The National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation®
Partner to Launch Marker Grant Program Supporting the National Votes for Women Trail
EVANSTON, Ill. – The centennial of suffrage for many women in the United States is
approaching in 2020. With this landmark anniversary embodied in the passage of the
Nineteenth Amendment, the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (NCWHS) and
the William G. Pomeroy Foundation have partnered to launch a new historic marker program
commemorating the history of women’s suffrage in the U.S.
The Pomeroy Foundation, which is a private, grant-making foundation based in Syracuse, N.Y.,
is providing grants through its National Women’s Suffrage Marker Grant Program to recognize
historically significant people, places or things across the United States instrumental to women
gaining the right to vote. Suffrage was a national movement involving a diversity of women and
men from all walks of life.
Historic markers awarded through the program will highlight sites on the National Votes for
Women Trail (NVWT). The NVWT, a project of the NCWHS, identifies the many sites that were
integral to the suffrage movement and makes them accessible on a mobile friendly website to
be easily searched by location, suffragist, ethnicity, and a variety of other useful criteria.
“The National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites is grateful to the Pomeroy Foundation
for their generous support and partnership in helping bring alive through their National
Women’s Suffrage Marker Grant Program the little-known history of the women’s suffrage
movement that significantly expanded democracy in the United States,” says NCWHS President
Marsha Weinstein. “Communities will be able to commemorate with the Pomeroy Foundation’s
historic markers the places where local grassroots activity took place, thereby recognizing the
remarkable efforts of the foremothers and forefathers who fought to win women the right to
vote which will inspire women to vote today.”
“The Pomeroy Foundation is proud to partner with The National Collaborative for Women’s
History Sites on this important effort to develop the National Votes for Women Trail,” says
Paula Miller, Executive Director of the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. “Helping to preserve
and celebrate history is one of our main initiatives at the Foundation. With the 100th
anniversary of national women’s suffrage less than two years away, we wanted to do our part
in recognizing the heritage behind this milestone occasion.”
If you have an idea for a historic marker to commemorate women’s suffrage in your
community, please contact your NVWT State Coordinator to begin the nomination process:
https://ncwhs.org/votes-for-women-trail/state-coordinators/. You can also contact the NCWHS
directly: https://ncwhs.org/about/contact-us/. Municipalities, nonprofit academic institutions
and 501(c)(3) organizations are especially encouraged to submit a nomination. Pomeroy
Foundation signage grants are fully funded and cover the entire cost of a marker, pole and
shipping. The local partner is responsible for the installation of the marker.
About NCWHS
The National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites is a non-profit organization established to
support and promote the preservation and interpretation of sites and locales that bear witness
to women’s participation in American history. NCWHS is dedicated to making women’s
contributions to history visible so all women’s experiences and potential are fully valued. Visit:
www.ncwhs.org
About the Pomeroy Foundation
The William G. Pomeroy Foundation is a private foundation established in 2005. The
Foundation is committed to supporting the celebration and preservation of community history;
and to raising awareness, supporting research and improving the quality of care for patients
and their families who are facing a blood cancer diagnosis. To date, the Foundation has
awarded nearly 800 grants for historic signage in New York State and beyond. Visit:
www.wgpfoundation.org