Historical Society Plans '100 Years Of Milford Women'

Milford CT

05 March, 2022

6:25 PM

Description

Press release from the Milford Historical Society: March 5, 2022 "100 Years of Milford Women" and how world events changed their lives will be discussed by David Duffner at the next meeting of the Milford Historical Society, Mon., March 21 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be at the Mary Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church on the Green. Starting in late 2019, Duffner did research to find the names of Milford women who worked to ratify the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote. Doing research at the State Library in Hartford and the Milford Library, he found the names of 20 local women who had been active as Suffragettes. He also discovered that the very first woman to vote in Milford was Miss Lillias Tibbals, an early riser who was first in line at 5:30 a.m. on election day. More than 280 years ago in 1639, it was her ancestor, Sergeant Thomas Tibbals, who led the first settlers from New Haven to Milford. It sounds like the Tibbals were often first in line. Duffner had planned to give talks on Suffragettes in 2020, but covid made that impossible. He has since reworked his program to cover wider issues of women in the 20th century. He describes himself as always active in progressive causes and is currently a volunteer for IRIS, Integrated Refugee and Immigration Services in New Haven and SPO, Milford Speaks Out. He is a retired teacher who taught English in grades 7-12 in Norwalk, and Mrs. Duffner, a retired Milford elementary school teacher, who is a docent with the Milford Historical Society. There is ample parking in the lot behind the church, and the building is accessible to the handicapped. For more information, telephone the Society at (203) 874-2264. This press release was produced by the Milford Historical Society. The views expressed here are the author's own.