The state of NJ has been nominated for an Emmy for these videos

TRENTON – A video series created last year by the New Jersey Historical Commission has been nominated for a regional Emmy.

The NJ Women Vote series of five, 90-second videos explored the evolution of voting rights in New Jersey and how women who were denied suffrage sought to secure the franchise. It examined the roles that racism, sexism and classism posed as obstacles.

“While the 19th Amendment legally granted American women the right to vote, the franchise remained restricted for Black, Native American and immigrant women even after its passage,” said Sara Cureton, executive director of the New Jersey Historical Commission.

“The NJ Women Vote series seeks to reveal the complicated story of women’s suffrage, covering the diverse women across time who advocated for voting rights here in New Jersey,” Cureton said. “It reminds us that the fight to vote continues to this day.”

The video series begins in 1776, when unmarried women were allowed to vote, a right that was contracted in 1807, and continues through and beyond 1964, when civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer challenged Mississippi delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City.

“The NJ Women Vote series provides historical context,” said Secretary of State Tahesha Way. “Only a little over 100 years ago, women in the United States could not vote. Thanks to the diverse activists who fought for decades to achieve this right, and to those who continue to do so today, we can actively participate in our democracy.”

Get our free mobile app

The videos were nominated for an Emmy in the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The series was nominated in the Historical/Cultural – Short Form Content category. The awards ceremony is expected to take place in late September.

The series was produced by PCK Media and released as part of the centennial observation of women’s suffrage. The videos were co-sponsored by the Alice Paul Institute and Middlesex County.

Michael Symons is State House bureau chief for New Jersey 101.5. Contact him at michael.symons@townsquaremedia.com.