On a beautiful October evening, an appreciative audience of more than 140 gathered on the front lawn of the Wayne County Historical Society for the world premiere of “Women’s Suffrage Suite for Mezzo-soprano and Orchestra,” a selection of songs from the women’s suffrage movement, performed by the Wooster Symphony Orchestra and mezzo-soprano Audrey Johnson under the baton of music director Jeffrey Lindberg.
Songs like “Keep Woman in Her Sphere,” “The Bloomer’s Complaint,” and “She’s Good Enough to be Your Baby’s Mother and She’s Good Enough to Vote with You” served as inspiration, provocation, and social commentary during the decades-long struggle to win voting rights for American women, culminating in the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
“It’s important to remember the central social role that music played before television, social media, and online streaming,” Johnson said. “Households regularly gathered around the family piano to play and sing the latest parlor songs – new pieces that often dealt with current events and served as a source of political commentary as well as entertainment.”
Other works on Friday’s program included Joan Tower’s “Sixth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman” and Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” the narration for which was performed by Josephine Wright, emerita professor of music and Africana studies at The College of Wooster.
The commission for “Women’s Suffrage Suite” was made possible by the Women’s Committee for the Wooster Symphony Orchestra, the Wayne County Community Foundation (The Lillian Steiner Community Fund), the Wayne County Historical Society of Ohio, the 19th Amendment Centennial Committee, and the League of Women Voters of Wayne County, Ohio.
The Historical Society’s current special exhibit – “Votes for Women! Woman’s Journey to be Heard and Treated as an Equal” – looks at how the suffrage movement fits into the larger context of women’s political and social activism in Wayne County, from abolition and the Underground Railroad to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Tours of the exhibit are available by appointment only from October 2021 to March 2022. Call 330-317-0114.
