Independent Historian
she/her
Anne Gass is the author of the non-fiction book Voting Down the Rose: Florence Brooks Whitehouse and Maine’s Fight for Woman Suffrage, published in 2014. Anne is Whitehouse’s great-granddaughter. Her most recent book is We Demand: The Suffrage Road Trip, a historical novel based on the true story of an epic cross-country road trip that took place in 1915. In 2015, a century later, Anne spent two months retracing the original route.
Anne describes herself as a “women’s rights history activist” and speaks regularly on suffrage and women’s rights history. She recently led an effort to install seven roadside markers across Maine honoring women (and one man!) who fought for women’s voting rights. She is an appointed member of Maine’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women.
Anne is an active volunteer and has been very involved in her town of Gray, currently serving on her town council.
Talks
All Power is Inherent in the People: A History of Voting Rights in Maine
Voting rights have evolved from the time of Maine’s founding to the present day. Which groups were initially excluded from voting rights? Why did it matter? What did it take for these marginalized groups to win the right to vote? How do voting rights continue to evolve in Maine? This talk is accompanied by historic slides and is suitable for a wide range of audiences.
The Clean, Clear Right: Women’s Historic & Ongoing Fight for Equality
Gass dives into Maine’s suffrage history—including the life & legacy of her own great grandmother—and helps us to understand how hard women have always fought to be counted, and the ways in which it remains difficult but necessary for all to have the “clean clear right” to vote in a democracy.