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Seven women stand in front of Massachusetts Women's History Center's step and repeat.

Hometown Weekly: Suffrage100MA Hosts First Gala

Editor's note: the following story originally appeared in the print edition of Hometown Weekly.

Seven women stand in front of Massachusetts Women's History Center's step and repeat.
Suffrage100MA Gala Honorees and Presenters. Photo by Axie Breen Photography.

The first Suffrage100MA Gala took place in Boston on Wednesday, June 14, led by Suffrage100MA Founder & President Fredie Kay of Needham.

The Massachusetts women's history non-profit Suffrage100MA hosted this gala at the Liberty Hotel, Boston. Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll served as honorary hosts and Shirley Leung of The Boston Glove led the evening as emcee, joining Fredie Kay. The site of the Gala, The Liberty Hotel, was formerly Boston's Charles Street Jail, where the last suffragists in the country were jailed for peacefully protesting President Woodrow Wilson at the Massachusetts State House for the right to vote in 1919.

Suffrage100MA honored three long-time supporters with awards named for the women depicted in the Boston Women's Memorial:

  • Nancy Beeuwkes, Abigail Adams Award, presented by Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts;
  • Senate President Emerita Harriette Chandler, Lucy Stone Award, presented by Senate President Karen Spilka;
  • Charlotte Golar Richie, Phillis Wheatley Award, presented by the Honorable Linda Dorcena Forry.

Fredie Kay provided a sneak peek at Suffrage100MA's upcoming logo and website for its transition into the Massachusetts Women's History Center (virtual at first) with its flagship, the Massachusetts Women's Hall of Fame, taking place late summer/early fall 2023. Suffrage100MA was initially founded in 2010 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment in 2020. Suffrage100MA.org