In honor of the centennial of women being granted the right to vote in New York, the New-York Historical Society will screen the Meryl Streep-narrated documentary We Rise. The short film, which also features Alicia Keys’ original song “We Are Here,” tells the story of the women who fought for change in the U.S. during the early 20th century. The doc will profile many women of the era, including suffragist and black women’s organizations leader Addie Hunton, Henry Street Settlement founder Lillian Ward and birth control activist Margaret Sanger, to name a few.
“We are proud to celebrate the centennial of women’s suffrage in New York this year with a powerful new film and exhibition, each one showing how a determined group of people struggling for rights and equality can succeed in creating change,” NYHS CEO and president Dr. Louise Mirrer said Wednesday in a statement. “We Rise recounts a period of history that tends to be overlooked in textbooks, but the impact of those first decades of the 20th century leading up to women’s suffrage in New York is still felt today.” The film will premiere Nov. 3, the same day as the opening of the society’s latest exhibit, Hotbed. The exhibit will feature the bohemian vibe of Greenwich Village in the early 20th century and will explain the pivotal role female artists and activists played in earning the right to vote. We Rise will play on rotation with the film New York Story in the historical society’s ground-floor theater. Many thanks to Frank and Glenn for the heads-up.
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