Do you ever wish that a heroic soul would come along riding a horse to save the day and protect the rights of the people like we used to see in old Hollywood movies? Artist Jeanine Michna-Bales’ rich and deeply nuanced exhibition at the Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery and its accompanying publication delve into one woman’s crusade, sometimes on horseback, to do just that.
“Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Women’s Suffrage” presents Michna-Bales’ photographs, select antique props and a beautifully hand-stitched railroad map inviting viewers along for a journey re-creating the suffragist’s travels in 1916. A yellow stitched line traverses the map from New York to the West Coast, offering a look at Milholland’s long route across the country.
The goal was for this well-spoken lawyer to influence voters in the West on behalf of the National Woman’s Party and build support for the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would guarantee women’s right to vote. Incumbent President Woodrow Wilson had been dragging his feet on the amendment ahead of the 1916 election.
Visually, the exhibition offers images made as Michna-Bales retraced the historic trip that Milholland made across the country with her sister Vida, along with staged photos and vignettes offering contextual information on the times, places and methods of transportation. In the exhibition’s accompanying publication, the artist writes that “the landscape photographs depict what I imagine Inez saw with her own eyes as she traveled through the rugged West a century ago. The ‘autochromes’ look back at history through re-enactments and still lifes of moments in her journey.”
A series of grand, almost painterly, landscapes chronicle vistas, flora and fauna Inez Milholland would have encountered along the railroad route during her autumn journey. Blue Gem, Washington (2019), a dreamy image of a tree-lined mountain ridge cloaked in fog, was taken in the early morning hours outside of Seattle. The artist says such images allowed her to gain insight into Milholland’s experience as she retraced the suffragist’s steps. Images such as Arrival (2019) re-create Milholland’s arrival by train in Chicago with her sister to see their father as they set out on the trip. Michna-Bales says she bought a single white dress resembling the one worn by Milholland in every size available to be able to involve a range of friends and women from the League of Women Voters in her photographic essay.
Michna-Bales’ research and preparation included reading Milholland’s letters, newspaper clippings and historical records. The handwritten notes offered key information on our protagonist’s relationships, including with her husband, Eugen Jan Boissevain. Her serious health issues, which were exacerbated by her arduous itinerary, would claim her life in November 1916 at age 30. Milholland reportedly had pernicious anemia, strep throat and tonsillitis and was taking a prescribed mix of iron, arsenic and strychnine during her journey. A series of hazy, out-of-focus photographs allude to Milholland’s deteriorating health, delusional visions brought on by her medications and the grueling nature of the trip of endless speaking engagements.
Some images, such as a solo, slightly off-center Star of Hope (2019) crown, also offer important narrative clues for those who may not know Milholland’s story, or why these landscape images are interspersed with historically re-created moments. The chronological ordering of images and details of Milholland’s various speaking stops in the Standing Together publication is perhaps more successful in creating a linear understanding of the campaign ground covered and personal sacrifices made, as well as providing an added sense of the woman behind it all through the use of poetic images with quotes from Milholland. Perhaps as the exhibition travels to additional venues there may be an opportunity to include some of these elements in wall labels.
Two black birds sweeping across a snow-covered field called Special Flying Envoys, Montana (2019) pays homage to the purpose and companionship shared by Inez Milholland and her sister Vida in their epic journey. And a beautiful foreshadowing of Milholland’s death is referenced by a woman wearing that same white dress as she walks into the water at the ocean’s edge in Transitioning (2019). Milholland died in Los Angeles 30 days after collapsing onstage at her last speaking engagement.
Michna-Bales should be lauded for the major commitment of uncovering and recovering Milholland’s incredible story. This research and recovery work is reminiscent of Judy Chicago’s iconic and revisionary The Dinner Party (1974-1979) installation, which literally gave more than 1,000 women a place at history’s table.
As a former advertising director, Michna-Bales says that her desire to marry concepts and images led to her path as an artist. In reviews of this work and her 2017 Through Darkness to Light: Photographs Along the Underground Railroad exhibition and publication, the artist has earned the reputation of being a visual historian.
Inez Milholland’s activism and crusade for voting rights make her story incredibly prescient given the recent laws passed by Texas to restrict voting access and reproductive rights. Will we see efforts like those of Milholland as people start to mobilize and protest? Are individuals willing to endure pain and sacrifice to effect change? While only time will tell, Michna-Bales hopes her work will encourage dialogue and exchange on our shared humanity and rights.
Details
The exhibition: “Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Women’s Suffrage” runs through Nov. 13 at Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, 150 Manufacturing St., Suite 203, in Dallas. Free admission. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 214-969-1852, email info@pdnbgallery.com or visit pdnbgallery.com.
