As part of “She Can, We Can: Beyond the Women’s Suffrage Centennial,” UNC Greensboro has partnered with the Greensboro History Museum and Bicycling in Greensboro (BIG) to host a family-friendly daylong celebration of the revolutionary impact of the bicycle on women & voting, on October 9, 2021 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
A community bike-ride will be followed by an afternoon event celebrating how bicycling transforms communities. All are welcome to join the fun at the Greensboro History Museum, 130 Summit Ave, Greensboro, NC 27401.
The morning’s free cycling tour will help riders discover local legacies of the struggle for women’s voting rights. The six-mile ride will leave the museum at 10 a.m. (sign-in at 9:45 a.m.), and a two-mile ride will leave the museum at 11:15 a.m. (sign-in at 11:00 a.m.). The shorter tour will visit NC A&T and Bennett College, and the longer tour will also visit UNCG and Greensboro College. Register at https://bikegso.org/Spokes-&-Votes/. Participants are invited to bring their own bikes, or reserve a free/discounted Blue Duck bike by emailing Megan McNamara at Megan.McNamara@flyblueduck.com. The rides are open to all.
The afternoon festival will take place outside of the Greensboro History Museum from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The Festival will include a bike safety rodeo for children & families offered, history exhibits, bike and voting-themed crafts and activities, information tables on voter registration and bike safety, an ice cream truck, and additional food and beverages available for purchase at adjacent LeBauer Park. You do not need to participate in the bike tour to join in the festival.
Bicycling and Suffrage
Throughout 2020-2022, UNC Greensboro presents “She Can, We Can: Beyond the Women’s Suffrage Centennial.” Through a diverse and inclusive series of events, discussions, and performances this series asks: what political advances and compromises resulted in the passage of the 19th Amendment, and how have these shaped issues of equity in our own time?
When modern day bicycles were invented in the late 19th century, a bicycle boom engulfed the nation. As the bicycle became safer and less expensive to own, it became a mainstream transportation tool for everyday use. For women, it also gave them newfound freedom of movement.
By increasing their mobility, the bicycle also helped to accelerate many women’s rights. Bicycles gave suffragettes independence of movement, enabling more to socialize as well as to organize. Susan B. Anthony famously said “Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance.”
This festival celebrates this legacy, while also connecting bicycling and civic participation in the present.
Numerous partners came together to make this event possible, including Greensboro Safe Routes 2 School, Greensboro Department of Transportation, Action Greensboro, Downtown Greensboro, You Can Vote, Safe Kids Guilford County, Blue Duck, Greensboro Public Library, Bicycling in Greensboro, the Greensboro History Museum, Wonder Media Network, and the following units of UNC Greensboro: School of Education’s Department of Library & Information Science, University Libraries’s University Archives, and the Provost’s Office.
Learn more and sign up at https://bikegso.org/Spokes-&-Votes/.
This event will be organized with public health at its center. We can do this event safely if we all show care, kindness, respect, and consideration for those around us by: getting vaccinated if we are eligible for the vaccine, wearing a mask while not bicycling, distancing, practicing good hygiene through hand washing/sanitizing. (Hand sanitizer, disposable masks, and wipes will be available.) These four acts of kindness and CDC recommended behaviors will be encouraged and enforced at the event. Please stay home if you’re not feeling well or are showing COVID symptoms. We are all in this together and can enjoy a fun and safe event if we show kindness to one another by following our health and safety guidelines. As circumstances change, we will adjust our COVID-19 safety protocols accordingly and communicate them with our audiences and participants on our website, in our email communications, and on social media. For the most up-to-date information on this event follow the event’s Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/events/558827331986741/
