The 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment is Aug. 18, 2020.

The L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum is celebrating the centennial of women’s suffrage in the U.S. with “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence, A Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition.” The exhibition is designed in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery.

The project received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative and will be a “virtual” exhibit found at the museum’s website, rotmuseum.org.

The story of women’s suffrage is a story of voting rights, of inclusion in and exclusion from the franchise, and of civic development as a nation. The exhibition explores the complexity of the women’s suffrage movement and the relevance of this history to Americans today.

The crusade for women’s suffrage is one of the longest reform movements in American history. Between 1832 and 1920, women organized for the right to vote, agitating first in their states or territories and also by petitioning for a federal amendment to the Constitution.

Based on the National Portrait Gallery exhibition of the same name, Votes for Women seeks to expand visitors’ understanding of the suffrage movement in the United States. The poster exhibition addresses women’s political activism, explores the racism that challenged universal suffrage and documents the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which prohibits the government from denying U.S. citizens the right to vote on the basis of gender. It also touches on the suffrage movement’s relevance to current conversations on voting and voting rights across America.

The museum presents the exhibit to provide an opportunity for visitors to explore national and historical events that have had a lasting impact on the local community.

Three of Fountain Hills’ eight mayors have been women, serving a total of 12 years of the 30 the Town has been incorporated. Ginny Dickey starts her second term in December, which will increase the number of years served by women to 14. The other women mayors are the late Sharon Morgan and Linda Kavanagh.

Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence remains online at rotmuseum.org through Sept. 30 this year.