2024 Fall Speaker Series | The Young are at the Gates: Student Activism for Women’s Rights in Modern America

Over the past ten years, youth activism has picked up significantly on college and university campuses. Recent headlines have highlighted protests to raise awareness for issues such as gun violence, international conflict, and minority rights. Student protest has an interesting and often overlooked history. Kelly Marino will explore student activism for women’s rights and civic participation on modern American campuses in the first half of the twentieth century, shedding light on how early activists paved the way and set examples for more modern protests and changes in university culture.

About the Presenter

Kelly Marino is an Associate Teaching Professor in the History Department of the College of Arts and Sciences & Program Director of Women’s Studies at Sacred Heart University. She received her Ph.D. in History from Binghamton University (SUNY) and MA in History from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Dr. Marino is a Connecticut native. She is passionate about state and local history as well as women’s history and the history of sexuality. Her research focuses on social and political movements, twentieth-century American history, and Gilded Age/Progressive Era America. She writes about reform, minority struggles and activism, and is especially interested in issues of age, education, gender, and sexuality. Her book Votes for College Women (NYU Press 2024) focuses on the woman suffrage campaign on college and university campuses at the turn of the twentieth century.

About the 2024 Fall Speaker Series – Finding a Voice

Join the Fairfield Museum and History Center for the 2024 Fall Speaker Series inspired by the new exhibition Building an American Voice. Our nation was built on the idea of freedom. We have been taught to believe in certain ideals, and Americans have fought for their voices to be heard throughout history. Explore moments of advocacy and perseverance that made American history.

Additional Lectures in the Series:

October 6 | Art, Protest & The Archives | Kevin Repp, PhD

October 20 | Connecticut Witch Trials: From Accusations to Exoneration Efforts | Beth Caruso

November 3 | Mrs. Fisher: Danbury’s Marian Anderson | Brigid Guertin

Light refreshments provided. Registration is required. $15 per talk | $45 for the series, $40 for Members

Building an American Voice and its related programs are generously sponsored by CT Humanities and M&T Bank.