Did you know that Evansville women’s suffrage movement was born in a home that is now the site of Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library’s Central Branch?
The home belonged to Lucia Blount, the wife of a local industrialist. In 1886, the meetings she held for women led to the creation of the Evansville Equal Suffrage Society. Blount later moved to Washington, D.C., and became involved with national suffrage efforts.
Those meetings now are preserved with a historic marker in front of Central Library at Chestnut Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as part of the National Votes for Women Trail. Surrounded by a manicured garden, the marker was installed in 2022 in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of Southwestern Indiana, EVPL, the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.
EVPL Chief Operating Officer Heather O’Grady says the marker reflects the library’s mission is to cultivate curiosity. “We hope the marker will forever spark conversations about the importance of voting and the power individuals can have in creating and advocating for change,” O’Grady says.
