Trollinger to Present Rebels in Corsets Lecture at Cleo Redd Fisher Museum

Susan Trollinger presented "Rebels in Corsets: The Embodied Rhetoric of the Women’s Suffrage Movement" Monday in the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum lecture hall, offering Holmes County residents a close look at the tactics and sacrifices behind the drive for the ballot. Doors opened at 6:30 p.m., and the program began at 7 p.m.

Trollinger argued that the popular image of a quiet, orderly path to enfranchisement misses the decades of persistence and creative strategy that activists used to change minds and law. The lecture framed suffrage as a 72-year struggle and traced roots in the 1840s, examining what life was like for women in the 19th century and how early reformers moved from private grievance to public demand. Trollinger noted that though many of these arguments appear unremarkable today, they were once viewed as shocking and even "disgusting."

The presentation emphasized the rhetorical and embodied dimensions of the movement - how dress, public presence, and confrontational tactics carried political meaning. By focusing on those visible choices, Trollinger placed the local audience in the line of sight of a movement that reshaped not only statutes but American political culture itself. Her approach connected past rhetorical battles to present civic practices, giving attendees historical context for contemporary debates about public voice and political norms.

Susan Trollinger is a professor of English at the University of Dayton and brings scholarship on cultural memory and public persuasion to the local stage. Trollinger is the author of Selling the Amish: The Tourism of Nostalgia (2012) and co-author of Righting America at the Creation Museum (2016). Her work has reached national audiences through interviews, including appearances on C-SPAN2’s BookTV and coverage in The Washington Post.

For Holmes County, the lecture provided a low-cost, high-value educational opportunity. Admission to the lecture was free, removing financial barriers to local civic learning and allowing students, teachers, and lifelong learners to attend. The museum setting invited residents to reflect on county and state histories of reform and to bring those insights into classrooms, clubs, and local civic life.

The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum plans regular programming that highlights regional connections to larger national stories, and this lecture was a reminder that national movements often have local echoes. For more information about upcoming events or museum hours, visit crfmuseum.com or call 419-994-4050.