Feminist baddies and SU grad students Emma Rathe and Madeline Nielsen co-curate and organize an exhibition for the Genet Gallery about the history of the Suffrage Shop, its connections to Syracuse, and the importance of intersectional feminism.

This year’s winter break was a total cease-fire--a brief interruption from the regularly scheduled bullshit that was 2020. We’d never needed a break so desperately, and yet we still didn’t know what to do with all of this free time; most of us caught up on sleep, some of us emailed our governmental representatives to just give us our goddamn stimulus money already, and a handful of us contemplated abandoning all of our responsibilities and abandoning modern life to go live in the wilderness in perpetuity...(the appeal is...frankly undeniable).

Grad students Emma Rathe and Madeline Nielsen spent their winter break in service of the arts and gender equality, researching and preparing for their upcoming exhibition at the Sue and Leon Genet Gallery. Both students are completing their M.A.s in Museum Studies this semester, and as part of their coursework, they have co-curated “The Suffrage Shop.” This exhibition focuses on the history of the titular Suffrage Shop, a Syracuse-based storefront that advertised and sold suffragist merchandise and literature as well as other various items made by women.

The Suffrage movement has historically marginalized women of color, and this exhibition acknowledges this wound and advocates for intersectionality in today’s feminist movements. In their exhibition texts, Emma and Madeline wrote, “The space invites visitors to have conversations surrounding the women’s movement, from its inception to the present day, and how it must change to serve evolving definitions and lived realities as to what it means to be a woman.”

photos courtesy of emma rathe and madeline nielsen

This exhibition will feature pieces from the Sue Ann Genet Costume Collection as well as videos on loan from the George Eastman Museum and text written by Madeline and Emma. “The Suffrage Shop” will also include a variety of take-away resources for the visitors, many featuring information about the definitions of suffrage and facts that reinforce intersectional feminist ideas in regards to the women’s rights movement.

In a virtual interview, Madeline stated that “[t]his exhibition was truly a time for us to showcase how experiences we have had throughout our time in the program [the Museum Studies M.A. program] have shaped us into the museum professionals we would like to be for our future careers. I view this exhibition as the main example for myself that we can take strong stances in museum spaces and that we should be doing so in this current social climate. With the focus on providing more inclusive content and experiences in the museum field, I fully see both of us continuing to be advocates for challenging the current narrative seen in many exhibition spaces while continuing to be proud and active feminists in our personal lives.”

Emma discusses how “‘The Suffrage Shop’ establishes the work that [she is] interested in continuing once [she] graduate[s] from this program. [She] seek[s] to work for an institution that takes initiative to curate exhibitions that are representative of more than just white experiences. Museums are not neutral spaces, and [she] want[s] to be on the team that changes that. [She’s] in such a privileged position to be able to advocate for intersectionality in museum spaces, and this passion is only going to continue to grow.”

“The Suffrage Shop” will open March 5th at the Sue and Leon Genet Gallery in the Nancy Cantor/VPA Warehouse in Downtown Syracuse. It will be on display until March 28th. The gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, noon to 5:00 pm., or by appointment.

This exhibition is the latest offering in Syracuse’s long-standing lineage of social advocacy, and we SERIOUSLY urge you to go see it. Like, as soon as it opens.

Your Invitation to “The Suffrage Shop”