Rotarian of the Day, Roland Herwig, far left, introduced Dana Shadid as our speaker at the May 1st meeting. Dana, a long time Edmond resident, and former Executive Director of the Edmond Chamber of Commerce was on hand to discuss the upcoming celebration of Oklahoma becoming the 21st state to give the right to vote in all elections. It was in November of 1918 that the amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution was added that gave the right to vote in all elections to women. It was two years later that the 19th amendment to the US constitution was ratified and became the law of the land. (Note: It was not until the comprehensive "Voting Rights Act" of 1965 which effectively removed the barriers which kept non-white Americans from voting in many predominantly southern states passed, that minorities fully realized their right to vote guaranteed in the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution). It was through the many years of both active and passive actions of suffragists and suffragettes that the bill was finally introduced and passed the Oklahoma legislature with a veto-proof margin. Dana explained the Suffragists were the militant women who "gasp!" actually picketed the capitol and marched in parades (of all the nerve!!), and the suffragettes were the ones working behind the scenes in small groups and at home meetings to rally support.Dana is working with women today to raise awareness of the need for the younger generation (50-60 years minus at least one generation PLEASE!) to become involved in local politics and work their way up into State and even National leadership roles. There is way to much hidebound thinking for real progress to be made when strides in manufacturing and technology are being made at the rate of nearly doubling the knowledge base each decade or quicker.
The Shadids came to Edmond 30 years ago with Dana becoming Executive Director of the Edmond Chamber of Commerce. From there she spent several years working in economic development for Career Tech and Oklahoma City Community College. She closed out her career with 10 years at the Oklahoma Community Institute. After retiring, Dana served as interim director of several non-profits. Most recently, her life has been consumed with growing Edmond Democratic Women, an organization she founded in 2017. She and her husband Randal share a love of art, food and travel.