Votes for Women? 1913 United States Senate Testimony April 1913, Washington, D.C. 1990
Distributed by Her Own Words, P.O. Box 5264, Madison, WI 55705; 608-271-7083
Produced by Jocelyn Riley
Directed by Jocelyn Riley
VHS, color, 17 min.
Jr. High - Adult
History, Women's Studies
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by Charles Burkart, Head, Audiovisual Library, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, West VirginiaThis video is an illustrated audio recreation of the testimony for and against the 19th Amendment, the amendment that gave United States women the vote. The two-featured speakers are Kate Douglas Wiggin of New York, who spoke against the amendment, and Belle Case La Follette of Wisconsin, who spoke for the amendment.
Images of political buttons, cartoons, and posters from the Wisconsin Historical Society accompany the speeches. While the well-synchronized slide show images reflect the content of Kate Douglas Wiggin's speech, the images do not consistently reflect the content of Belle Case La Follette's speech. To be fair, La Follette's speech is more complex than Wiggin's is. Her speech covers, among other things, the evolution of American women from pioneer beginnings to contemporary "public" home life.
Overall, the technical quality of this production is excellent. The actors' dramatic readings of the speeches were clear, well modulated, and interesting. The minimal sound effects (applause, crowd noise) were unobtrusive and appropriate. Patriotic music was used subtlety rather than overdone. The slide to video transfers were well focused and the color crisp.
Two criticisms of this short video exist: the visuals have a tendency to drag during Belle Case La Follette's pro amendment speech, and the slide captions can be hard to read. Nevertheless, this video is a useful recreation of the contemporary arguments advanced for and against the 19th Amendment. It should be a useful addition to both high school civics classes and college Women's Studies classes. Recommended.