Organizations Celebrate Cincinnati Suffragists With National Votes for Women Trail Historic Markers

As Women’s History Month comes to an end, Fifth Third Bank, N.A., the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and Cincinnati Parks are working together to dedicate and celebrate three new historic markers on the National Votes for Women Trail. The markers will be placed near Fifth Third’s headquarters, on Fountain Square, at the top of the Elsinore Steps near the Cincinnati Art Museum and in Walnut Hills in front of the Giminetti Baking Co. building, one block south of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, which are all prominent locations in Cincinnati, OH.

“Ohio played a crucial yet largely forgotten role in the fight for women’s voting rights,” said independent scholar and NVWT liaison Katherine Durack. “These markers highlight decades of activism in Cincinnati despite prevailing anti-suffrage sentiment at the time in Hamilton County.”

Sponsored by the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, the National Votes for Women Trail seeks to recognize and celebrate the enormous diversity of people and groups active in the struggle for women’s suffrage. The trail consists of two parts: a database with digital map and a program of historic markers for about 200 women’s suffrage sites across the country, funded by the Pomeroy Foundation.

Cincinnati’s historic markers will recognize the dedication and efforts of:

• Lucy Stone and husband, Henry Blackwell, who were prominent women’s rights and anti-slavery speakers.
• Margaret Longley and husband, Elias, who advocated for abolition, equal rights and women’s suffrage through speaking appearances; their newspaper, Type of the Times; and their magazine, The Phonetic Magazine.
• Cornelia Cassady Davis, a prominent member of the Cincinnati arts community, a longtime member of the Woman’s Art Club of Cincinnati, president of the Fine Arts League and vice president of the Kentucky MacDowell Society.

The suffragists have historic connections to Cincinnati, and their advocacy influenced the movement in significant ways. The Stone/Blackwell marker is sponsored by James Ciuccio and Richard Ferguson; the Longleys’ marker is sponsored by Fifth Third Bancorp; and the Davis marker is sponsored by Cincinnati Parks.

2022 marks the 102nd anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment, which prohibited denying any U.S. citizen the right to vote on the basis of gender. The adoption was the result of the tireless efforts by suffragists over seven decades. To learn more about the NVWT or the specific locations of the NVWT markers in Cincinnati, visit www.nvwt.org. To listen to podcasts about each of the women, click on the following links: Margaret V. Longley: Shorthand for Suffrage, Cornelia Cassidy Davis: Let Ohio Women Vote and Lucy Stone: The Marriage Under Protest of Lucy Stone.

About Fifth Third

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the indirect parent company of Fifth Third Bank, National Association, a federally chartered institution. As of Dec. 31, 2021, the Company had $211 billion in assets and operates 1,117 full-service Banking Centers, and 2,322 Fifth Third branded ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. In total, Fifth Third provides its customers with access to approximately 54,000 fee-free ATMs across the United States. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, and Wealth & Asset Management. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of Dec. 31, 2021, had $554 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $65 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations through its Trust and Registered Investment Advisory businesses. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ® Global Select Market under the symbol “FITB.” 

About the Harriet Beecher Stowe House

The Harriet Beecher Stowe House celebrates the life, family, and legacy of author and activist Harriet Beecher Stowe. Stowe is known primarily for her book “Uncle Tom's Cabin,” and its contributions to the abolition movement through the Civil War. We also interpret the 20th century history of the house as a tavern listed in “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” a guidebook for African Americans traveling in segregated America. Located in Cincinnati’s historic Walnut Hills neighborhood, the Harriet Beecher Stowe House hosts educational tours, lectures, and discussion groups.  

About Cincinnati Parks 

Named one of the top 10 U.S. park systems by the Trust for Public Land, Cincinnati Parks is a historic and award-winning park system comprising over 5,000 acres, 100 park sites and numerous gardens, scenic overlooks, decorative fountains and water features, nature preserves, miles of hiking trails, performance venues, rental facilities and public art. Cincinnati Parks is led by a five-member Board of Park Commissioners whose mission is to conserve, manage, sustain and enhance parks’ natural, cultural resources and public green spaces for the enjoyment, enlightenment and enrichment of the Cincinnati community. The Parks system has 250 full- and part-time employees and an annual budget of $27 million. The system’s key operational divisions are Operations & Facilities, Natural Resources, Planning and Design, Financial Services, Human Resources, and Communications, Engagement and Volunteers. 

About the William G. Pomeroy Foundation

The William G. Pomeroy 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. Established by Trustee Bill Pomeroy in 2005 to bring together his two greatest passions, the Pomeroy Foundation is a private, grant-making organization located in Syracuse, N.Y. As the nation’s leading funder of historic roadside markers, the Pomeroy Foundation has awarded nearly 1,700 grants for markers and bronze plaques in 44 states. To learn more about the Pomeroy Foundation, visit wgpfoundation.org.