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Mary Barr Clay Women’s Suffrage Marker Dedication

Historic Marker Unveiling
Sunday, June 2nd, 2019 2:00pm to 3:00pm
White Hall State Historic Site: 500 White Hall Shrine Rd. Richmond, KY 40475

A new women’s suffrage marker commemorating the life and legacy of women’s rights leader Mary Barr Clay will be dedicated on Sunday, June 2. The ceremony will take place at White Hall State Historic Site in Richmond, Ky. White Hall will open for tours beginning at noon before the dedication.

Sallie Clay Lanham, a descendant of Mary Barr Clay will address guests. In addition to Molly Caldwell, President of the Kentucky State Parks Foundation and National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites President Marsha Weinstein, the dedication ceremony will feature a presentation by Dr. Melanie Goan, Associate Professor of History at the University of Kentucky and Coordinator of the Kentucky Woman Suffrage Project. Event partners include: NCWHS, The Kentucky Women’s Suffrage Project, Kentucky State Parks Foundation and Eastern Kentucky University.

The marker for Mary Barr Clay is the third women’s suffrage marker being installed in Kentucky as part of the National Votes for Women Trail. Clay, the eldest daughter of Mary Jane Warfield and Cassius M. Clay, served as a leader in both national suffrage organizations: the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association. She also started the state’s first permanent women’s rights association in Madison County in 1879.  Clay spoke in support of suffrage before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in 1884.

 

Marker Inscription
MARY BARR CLAY
CHILDHOOD HOME
PRES., AMER. WOMAN SUFFRAGE
ASSOC. 1883. ADDRESSED U.S.
HOUSE OF REPS. IN SUPPORT
OF WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE 1884.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2018