MPC is proud to welcome Nicole Evelina, author of a new book, America's Forgotten Suffragists: Virginia and Francis Minor, on Saturday, March 12, at 10 a.m. The program, celebrating Women's History Month, has been changed to a virtual only presentation and will be available via Zoom.
Evelina is a USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction, non-fiction, and women’s fiction whose six books have won more than 40 awards, including four Book of the Year designations. She was named Missouri’s Top Independent Author by Library Journal and Biblioboard as the winner of the Missouri Indie Author Project in 2018 and has been awarded the North Street Book Prize and the Sarton Women’s Book Award. One of her books, Madame Presidentess, was previously optioned for film.
This unusual and forward-thinking St. Louis couple were at the vanguard of women’s rights, developing a philosophy of how the gender-neutral language of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution inadvertently gave women the right to vote, an argument that would become the official position of the National Women's Suffrage Association (NWSA) for nearly five years. In putting this theory to the test, the Minors went on to face the highest court in the land in defense of women’s voting and citizenship rights in the 1873 Supreme Court case Minor v Happersett. Although they were ultimately overruled, and their case isn’t widely-known, it helped shape the current definition of state and national citizenship and their associated rights.
Learn about the impact of their case today, their role in the suffrage movement, and lesser-known aspects of the couple’s lives.
The Minors are featured in the current exhibit at Missouri History Museum, "Beyond the Ballet."
PLEASE NOTE: Due to the possibility of dangerous weather conditions on Saturday morning, the program will only be offered virtually via Zoom; MPC appreciates using these resources of the St. Louis Artists Guild. To receive a Zoom link for the program, RSVP to mpcnfpw@gmail.com by Friday, March 11, at 5 p.m.
For more information about Evelina, visit her website, nicoleevelina.com.