By Courtney Cole/Delta Staff Writer

Missouri Valley College’s library’s are celebrating the fact that 2020 is an election year with a series of events.

Running through Sept. 20 the library commons is hosting the Votes for Women Exhibit that shows and gives viewers information about women’s voting history. 

Starting in 1848, women from different states came together for their very first convention where 300 people attended. 1919 was the year where the 19th amendment was signed into office as giving women the right to vote. 

Margot Mirabal, the librarian in charge of the exhibit. said the display was very important to bring to Missouri Valley College because it shows historical information that women in today’s time take for granted. 

There are informative posters that were gifted by the National Portrait Gallery and show all types of women and their fight for the right to vote.

“It was also important that the exhibit highlighted women of African American, Native American, and Asian descent, as their fight was just as important and took many more years,” Mirabal said. 

This year will mark 100 years of the 19th amendment being in place and also with Constitution Day coming up, Missouri Valley College library staff thought it would be a good idea to link them together and celebrate the history. 

Dr. Bryan Carson, who is the Director of the library, was able to schedule a Constitution Day lecture from the University of Missouri Kinder Institute on Constitutional democracy, which ties into the women’s suffrage movement. Marjorie Spruill discussed the research that she conducted as part of the PBS documentary “One Woman One Vote” in 1995. A revised version of the program is being prepared for an October 2020 release.

Next week, Sept. 21 to Sept. 25, the library will be hosting the event “Are You #VoteReady” to raise student awareness about what they need to do to participate in the upcoming election. During the event, students will be given information about online voter registration, in-person and mail-in voting options