One of the major themes of this blog has been how we remember history: what we choose to remember, what we choose to celebrate (or exploit), and what we choose to forget or ignore. This year promises to be very interesting in the realm of “anniversary history”, with two big commemorations crowding the calendar: the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower in Massachusetts and the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment enfranchising American women after a long, long struggle. I don’t think anything else—certainly not the 200th anniversary of the Missouri Compromise (1820) or the 300th anniversary of the South Sea Bubble (1720)— can compete with these epic events. Yet looking ahead at the succession of initiatives and events designed to commemorate these two markers, I am struck by one notable difference: the Suffrage Centennial seems to be a truly national movement, with major events in Washington, D.C., every single state, and many localities as well, while the Mayflower anniversary seems much more restricted: to Massachusetts, and even to the descendants of the Pilgrim passengers. This might just be my American perspective: the Mayflower commemoration certainly has a broader geographic scope, incorporating Great Britain, the Netherlands, and the Wampanoag Nation, encompassing the Aquinnah and Mashpee tribes. My perception might also shaped by the fact the Suffrage Centennial is already very much in full swing, so we shall see.
Plans for the Suffrage Centennial have clearly been in the works for years, and their most dramatic manifestation was three major exhibitions in Washington: Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote at the National Archives Museum (May 10, 2019- January 3, 2021), Shall Not be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote at the Library of Congress (June 4, 2019-September, 2020), and Votes for Women: a Portrait of Persistence at the National Portrait Gallery (March, 2019-January 5, 2020). As you can see, the last exhibition ends this weekend, but there is a companion catalog with wonderful essays and images. These exhibitions are just the beginning of a wave of suffrage remembrance and interpretation, washing over the nation: the website of the Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative is a great place to go for events and resources but every state seems to have its own central site as well, linking to institutional and local initiatives. Here in Massachusetts, Suffrage100MA, the Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition, sponsors features like the “Suffragist of the Month” at the Commonwealth Museum, but is hardly the extent of commemorative activity: the Massachusetts Historical Society had a very visual exhibit entitled “Can She Do It?” Massachusetts Debates a Woman’s Right to Vote up over last summer, the Boston Athenaeum has an ongoing “Eye of the Expert: (Anti) Suffrage program focused on items from its collection, the Schlesinger Library at Harvard will feature Seeing Citizens: Picturing American Women’s Fight for the Vote from March 23 to October 3, 2020, and there are local events all around me commencing next month. This very layered exploration of the coming of universal suffrage has been extremely comprehensive, examining the complexities of the struggle, divisions of class and race, and all sorts of attendant aspects (and materials!)—and there’s a lot more to learn and see.
Ace of Spades card (verso and recto) from a c. 1915 deck published by the National Woman Suffrage Publishing Co., Boston Athenaeum.
By contrast, the coming commemoration of the Mayflower’s arrival doesn’t seem very layered or very national: there are no events in Washington that I could find. The official US website for the commemoration is Plymouth400, Inc., which reports that the April 24 Opening Ceremony will be a two-hour event of historical content, musical headliners, interpretive readings, choreographed movement, original productions, and visual narratives to create a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. The Plymouth 400 Legacy Time Capsule will be introduced, and the first items will be placed inside by special guests. Honoring the past and celebrating the future, each of the commemoration themes – exploration, innovation, self-governance, religious expression, immigration, and thanksgiving – will be presented in creative ways. Invited participants include state and federal officials, representatives of the UK, The Netherlands, colony partners, and many more. Besides this extravaganza, it’s all about the ship: the Mayflower II (1957), which has been under repair in Mystic, Connecticut for several years. The newly-restored ship will sail to Boston for a maritime festival in May (docking right next to the Constitution, which should look cool), and then proceed home to Plymouth via Provincetown for more festivities in both ports. I do see references to attendant exhibitions on Pilgrim women and the Wampanoags on the Plymouth400 site, but nothing like the diffusion of inspired initiatives associated with the commemoration of suffrage.
The Mayflower II seemed to be more of a national story in 1957; on the stop in Provincetownfrom Boston to Plymouth, there will be a “reenactment of the signing of the Mayflower Compact and VIP reception”.
The Plymouth400 website might not be comprehensive but it is all we have to go on; it is also, very decidedly, not a resource, with minimal effort toward edification. When compared to the much more impressive official British commemoration website Mayflower400 it is exposed for just what it is: a Chamber of Commerce production. After watching all of the poignant expressions of remembrance associated with the commemoration of each and every phase of World War One over the past few years, I am not surprised to see the sophistication, earnestness, and creativity of the British commemoration of the Mayflower voyage, which will include the opening of a Mayflower Trail through and outside Plymouth, multiple exhibits, public art and music projects, living history events, a muster, festivals, illuminations, a religious history conference, and even sporting events. The website links to resources and is itself a resource, with digital maps exploring the sites associated with the Mayflower itself and every single passenger and crew member. It brings all these people to Plymouth and then to America ( some via Leiden): why can’t we have something similar that shows where they went once they got here? As I am not a Mayflower descendant, I am forming the opinion that if I want to feel a real connection to those who left England in 1620 I had better make my way to Plymouth in Devon rather than Plymouth in Bristol County.
