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Wisconsin Women Inspired By HillaryJuly/August 2005 IBEW Journal Eight IBEW members from Wisconsin were among the 2,200 people who attended a sold-out fundraising event headlined by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.The Wisconsin Women in Government’s annual scholarship event raised more than $200,000 for scholarships and educational and mentoring programs for women. Demand for tickets was so great that organizers sold out the April 29 event before the invitations were mailed, said Madison Local 159 Government Affairs Coordinator David Boetcher. Madison Local 965 member Dorothy Curtis—who sat with several women members of Local 159—said Clinton inspired the crowd with a speech that highlighted Wisconsin’s role in the women’s suffrage movement. American women won the right to vote in 1920, through passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. "The women I was with are down in the trenches, normal people," said Curtis, an assistant project designer for Alliant Energy. "We were all appreciative of having the opportunity to be there." Local 159 member Taemie Saucerman said the speech evoked memories of her great-grandmother, who marched on Washington for the right to vote in the mid-1910’s. Clinton traced the plight of women’s rights across the globe and deplored the lack of voter participation in the United States. "We have to continue the work of extending democracy and full and equal rights to all persons," she said. Curtis said when she and her table-mates approached Clinton to have their photo taken with her, the senator was accommodating. When they told her they were from the IBEW, Clinton said, "’I love the IBEW!’" "The things that she cares about are the things that you and I would care about," Curtis said. "It was a treat." |
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