U.S. President Warren G. Harding’s election in November of 1920 was the first in which American women could vote, following passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. And vote, they did, swelling voter rolls from 18.5 million in 1916 to 26.8 million in 1920. Harding and his running mate, Calvin Coolidge won in a landslide victory, 60.3 percent of the vote against fellow Ohioan James Cox and Franklin Roosevelt’s 34.1 percent.
On the eve of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in America, this year’s Warren G. Harding Symposium at The Ohio State University at Marion will examine women’s increasingly important role in American politics—from that first presidential election in which they could participate, to today’s headlines in which a coalition of female congressional representatives confronts the Trump administration.
Attracting attendees from throughout Ohio and from around the country each year, the Harding Symposium at Ohio State Marion will be held Friday, July 19th and Saturday, July 20th, as well as a special Sunday, July 21st brunch buffet event hosted by Friends of the Harding Home. The symposium features an opening reception, the annual presidential wreath-laying ceremony at the Harding Memorial, three workshop sessions with outstanding scholars, historians and journalists, and a concluding dinner program,
This year’s featured speakers include: Dr. Katherine Jellison professor of history at Ohio University, Dr. Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, professor of constitutional law at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, Dr. Susan Hartmann, emerita professor of history at The Ohio State University, and Mary Ellen Withrow, former Treasurer of the United States.
Speaker Biographical Information
Jellison earned her Ph.D. at the University of Iowa, where she studied with one of the pioneers in the field of U.S. women’s history, Linda K. Kerber. She currently serves as the Chairperson of the Department of History at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. Dr. Jellison has received numerous research grants and fellowships, including awards from the Smithsonian Institution and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. She is the author of a number of books, book chapters and scholarly articles and serves as Chair of the Ohio University Press Editorial Board. Dr. Jellison has won several teaching honors at Ohio University, including the Excellence in Feminist Pedagogy Award, the University Professor Award, the Jeannette G. Grasselli Brown Faculty Teaching Award in the Social Sciences, and designation as a Fellow in the Charles J. Ping Institute for the Teaching of the Humanities.
Browne-Marshall teaches classes in constitutional law, race and the law, evidence, and gender and justice and has taught in the Africana Studies Program at Vassar College prior to John Jay. She is a civil rights attorney who litigated cases for Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama, Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Inc. Professor Browne-Marshall is the author of many articles and several books including, The Voting Rights War: The NAACP and the Ongoing Struggle for Justice and Race, Law, and American Society: 1607 to Present, which includes chapters on race and education, voting rights, criminal justice, property, civil liberties and protest, the military and internationalism concerning African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans and Native Americans.
Hartman specializes in 20th century American history and women's history. She has published several books including From Margin to Mainstream: American Women and Politics since 1960 (Alfred A. Knopf, 1989) and The Other Feminists (Yale University Press, 1998). Her current research deals with gender and the reshaping of U.S. politics and policy after World War II. Professor Hartmann is a fellow of the Society of American Historians and has received awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. She has won the College of Humanities Exemplary Faculty Award and the University Distinguished Service Award.
Withrow served our country as the 40th Treasurer of the United States from 1994-2001 during the administration of President Bill Clinton. During her tenure, U.S. currency was redesigned, including the $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 notes, all of which bear her signature. She has the distinction of having been the only person ever elected treasurer at all three levels of government, serving as Marion Ohio County Treasurer, Treasurer of the State of Ohio, and Treasurer of the United States. Withrow is an inductee into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame and a recipient of a Women Executives in State Government fellowship to Harvard University. Following her retirement from public office, Withrow became active in the United States Treasury's historical society. Her vast collection of personal documents, photographs, awards and personal papers are on display at The Withrow Museum at Primrose of Marion.
The Warren G. Harding Symposium is an academic, social, and cultural exploration of the life and times of America's 29th president. Held annually at The Ohio State University at Marion, The Symposium presents in-depth analysis and research by authors, historians, researchers and experts on the Harding Era and related areas of interest.
For more detailed information on the symposium, please contact us at 740/725-6340, or visit us at https://go.osu.edu/harding.
The Warren G. Harding Symposium is a collaboration between The Ohio State University at Marion, the Harding Home Presidential Site, the Ohio History Connection, Marion Technical College, the Marion Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Marion Public Library.