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Hospital display celebrates women’s right to vote

Published

5 years ago

June 14, 2019

Signe Gundersen Schroeder (2nd from right) looks at a Gundersen hospital display celebrating the centennial of the La Crosse League of Women Voters

While visiting one La Crosse hospital this year, you can get a history lesson on the women’s movement in America.

Gundersen Health System has a new display to mark the 100th anniversary of the La Crosse League of Women Voters, and 100 years since Wisconsin approved women’s right to vote under the 19th Amendment.

The display highlights women within the Gundersen family who have been active in political action and women’s rights, including Signe Gundersen Schroeder and Rachel Gutzke Gundersen, who both served as president of the La Crosse League of Women Voters in the 1960s.

Both women attended a ceremony Friday to dedicate the year-long hospital display, along with several other Gundersen relatives.

The display is located on the hospital’s first floor, near the entrance on 7th Street.

During this week in 1919, Wisconsin became the first state to ratify the 19th Amendment, to give women the right to vote.

The amendment became law nationwide a year later.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.