Singer and historian Linda Radtke, in period garb and "Votes for Women" sash, will celebrate the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, specifically highlighting the decades-long persistence of Vermonters, both women and men.

The event will be held at Oldcastle Theatre on Saturday, February 29, at 2 p.m. It is sponsored by the Bennington Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), Bennington Performing Arts Center/home of Oldcastle Theatre, and Vermont Humanities Council. The public is invited to attend.There is no charge.

Music was essential to the Suffrage Movement: each state convention began and ended with songs such as "Shall Women Vote?," "New America," "Giving the Ballot to the Mother," and "Voting as We Pray," as well as rousing Christian hymns.

Touring the state in 1870, Suffragist Lucy Stone urged resistant citizens to see women's involvement in civic life as "enlarged housekeeping," expanding women's traditional efforts to nurture hearth and home to a wider focus to improve the greater community. (The Rutland Herald reporter expected "Harpies and Amazons" and was impressed by suffragists' mild and rational approach.) Both the songs and stories in Radtke's presentation, accompanied by pianist Arthur Zorn, highlight Vermont's efforts from 1840-1921, as they lobbied in churches, at "parlor meetings," at town halls and at the State House for votes for women.

Linda Radtke was a Vermont high school teacher for 31 years and now produces the VPR Church Hour on Vermont Public Radio. She has a special interest in local history, and enjoys doing research on each town she visits with her program. A classically trained singer, Linda is a member of Vermont's professional vocal ensemble, Counterpoint, the Oriana Singers, and the Arioso Chamber Ensemble. She also sings with a vocal quartet, Ah!Capella, sponsored by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, which brings music to Vermont schools.

This is one in a series of programs planned by the Bennington Branch of AAUW to mark the anniversary of passage of the 19th Amendment.