League of Women Voters chapters throughout the state are set to celebrate National Women’s History Month with preview screenings of a new documentary, “Trailblazing Women in Ohio Politics.”
The hour-long documentary, locally produced by WBGU-PBS, combines oncamera interviews, artifacts from each trailblazer’s career, archival footage and photos and tells the story of both Democratic and Republican women who broke electoral barriers beginning in the 1960s.
Women featured in the film include Jo Ann Davidson, the first woman speaker of the Ohio House; Helen Rankin, the first African American woman in the Ohio General Assembly; and Betty Montgomery, Ohio’s first woman attorney general.
Following the documentary, a panel discussion will be open to the public, moderated by Bowling Green State University political science professor Melissa Miller. An expert on American politics, Professor Miller said of the documentary, “their unique, lived experiences are fascinating history. It’s our honor to illuminate their struggles and triumphs for a multi-generational audience.”
Many artifacts and historic footage shown in the film are provided by the Ohio History Connection archives. Each interview also will be housed at BGSU’s Center for Archival Collections, giving scholars and students access to their oral histories for decades.
Initial funding for the project was provided by Dr. Maribeth and Martin Rahe, with additional support from the Ohio History Fund, Ohio Humanities, the office of the president of BGSU and BGSU’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship.
All events are free of charge and open to the public. Dates for screenings of the documentary are as follows:
•March 1, Columbus Metropolitan Library Auditorium, 7 p.m.
•March 2, Maumee Indoor Theatre, 7 p.m.
•March 7, The Athena Cinema, Athens, 7 p.m.
•March 11, Cleveland History Center, 1 p.m.
•March 14, Walnut Hills Library Branch, Cincinnati, noon.
•March 16, Dayton Metro Library, Eichelberger Forum, 7 p.m.
•March 21, Union Theater, Bowen-Thompson Student Union, BGSU, 7 p.m.
•March 28, Akron-Summit County Public Library, 6:30 p.m.
