Written by Mary Bonnett of Her Story Theater, the play describes the work of three suffragists who secured partial suffrage for Illinois women in 1913, seven years before the 19th Amendment to the Constitution granted U.S. women suffrage in 1920. 

Catherine Gouger Waugh McCulloch was an attorney who for years had fought to redress inequities women experienced; Grace Wilbur Trout was a well-connected clubwoman who used her social position to advance women’s causes; and Ida B. Wells-Barnett, was an African American journalist, born into slavery, who wrote about lynching in the South and continued her activist career in Chicago.  The play demonstrates that the suffragists succeeded despite their very different backgrounds and approaches.

The play was performed at the Exchequer Restaurant and Pub on Wabash Avenue on June 11, 2013, the 100th anniversary of the passage of legislation granting women partial suffrage in Illinois.  Mary Ann Johnson, president of the Chicago Women’s History Center gave historical background before the performance and 5th Ward Alderwoman Leslie Hairston spoke afterwards about the role of women in politics.