Today’s Agents of Change: Recreating an Iconic Women’s Suffrage Photo

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In honor of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment in the United States granting women the right to vote, the Commonwealth of Virginia has organized a statewide commemoration led by the Virginia Museum of History & Culture (VMHC).

One of the signature projects of the 2020 Commemoration is the VMHC-organized special exhibition, Agents of Change: Female Activism in Virginia From Women’s Suffrage to Today, which explores women’s civic activism in Virginia. In association with this exhibition, VMHC engaged a group of contemporary “agents of change” to recreate an iconic photograph of the Virginia suffrage movement.

Sepia-toned group photo of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia at the Virginia State Capitol in February 1915. Adèle Clark is at the far left.

This historic image (right) was taken on February 28, 1915 at the Virginia State Capitol in downtown Richmond, Virginia, and features members of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia. (Learn more about the historic image.) About 100 years later, in the same month, at the same place, the VMHC brought together another group of female changemakers from across the state to recreate this image and highlight the diversity of women's activism in Virginia today. Read the press release.

The photograph was unveiled at the VMHC on Sunday, March 8, 2020 to celebrate the opening of Agents of Change and International Women’s Day, and it was displayed at the VMHC during 2020.

Learn more about the PARTICIPANTS

Get a behind-the-scenes look with these making-of videos!

We invite you to follow us on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and via our exhibition and project hashtag, #AgentsofChangeVA, for updates!

Thank you to our in-kind sponsors: Garnish, Gianna Grace Photography, Linden Row Inn, Reggie Nash, RVA on Wheels, Orange Frame, LLC, and Worth Higgins & Associates.