Palm Coast, FL – On Thursday, October 28, 2021, Kim Medley, a long-serving member of American Association of University Women (AAUW) Flagler County Branch, stopped by the main branch of the Flagler County Public Library to present Holley Albanese, Director, with two books which add to the history of Woman’s Suffrage.
The first, A Vote for Women: Celebrating the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the 19th Amendment, is a tribute compiled by the 2020 Women’s Vote Centennial Initiative (WVCI) and the National Women’s History Alliance (NWHA). It was sent to members of the many organizations who diligently worked to bring about awareness for the Centennial of the 19th Amendment. Kim decided to donate the book she received so the legacy of the Woman Suffrage Movement could be passed on to generations of Flagler girls and women. The second book, Suffrage, Women & Untold Stories, is the culmination of research which began more than three years ago and Ms. Medley’s first published book.
In August of 2018, Kim presented a simple idea to the AAUW Flagler Board, one which she believed would garner publicity for the branch. She wanted to identify the first woman from Flagler County to register and vote in the November 2, 1920 General Election. The search for that woman led to revamping a skit, originally written by Muriel Levy who passed away this month, performing the skit throughout 2019 and 2020, meeting with and filming interviews with the descendants of many of Flagler’s women listed by The Flagler Tribune as qualified and registered to vote for the 1920 General Election, obtaining a grant from AAUW to film Echoes a Suffrage, and achieving local, state, and national recognition for Mrs. Alice Scott Abbott, a local Suffragist from Bunnell.
Kim’s book chronicles how she approached finding answers to many questions, how the branch organized to promote 100 years of women voting, and how a long-forgotten Bunnell church from 1916 will offer many in Flagler County the chance to explore the Woman Suffrage Movement as it marched across the country, came to Florida, and wound its way to Flagler. Writing has provided Ms. Medley with the opportunity to step away from her Publicity/Social media duties with AAUW Flagler and focus on additional research. Suffrage, Women & Untold Stories is available in print and Kindle format through Amazon, and now, thanks to a donation and a chance to give back to her community, it is available at the local library.
Media Release: Kimble Medley, AAUW Flagler Member
