Fisher Professor Wins New York Emmy® Award

Rochester-based filmmaker Linda Moroney, an adjunct professor in the Department of Media and Communication at St. John Fisher University, received a New York Emmy® Award for her documentary film, “Women and The Vote.”

The film was honored at the 65th Annual New York Emmy® Awards Gala at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square on Saturday, Oct. 8. Produced by Low to the Ground Productions and presented by WXXI Public Media, the film documents visitors at suffragists’ grave sites to mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment on Election Day 2020. It won in the “Documentary Topical,” category.

A quiet election-day tradition at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester became international news during the 2016 presidential election. More than 10,000 people came to place their “I Voted” stickers on Susan B. Anthony's headstone to honor her tireless devotion to women’s suffrage. That day, social and news media coverage spurred voters in communities around the country to locate their hometown suffragists and do the same. Inspired by these events, “Women and The Vote” features contemporary voters across the state as they reflect on New York’s historic suffrage movement and its significance in their lives today.  

The production team for “Women and The Vote” included Moroney, producer/director; Don Casper, co-producer/editor; and Laura Chekow and Lorraine Woerner, associate producers. The National Susan B. Anthony House served as fiscal sponsor for this project.

Moroney, who teaches documentary film and documentary production at Fisher, included student Emily Passmore in the development of the film through the Summer Research Fellows program. Moroney and Passmore spent a summer researching online and in facilities to find newspapers, audio recordings, and footage to develop the film. Their research spanned all the way from UCLA to Rochester. Moroney said working with a student as a part of the Summer Research Fellows program was an amazing opportunity for both students and faculty.

“Women and The Vote” premiered on WXXI-TV in October 2021. It is currently being distributed nationally by American Public Television and will air on PBS stations across the country this fall.