Glendale Historical Society’s exhibit to highlight women’s suffrage

The Glendale Historical Society will kick off a new exhibit this Sunday in the Doctors House Museum that pays tribute to the group of women who fought for and won the right for women to vote nearly a century ago.

“The Faces of Women’s Suffrage” will focus on the presidential election of 1916 — the last election cycle for president before women ultimately won the right to head to the polls in 1920.

“In 1916, there were only 12 states that allowed women to vote, and 36 of them didn’t allow it,” said Peter Rusch, the exhibit’s curator.

The collection centers around eight key players from the women’s suffrage movement. Mannequins have been made to look like historic figures such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and Elizabeth Katie Stanton.

“We thought that this exhibit would be really appropriate to talk about suffrage given the fact in 1916, there was only one woman in Congress,” Rusch said.

Jeanette Rankin was that woman, and she was elected in 1914. She’s also featured in the exhibit.

“There were a lot of suffragettes, but we’re featuring the particular women who were important for equal rights,” Rusch said.

He said with the first-ever woman nominated for president — Hillary Clinton — that it was appropriate to put the spotlight back on women’s suffrage.

There will also be mention and photos of two local suffragettes from Glendale, Mary Joe H. Gridley-Braley and Jessie H. Russel.

Every four years, the Glendale Historical Society puts together an election exhibit for local students to visit on field trips, but the general public is also allowed to attend from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. A $5 donation is requested at the entrance.

The Doctors House Museum is located at 1692 Brand Park Drive. The exhibit will run through Oct. 23.

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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com

Twitter: @ArinMikailian