PITTSVILLE, WI (WSAU) — First Lady of Wisconsin Kathy Evers and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Carolyn Stanford Taylor made a stop in Pittsville last Friday.
The reason for the visit was to help students mark the 100th Anniversary of Wisconsin’s ratification of the 19th Amendment, making it the first state in the union to give women the right to vote.
First Lady Evers told students that voting is a right that needs to be appreciated.
“I’m traveling around the state and talking to the school groups, and I hope you’ll leave here with the message today that voting is an essential part of our democracy,” Evers said. “It’s a right of citizenship that people have discussed, protested, and sometimes fought for throughout time. And that’s what we’re going to talk about and celebrate today.”
And State Superintendent Stanford Taylor encouraged the students who are nearing voting age to exercise their right to vote. “Once you’re of age, and you have that opportunity, you have an obligation to vote. And remember how important this right is, and how hard fought it was.”
The pair stopped in Pittsville as part of a tour around the state announcing new classroom resources that “help students recognize the work of Wisconsin’s women political leaders and activists.”
Earlier this year, Governor Evers signed an executive order creating the ‘Committee to Celebrate the Centennial Anniversary of Wisconsin’s Ratification of the 19th Amendment,’ along with creation of a ‘school toolkit’ to help educate students on the topic.
For more information on Wisconsin’s role in the suffrage movement, you can visit www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS16052.
