU Center for Public Policy.

Learn more about the founding of the Equal Suffrage League in the Special Collections and Archives section, located in the fourth floor of the James Branch Cabell Library, 901 Park Ave., or by visiting http://www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/speccoll/exhibit/crenshaw.html.