Annual Meeting 2019

May 4 was the 2019 annual meeting of the National Society of The Colonial Dames in the State of Minnesota. In addition to the business meeting, Ruth Stryker-Gordon gave a talk on Sarah T. Colvin, a women’s rights advocate who lived in St. Paul with her physician husband from 1897 until her death in 1949. Ruth fondly remembers visiting the Colvins each Christmas, playing games and receiving presents. In 1943, Sarah wrote her autobiography and Ruth read about Sarah’s participation in the women’s suffrage movement. Sarah was jailed after picketing the White House in 1918 and 1919, and her autobiography details her experience of being “behind locked doors” for the first time, the sound of rats, and the effects of the hunger strikes on her and her fellow captives. None of this was ever spoken of in the years Ruth knew the Colvins. Our group also thanked Ruth for her service as she retires from our board after serving as treasurer and second vice president. Members only: Log in to see our photo gallery for this event.