When Senate President Karen Spilka first came to the Massachusetts State House, she was struck by what she saw.
“You walk through the halls, into the rooms, and you see male after male after male — like women did not have anything to do with the history of Massachusetts or our country,” Spilka said. “I felt like it was an old boys’ club. I thought if I ever had anything to do to change that, I would work to change.”
Once she became Senate President, Spilka did just that: pushing for more women to be represented in the State House, both in the laws the Legislature was passing and visually throughout the building.
The most striking example is in her own office, in which she and her staff created the HERStory exhibit, now in its third iteration. On display within the Senate president’s suite are portraits of Massachusetts women who made significant contributions to American history.
Some, visitors recognize, like author Louisa May Alcott, poet Emily Dickinson and TV chef Julia Child. But many are unknown to passersby, including Jennie D. Loitman Barron, the first woman appointed to the Massachusetts Superior Court; former slave, abolitionist and author Harriet Jacobs; and Weetamoo, a sachem of the Wampanoag people who’s been featured in all three exhibits.
“We make sure that each iteration, each grouping of women every year is diverse: racial, ethnic, subject matter, what they’re involved in, geographic diversity,” Spilka said.
Spilka’s office is open to the public on Fridays so anyone can come in and view the portraits on display. The exhibit is also available to browse online. She said the reaction from visitors has been positive and very moving. She recalls when a group of young women stopped by during the second exhibit, which was centered on women of color.
HERstory: Volume III
“One of [the young women] said to me, ‘I’ve been to the State House several times before. This is the first time I see myself.’ And that’s what really hit me that representation matters,” Spilka said. “For somebody — for a woman, a woman of color, a woman from anywhere — to see themselves makes it a possibility that they could be working in the State House as well, and opens up doors, and I think opens up dreams for people.”
For Massachusetts Women’s History CenterPresident Fredie Kay, every month is Women’s History Month.
Kay’s formal work in women’s history started as she and numerous organizations around the country were working on how to observe the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote. That anniversary occurred in August 2020, so celebrations were canceled due to the pandemic.
After observing that momentous anniversary, Kay said many of the organizations centered on suffrage were closing up. But she and the local group had bigger plans.
“We looked and said, ‘Well the work isn’t done. The work isn’t nearly done.,’” Kay said. “While the 19th Amendment does not discriminate, other laws were preventing Native Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans from voting. And it was very important to us to commemorate and highlight all those other laws that had to change as well.”
Expanding the public knowledge of voting rights in the UNited States along with increasing the understanding and knowledge of the contributions women have made over the years is what drove the founding of the Massachusetts Women’s History Center, which is currently exclusively online and features articles, biographies and a film that was created in 2020 to celebrate the 19th amendment’s centennial.
Kay said the center hopes to gain a brick-and-mortar location on the Freedom Trail in its future. For now, they are working on the state’s first Women’s Hall of Fame. Kay said the first class inducted into the Hall of Fame will feature living women and women of the revolution, in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States.
“We know they’re going to be talking about the white men from the Revolution, which is great; we had a revolution thanks to them, and thanks to the women!” Kay said. “Women were doing incredible things during the Revolutionary period — some who we know and some we don’t know. We want to make sure that women are highlighted.”
Guests
- Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka, who represents the MetroWest communities of the Middlesex and Norfolk district
- Fredie Kay, founder and president of the Massachusetts Women’s History Center
