Maye's March for Women's Votes

In 2020, people all over the U.S. will be celebrating the 100-year anniversary of women's voting rights in what will be a contentious election year. No doubt, many books will be published in conjunction with the celebration. While most will feature the key players in the suffrage movement, readers will relate to personal stories connected to the larger movement. The story of the Missouri Ladies Military Band literally and figuratively opening the way for suffrage to succeed is a metaphor for the movement. Vera Maye Shipps is a 19-year old trombone player who yearns to do something important to fight for women's voting rights. There's not much opportunity in the rural area where she lives. But then, as a member of the Missouri Ladies Military Band, she is invited to travel 1,000 miles by train to lead a 1913 suffrage parade in Washington, D.C. When the parade route is blocked by a group of men, Maye and the other band members must act fast to stir the course of history. This narrative nonfiction book, MAYE'S MARCH FOR WOMEN'S VOTES, is based on real people and a real event. Maye kept a diary of their trip. The audience for this book is children, both girls and boys, ages 8-12. The Nodaway County Historical Museum, Library of Congress, and local historians supply the photographs. End pages summarize the suffrage movement and the importance of this particular parade in igniting interest and support for the fight. A bibliography is included.