Boston Marks International Women's Day With Art Contest and Suffrage Centennial Programming

Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6239 · Meeting of July 22, 2026

Boston City Hall hosts International Women's Day celebration tied to suffrage centennial. The Mayor's Office of Women's Advancement, led by Executive Director Tania Del Rio, organized the event as part of the yearlong Greater Boston Women's Vote Centennial Project marking the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Mayor Martin J.

Walsh addressed the crowd, noting that the Boston City Council had for the first time reached a majority-female and majority-people-of-color composition, and singling out Councilors Liz Braden, Julia Mejia — whom he called the council's first Afro-Latina immigrant — and a third councilor whose name the audio rendered unclearly. A citywide suffrage-poster art contest awarded $250 to first-prize winner Melissa Pondina, $150 to Ari Hoban, and $50 each to Dara Herman-Zerlien and Peter Zerlien, with Pondina's image set to appear in Dig Boston. Girl Scout Troop 82487, the Daring Divas of Roxbury, delivered the program's centerpiece, with seven members speaking about voting rights and their own campaign volunteering, including one who identified herself as the daughter of Councilor Mejia and credited her mother's one-vote council victory as proof that every ballot counts.

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Source: the Uncategorized 2026-07-22 clip6239 meeting of July 22, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.