Suffrage marker installed as Las Vegas marks Women’s Day

International Women’s Day honors the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women every year on March 8. Here are two ways to commemorate women’s achievements in Las Vegas.

A new historical marker

This year is the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in the U.S. A marker was installed in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday to recognize and celebrate efforts of Las Vegas women in that fight.

“We recognize the Mesquite Club and, in particular, the second president, Delphine Squires, who provided a network to the southern part of the state so that suffrage speakers who came to Nevada would travel to Las Vegas and speak about giving women the right to vote,” says Joanne Goodwin, UNLV history professor and board member of the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites.

The organization has partnered with the William G. Pomeroy Foundation to place historic markers in each state and territory of the U.S., including five markers in Nevada, recognizing significant events and people in the suffrage campaign.

The downtown marker can be viewed in the Centennial Plaza adjacent to the

Historic Fifth Street School.

Women of Color arts fest

This weekend’s inaugural Women of Color Arts Festival aims to celebrate artists from all backgrounds and nationalities in the Las Vegas Valley for a weekend dedicated to visibility, representation and connection.

Timed to coincide with the centennial of women’s suffrage and International Women’s Day, and on the heels of Black History Month, the free, four-day event includes performances, workshops and forum discussions.

The festival wrap up on Sunday with yoga at 8 a.m. at Fergusons Downtown, an 11 a.m. jazz brunch at 18bin and a Women of Color in the Arts Panel Discussion at 1 p.m. at Vegas Theatre Company.

Contact Janna Karel at jkarel@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3835. Follow @ jannainprogress on Twitter.

K.M. Cannon Review-Journal Historical markers like this one downtown are being installed nationwide to acknowledge places and women who were integral to women’s suffrage.