Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary, in the Rocky Mountain Legacy Series, is an excellent introduction to the history of the women's suffrage movement in the Rocky Mountain region, focusing on the major players and events in Colorado. It traces the early history of women's suffrage back to the first anti-slavery convention in London in 1840. (Early suffragists were involved in both women's rights and anti-slavery movements.) The video also covers another important early event -- the Woman's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York in July, 1848.

The Civil War was a major turning point for women. With so many men fighting and dying on the battlefields, there was a pressing need for women workers of all types. When the war ended in 1865, many women lost their jobs. The disillusioned went back home, the organizers fought for their labor rights at home, and the adventurers went west to start anew.

The history of women's suffrage in Colorado is a checkered one, with many successes and its share of failures. The video does a fair job of covering the major players on both sides of the issue. Viewers will find extremely interesting the opinions of Catholic Archbishop Machebauf, an early and ardent anti-suffragist from the Denver Archdiocese. The video ends with the passage of women's suffrage in Colorado in an 1893 referendum.

The video employs the video techniques made famous by documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. There is extensive (and very effective) use of black and white photographs that are available in various historical collections in Colorado. The photos come to life through the skillful use of zooming or panning. The photos are accompanied by period music and voiceovers, with the material coming from primary sources such as letters, diaries, or speeches. The few live-action segments in the video were filmed in color at various Denver historical sites, with actors outfitted in appropriate period costume. These live-action sequences were skillfully woven into the video, blending well with the black and white photographs.

The length of this video makes it impossible to cover all aspects of this topic. (For example, there is no mention of the suffrage movement among Colorado's Hispanic and Native American women.) Scholars and specialists will find little new information here, but high-school and undergraduate students will enjoy and appreciate this interesting and visually appealing overview of the subject.

It is recommended for high school and university media collections, particularly those that support coursework in history of the U.S. West, Women's Studies, and political science.