No one gave women the right to vote. They had to fight for it. The novel We Demand: The Suffrage Road Trip tells the story of extraordinary lengths women went to for win voting rights. It is based on the true story of one such event- an epic cross country roadtrip.

In 1915 four women left San Francisco for Washington D.C. on a desperate and dangerous mission. They were going to demand an amendment to the U.S. Constitution enfranchising women. The story unfolds through the eyes of Ingeborg Kindstedt and Maria Kindberg, middle-aged Swedish immigrants who owned the car, did the driving, and fixed what went wrong. The roads were terrible, and the weather was worse. They lost their way in a trackless Nevada desert and got stuck in the mud in Kansas… Between the logistical setbacks and cultural resistance, how could they hope to arrive in D.C. on their appointed day and time?

Author Anne B. Gass’s extensive research into the original trip took her along the same route herself 100 years later, in 2015. In this talk she will share details of both trips, show historic photos, and discuss her approach to bringing these previously little-known women back to life through her writing.

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