Press

The New York State Museum will welcome former White House Director of Communications Ann Lewis on April 15 at 2:00 p.m. for a free talk titled: “Messaging, Media, and Motherhood: Political Strategies of the NY Suffrage Campaign”. This program is being offered in conjunction with the State Museum’s Votes for Women: Celebrating New York’s Suffrage Centennial exhibition. Lewis will focus on the political strategies employed by suffragists to pass both the New York State suffrage referendums in 1917 and the 19th Amendment in 1920. Following the talk, State Museum curators will lead a guided tour of the Votes for Women exhibition.

Ann F. Lewis served as White House Director of Communications for President Bill Clinton from 1997-2000; as Senior Advisor to the campaigns of Hilary Rodham Clinton for Senate in 2000 and 2006, and for President in 2008; and as co-chair of Jewish Women for Hillary in 2016. Lewis also served as co-chair of President Clinton’s Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History, and was appointed to the Women’s Progress Commission, established by Congress to report on women’s historic sites. She is now President of the Board of the JAC Educational Foundation, addressing Jewish values and current American issues.

Her appearance has been organized by the New York State Museum with additional support by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government of SUNY and the League of Women Voters of New York State.

Votes for Women: Celebrating New York’s Suffrage Centennial is open at the New York State Museum through May 13. The exhibition honors the centennial of women’s suffrage in New York State and raises awareness of the struggle for equal rights through the present day. The exhibition features more than 250 artifacts and images from the collections of the State Museum, State Archives, State Library, cultural institutions, and private lenders from across the state.

The State Museum is a program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Located at 222 Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is closed on the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Admission is free. Further information about programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the Museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

                                                                     ###