About
Colorized photo of New York City Suffragist Parade, May 1912. Source: Library of Congress/Time
Over one hundred women across the United States were invited to join in a photographic collaboration, A Yellow Rose Project. These photographers were asked to make work in response, reflection, or reaction to the ratification of the 19th Amendment. From inception, the goal of this project was to provide a focal point and platform for image makers to share contemporary viewpoints as we approach the centennial of this event, to gain a deeper understanding of American history and culture, to build a bridge from the past to the present and future.
Officers of Women’s League, Newport, RI, 1899. Source: Library of Congress
Recently the United States commemorated the centennial of the 19th Amendment. Approximately 100 years ago, women wearing yellow roses stood shoulder to shoulder in Tennessee awaiting the roll call of men that would cast their votes for or against a woman’s right to a voice in government. The bright flower was an outward symbol of their expression to gain equal representation. After decades of untold risk—through oppression, brutality, incarceration, and even starvation—women on many fronts, in their communities, on the state level as well as the national scale, fought against insurmountable odds to gain the right to be a part of the democratic process.
Though this movement granted rights to some women, and this achievement in itself is to be acknowledged and commemorated, the struggle did not end there. It was not until much later that all American women, regardless of race, were given the same privilege. Due to state laws and prohibitive policies, many women of color were unable to exercise their rights even given this momentous event.
“what we remember, what we forget, matters.”
In light of these facts, we look back upon this part of our history from various perspectives, inviting both a critical eye as well as one that sees how far we have come. Lisa Tetrault, author of The Myth of Seneca Falls: Memory and the Women’s Movement, writes “what we remember, what we forget, matters” that in looking back, even upon remarkable as well as troubled history, “we must be thoughtful” in the present. In this moment in time we are meant to honor the historical significance of events such as these, as well as reexamine the narratives that have been shared, re-written and erased. It is in part up to women, as creators of our own culture, to shape how we tell and share our history as women.
Hedwig Reicher as Columbia in front of the Treasury Building at the Woman Suffrage parade held in Washington, D.C., March 3, 1913. Source: Library of Congress
Finding inspiration in the power of women to influence public perception and the perseverance to continue the arduous fight to obtain equal rights beyond ratification, we gather women in a collection of visions and voices to continue the conversation.
Co-Founders
Meg Griffiths
Meg Griffiths was born in Indiana and raised in Texas. She received Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Texas in Cultural Anthropology and English Literature and earned her Master of Fine Arts in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design. She currently lives in Denton, Texas where she is an Assistant Professor of Photography in the Department of Visual Art at Texas Woman's University.
Meg’s photographic research currently deals with domestic, economic, historical and cultural relationships across the Southern United States and Cuba. Her work has travelled nationally as well as internationally, and is placed in collections such as Center for Creative Photography, Capitol One Collection, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Center for Fine Art Photography.
Her book projects, both monographs as well as collaborative projects have been acquired by various institutions around the country such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Duke University Libraries, Museum of Modern Art, University of Virginia, University of Iowa, Clemsen, Maryland Institute College of Art, Ringling College of Art, and Washington and Lee University, to name a few.
She was honored as one of PDN 30’s : New and Emerging Photographers in 2012, named one of eight Emerging Photographers at Blue Spiral Gallery in 2015, Atlanta Celebrates Photography’s Ones to Watch in 2016, was awarded the Julia Margaret Cameron for Best Fine Art Series in 2017 and awarded the 2nd Place Prize at PhotoNola in 2019.
Frances Jakubek
Frances Jakubek is a photographer, curator and advocate for photography. She is the Director of Bruce Silverstein Gallery in New York City and past Associate Curator of the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts.
Recent curatorial appointments include I Surrender, Dear at Umbrella Arts Gallery, New York; Drawing the Line at Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York; Grief on NY Photo Curator, and The RefridgeCurator in Boston, Massachusetts. Her personal work focuses on self-portraiture and how the body is perceived within different contexts. Her photographs have been exhibited at The Southern Contemporary Art Gallery in Charleston, SC; Filter Space; Chicago, IL; Camera Commons in Dover, NH; and The Hess Gallery at Pine Manor College, MA.
She has been a guest writer for various publications and for artist monographs including Serrah Russell’s tears, tears. Jakubek has been a panelist for the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Photography fellowships, speaker for The Photo Brigade and juror for exhibitions throughout the US including United Photo Industry’s ‘The Fence’ and PDN’s ‘The Curator Awards’.