FMU to light downtown buildings purple for 19th amendment anniversary

FLORENCE — Francis Marion University will commemorate the 101st anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment by lighting several of its downtown buildings purple on the evening of Thursday, Aug. 26.

The FMU Performing Arts Center and the Carter Center for Health Sciences will be lit for the occasion. 

This marks the second year FMU has lit the buildings purple in honor of women’s suffrage. Nearly 70% of Francis Marion students are women, making it natural for the University to recognize the historic anniversary. 

“Francis Marion is proud of the many accomplishments of the talented women who have studied here, as well as who serve on the faculty and staff,” Dr. Fred Carter, President of FMU, said. “It’s only fitting that we take a moment to honor such a historic event in the advancement of women’s rights.”

The 19th Amendment gave women in the United States the right to vote and was ratified in August 1920, though it took many decades after that before those rights were fully guaranteed across the nation.

FMU first lit its building purple last year to honor the 100th anniversary of the amendments ratification. The lighting is inspired by the historic women’s suffrage movement slogan, “Forward through the Darkness, Forward into Light.”