KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Suffrage Coalition is bringing a museum to Knoxville to share the story of how women in the United States gained the right to vote and highlight East Tennessee’s role in the passage of the 19th Amendment.
The Suffrage Coalition is working with the team behind the Titanic Museum to create an immersive experience for the museum. More than 1,000 artifacts will be showcased in the museum to tell the story of how women earned the right to vote.
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“It’ll be not just the usual museum, not just artifacts and storyboards, but it’ll be an experience run. We’re bringing it to Knoxville, and I think there’s something really wonderful about having what will be the largest women’s history museum in the country, right here in Knoxville, Tennessee,” said Wanda Sobieski, president of The Suffrage Coalition. “‘We see it as a place where people can come together and not only learn the history, but learn how they can shape the future.”
The museum is set to open in 2028. It will be located in a 9,000-square-foot building at 706 South Gay Street. The Coalition raised $2,000,000 to buy the building and is now working to raise an additional $2,900,000 to expand into the neighboring building. This will mean that instead of just a 9,000-square-foot building, they’ll have closer to 25,000 square feet.
“It’s a really big story. It was a 72-year battle, and we want to make sure that we tell all the stories, as many as we possibly can, all the versions of it, all the shades of it, what women who knew they couldn’t gain the vote by the 19th Amendment did support anyway because they knew it was the right thing to do,” said Sobieski…