Steven Spielberg, the American Bar Association, Hillary Rodham Clinton and numerous book reviewers have all praised The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote, and now a University of Delaware audience will have the opportunity to hear from its author.

Elaine Weiss will deliver the annual James R. Soles Lecture on the Constitution and Citizenship at 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 17, in the Roselle Center for the Arts on UD’s Newark campus, with a reception in the lobby after the talk. Those planning to attend the free, public event are asked to RSVP by Sept. 15 to mcdermit@udel.edu.

The lecture honors the late professor Soles of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, in addition to commemorating Constitution Day.

This year, the Soles Lecture is also the first designated event launching a three-semester teaching initiative at UD, “Our Vote: History. Advocacy. Justice.” The initiative, which seeks to engage students and the campus community in learning more about the power of voting, coincides with two milestone anniversaries in 2020 — the centennial of the 19th Amendment allowing certain women the vote, and the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment, allowing non-white men the vote.

In The Woman’s Hour, Weiss tells the story of the women’s suffrage movement in a book that has been described as a “riveting, nail-biting political thriller.”

Its account takes place over six weeks in the summer of 1920, when the final battle in a seven-decade struggle for the 19th Amendment came down to a single vote in a single state by a single male legislator. (“Spoiler alert,” wrote New York Times reviewer Curtis Sittenfeld in describing the dramatic climax. “The amendment was ratified!”) 

The book has won praise from critics in the Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, NPR and numerous other media outlets. It’s a story, reviewers said, that brings both sides of the hard-fought women’s suffrage movement to life with personal details and doesn’t shy away from such negative aspects as the racial divisions that arose.

“The Woman’s Hour is both a page-turning drama and an inspiration for everyone, young and old, male and female, in these perilous times,” Hillary Clinton wrote. “So much could have gone wrong, but these American women would not take no for an answer.”

Clinton is set to be executive producer on a film adaptation of the book, which has been optioned by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment production company. 

The book won the 2019 Silver Gavel Award, the American Bar Association’s highest honor. Weiss, an award-winning journalist based in Baltimore, has given talks about the suffrage movement at the Library of Congress, National Archives and many other venues.

About the lecture and the Soles Citizenship Endowment

The Soles Lecture honors the late James R. Soles, who was a faculty member in political science for more than 34 years.

The annual lecture also commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia on Sept. 17, 1787. (Each educational institution that receives funds from the federal government is required to hold an educational program about the U.S. Constitution for its students on Constitution Day.)

Prof. Soles, who died in 2010, received the University’s Excellence in Teaching Award twice and its Excellence in Advising Award, as well as the University’s Medal of Distinction. He received many honors and recognitions in his distinguished career, but he is still best remembered for his personal dedication to teaching and to his students. 

The James R. Soles Citizenship Endowment supports a named professorship, undergraduate citizenship stipends and graduate fellowships.

The first stipends were awarded more than 10 years ago, and recipients have used that support in a wide range of accomplishments. To see more about recent recipients and the work they have done, visit this website.

Our Vote: History. Advocacy. Justice

The Soles Lecture is the inaugural event in the University-wide teaching initiative “Our Vote,” which begins this semester and continues through fall 2020.

The initiative aims to bring together a wide range of people, activities and events on campus, all focusing on the power and privilege of suffrage, the right to vote. Faculty members have been asked to think about classes and activities they’ve already planned that fit with this theme, as well as to consider implementing new ways to address the subject.

As plans for the initiative develop, possible activities include themed courses, guest speakers, musical and theatre performances, film series, a community reader series and student research and writing projects.

Although the initiative coincides with the 2020 centennial of women’s suffrage and the 150th anniversary of black suffrage, “Our Vote” is expected to extend even more broadly to encompass democracy and civic engagement, said Patricia Sloane-White, chair of the Department of Women and Gender Studies and an organizer of the project.

“We want to engage students and the campus community to learn more about the power of voting and what it means to all of us,” she said.