Breaking into the Human Race, named after the 1914 feminist mass meeting held in the Great Hall at The Cooper Union, celebrates the transformative impact of the Suffrage Movement and the important stage provided by Cooper Union in the fight for women's rights.

Aligned with other urgent political movements of the day, such as the Abolition, Labor and Peace Movements, the U.S. Women's Suffrage Movement radically altered the social, political and cultural life of the country, and, specifically, New York City, from the mid 19th to early 20th century. Activists in the Movement were daring and resourceful, employing various modes of organization, protest, resistance and intellectual argumentation to win the right to vote for all women in the U.S. Galvanizing humor, spectacle and creative persuasion, the texts, speeches, broadsides, banners and protest materials created by the Suffragists demonstrate a rich and resourceful set of tactics.

The Great Hall provided a frequent venue for political meetings, speeches and gatherings by feminists and activists in the suffrage movement. Significantly, one of the earliest programs of The Cooper Union was the School of Design for Women. Opened in 1859 to provide women a free education in drawing, painting, photography, typewriting, telegraphy and shorthand, the school offered women a profession in art but, more importantly, self-sufficiency.

While the Suffrage Movement achieved the singular goal of gaining the right to vote for women, many of their larger aspirations and desires are still being fought for today. Breaking into the Human Race recognizes past, present and future feminisms as a facet of a struggle for human rights and freedoms.