The official British program and interactive maps on the Mayflower400 website, which also includes artwork that has been seldom seen (over here, at least), like Anthony Thompson’s 1938 painting The ‘Mayflower’ Leaving Plymouth, 1620 @Essex County Council.
January 1st, 2020 at 8:55 pm
Hi Donna,
Thanks for reviewing the many commemorations planned in 2020 for “the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower in Massachusetts and the 100th anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment enfranchising American women after a long, long struggle.”
As always, you accompany your post with appropriate archival materials. I must say that the third suffragette image down has a definite religious sentiment, complete with a halo effect. N’est-ce pas?
I hope you get to Plymouth in Devon where the voyage is nicely celebrated for tourists of historical persuasion. For others interested in the event, I suggest reading Nathaniel Philbrik’s MAYFLOWER, the story of Courage, Community, and War published in 2007. Wow, he tells a great story and carries the narrative many years beyond 2020.
Donna, the best to you and your readers for the New Year and beyond…
January 2nd, 2020 at 7:26 am
To you as well, Helen! It’s going to be a busy year!
January 2nd, 2020 at 8:00 am
LOL, I meant that Philbrick “carries the narrative well beyond 1620”!
January 2nd, 2020 at 12:10 pm
One difference from 1920: it’s the British who are offering a commemorative coin on the Pilgrims, not the United States.
January 2nd, 2020 at 3:05 pm
Ooooh I didn’t notice that, Brian, thank you! I am really struck by the limited nature of the Mayflower commemoration over here—I’m wondering if the 1619 project took the wind out of its sails?
January 2nd, 2020 at 4:10 pm
Word play noted. 🙂 🙂
That the U.S. is not celebrating it all that much makes some sense; the New England bias in American historiography is long dissipated, and both 1607 and 1619 may seem more important now.
But it is strange that England is so interested. Nostalgia for the days of empire, perhaps?
January 2nd, 2020 at 4:42 pm
I think that is interesting too! Very robust commemoration over there. I’m definitely going over to check it out.
January 4th, 2020 at 5:07 pm
Incidentally, Scooby Manor, the subject of my English friend’s documentary, is included on the British site.
January 2nd, 2020 at 7:36 pm
This might be a (the?) commemorative decade altogether. After Plymouth, a slew of Massachusetts towns (in Essex County, first?) will have their bit of fame renewed, including Salem. How many will there be?
Somewhat like the Magna Carta, if I understand correctly, Americans (the ABA, in particular) helped UK’ers appreciate the document’s significance. On the last look-back, there was much more support in the UK than was seen before. We will have another in 2025 (Henry III’s issue).
https://thomasgardnersociety.org/html/Annals/Magna%20Carta.pdf
The Mayflower helps get the connections back to focus. But, it’s a mere beginning.
January 2nd, 2020 at 7:46 pm
You’re right—we’re in for a period of commemoration. I have no confidence, sadly, in Salem’s ability to rise to the occasion. We are Witch City.
January 6th, 2020 at 10:04 am
Sidney’s work could be an inspiration. Except, the media would be the many marvels that technology has given us, including the blog.
https://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/2020/01/houses-and-homes-note-to-salem.html
January 3rd, 2020 at 3:11 am
From the UK! Informative and interesting Donna. I’ve shared your post on our Fairlynch Museum Facebook page. And your thoughts – and some of the comments have stirred me into writing a rather long response on my Conant 400 blog. A commemorative decade? Yes. I want to tell my readers about Roger Williams & co as well as Roger Conant. We’re pretty ignorant over here about the complex creation of the USA, and the stupid Brexit has not helped.
March 24th, 2020 at 9:38 am
[…] 6. Anniversary Digital Exhibitions: Both private and university research libraries characteristically observe historical anniversaries by putting together digital exhibitions of images and texts. 2017 was the anniversary of Luther’s 95 Theses and the beginning of the Reformation, so there were many such exhibitions which are now archived: two of my favorites are Cambridge University Library’s Remembering the Reformation and the University of Arizona’s Special Collections Library’s After 500 Years: the Protestant Reformation. This year, digital exhibitions on the anniversary of Woman suffrage abound: see my previous round-up here. […]