19th Amendment

The Alleycat race on Saturday was in celebration of the 19th Amendment which was ratified in 1920 and which gave women the right to vote.

I have a grandmother still living who was born in 1916. How odd to think that in her lifetime, women went from being "non persons" in terms of voting to "persons." Then I think of all the other changes she witnessed from the front row of the 20th century and I'm really blown away.

But I digress.

I know I wrote about the Alleycat the other day, but I want to revisit it because it had such fun challenges. These were the mandatory challenges:

Visit
1.  Lafayette Square, Northeast Corner (park north of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue).  That address sounds familiar, doesn't it? When we got there, we had to answer a question about women's suffrage. This was the one we got:

Frances Perkins was the first woman to be elevated to a Cabinet Level position. What cabinet position was she appointed to?

2.  Sewall Belmont House -- 144 Constitution NE -- where filled in the blank: Four things that lie here: Dreams, Learning, Inspiration and _____________________.

Sewall-Belmont House & Museum

One of the premier women's history sites in the country, the Sewall-Belmont House & Museum maintains an extensive collection of suffrage banners, archives and artifacts documenting the continuing effort by women and men of all races, religions and backgrounds to win voting rights and equality for women under the law.

3.  Tubman Elementary School playground. 3101 13th St NW -- On the playground there's a huge US map painted.  We had to jump onto one of the first 5 states to ratify the 19th amendment. Which states could we possibly have chosen?

All other tasks were optional, although there were several that the entire team had to be present to get the points. Some of those:

a. Pick up a soldier at the Vietnam Women's Memorial and drop it off at Clara Barton's secret office

b. At the DC Government Building, as a team, we donned bowler hats and shouted out loud something about being present and riding bikes as women.

c.  At Lincoln Park we met the quizzers at the monument dedicated to Mary McLeod Bethune and answered a question -- I think  how many books she wrote, but I wasn't the team member who answered that so I'm not sure.

d.  Photobooth at Lincoln Park was worth 20 points

e.  Carrying an egg on a spoon and answering a question about women's reproductive rights in DC (Good thing my teammate answered that one!)

f.  Bike anatomy -- I blew this answer but Jo knew it.  Whew!

g. Old Timey Photo Shoot on the House side of the Capitol. I think it had something to do with Nancy Pelosi, but we blasted off after that on our way back to the finish.

The ones that did NOT require checking in, or the entire team (so people could divide and conquer although we didn't as I would have never found my way back)

1. Sound Bike DC -- he rode along - route of the Women's Suffrage Parade, Pennsylvania Ave, playing music. We had to write down one song title we heard. His play list was AWESOME.

2. Find Rosie the Riveter in Mt. Pleasant -- this was a guy dressed in a bandana, who was strolling or biking in an 8 x 1.5 block area.

3. 1370 Park Rd NW - This woman-owned business has how many leaves on door?

4. Team Picture correctly riding the metro rail or bus with your bikes

5. Team picture next to the Women's Suffrage statue in the Capitol Rotunda (no way to do this with security!)

6.  Get a business card of a woman who owns a business

7. Check out one feminist theory book from a DC public library

8.  Collect bras to donate to charity

9.  Pamphlet from National Museum of Women in the Arts

10.  FDR Memorial, Rm 4 -- How many rings is Eleanor wearing on her hands?

11. Mary Church Terrell Home, 325 T St. NW -- What type of padlock is on the fence?

12.  Women's National Democratic Club - on the painted donkey, what are flying around the Washington monument?

13.  Memorial at M St and Rhode Island NW - How many sisters are depicted on the memorial?

14. 15th & Euclid, NW  What year was the Joan of Arc statue dedicated?

15. Betty Friedan's home (2022 Columbia Ave NW) What color are the gates on either side of the front entrance?

So you can see there were a lot of fun things to do -- but the prizes definitely went to those who knew the city best from a cycling point of view. The tourists who watched us were cheering us on -- it was fun to be part of a tourist attraction!

Feel free to google for some of the answers above!