New website will honor Iowa women elected to state, federal offices

A new website honoring Iowa women elected to state and federal offices will be revealed during a virtual presentation from noon to 1 p.m. April 21.

The presentation will conclude activities honoring the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment and the founding of the League of Women Voters.

Former state legislator Jean Lloyd Jones will moderate a discussion featuring two Iowa legislators — Rep. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque, and Sen. Chris Cournoyer, R-LeClaire, — and John Culshaw, University of Iowa Jack B. King University librarian, and Nikki White, UI digital humanities librarian.

The website highlights women who have been elected to Iowa state and federal offices and who were part of the suffrage movement in Iowa. It is the culmination of months of work with help from hundreds of people including those featured on the website and those behind the scenes.

Lloyd Jones’ search revealed a total of 171 women have served in the Iowa Legislature — 96 Democrats and 75 Republicans. The count reflects one from each party who switched to the other party during her term of office.

Partners for the presentation are the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, the UI Pentacrest Museums and the UI Public Policy Center. Media partners are The Gazette and the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

Although free, registration is required at pentacrestmuseums.uiowa.edu/old-capitol-roundtable. Participants can submit questions. The presentation will be livestreamed on the LWVJC website and Facebook page and will be broadcast on City Channel 4. The discussion also will be recorded and rebroadcasts will be aired on citychannel4.com and available at pentacrestmuseums.uiowa.edu, the League’s website and Facebook page.

LWVJC and MidWestOne are sponsors of the Pentacrest Museums’ exhibition on the 19th Amendment, “Hard Won. Not Done: A Century of Impact,” now available virtually at pentacrestmuseums.uiowa.edu/hard-won-not-done.