"Women Win the Vote: 85 Years and Beyond," a national celebration of the 85th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, will be held on Aug. 26 and 27 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

This program, honoring the historic struggle for women’s right to vote and exploring women’s current legal status, is co-sponsored by the National Constitution Center and the National Women’s History Project of Santa Rosa, CA. WOMENS WAY is a co-sponsor of this event.

The event begins at 11 a.m. on Fri., Aug. 26 (Women’s Equality Day) with films on woman suffrage and the Equal Rights Amendment. At 3 p.m., Sally Roesch Wagner and Fred Morsell perform in "Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass: Beyond Race and Gender in the Struggle for Equality."

A gala 19th Amendment anniversary reception at 5 p.m., with a special program and silent auction, will also celebrate the National Women’s History Project’s 25 years of writing women back into history.

The 6:45 p.m. keynote session, Democracy and Women’s Equal Rights – Mutually Inclusive, features Martha Burk, Chair, National Council of Women’s Organizations; Kay Maxwell, President, League of Women Voters of the U.S.; Roslyn Ridgeway, President, Federation of Business and Professional Women/USA; and Ellie Smeal, President, The Feminist Majority.

Admission tickets to the reception/keynote program are available for $25 from the National Women’s History Project at 707-636-2888 or by e-mail at nwhp@aol.com. All other sessions are free and open to the public.

The celebration resumes at 10 a.m. on Sat., Aug. 27, with author Linda Ford discussing Iron-Jawed Angels in Print and on Film, including clips from the 2004 TV movie. Panels will explore Women and the Vote: Linking the Generations (11:30 a.m.), Equal Rights for Women: A Work in Progress (1:30 p.m.), and The Power of Place: Interpreting Women’s Rights at Women’s History Sites (3 p.m.).

The event concludes with a book-signing by participants at 4:15 p.m. in the National Constitution Center Main Hall. Voter registration, exhibit tables, and special gift shop items will be available on both days.

The voting rights milestone will also be celebrated at 4 p.m. on Sun., Aug. 28, at Paulsdale, the National Historic Landmark birthplace of suffragist leader Alice Paul in Mt. Laurel, NJ. For information, contact the Alice Paul Institute at 856-231-1885 or by e-mail at info@alicepaul.org.

Women Win the Vote is the final event on the 15-month calendar of Women Advancing, a Philadelphia-area celebration of the 85th anniversary of the 19th Amendment promoted by the Valley Forge Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Additional information about Women Win the Vote is available online at www.nhwp.org.