If residents of 10 Wilmington Place want to know more about the fight for women’s suffrage – look no further than DoraMae O’Kelley.

DoraMae is an Assisted Living resident with an impressive past. A historian and educator, she was the Director of Education at the Dayton Art Institute from 1981-1991 and later retired after several years as the Director of the Hancock Historical Museum in Findlay, Ohio. 

A lifelong learner, she conducted extensive research around the women’s suffrage movement, so much so that she wrote a book about it! Courageous Optimism: Montgomery County, Ohio and the Pursuit of Votes for Women documents the historic women’s suffrage movement locally in the Dayton area. When asked about her interest in this topic, she said: “Pretty early in life I discovered women were often left out of events they would have been interested in, too, but nobody thought to invite them. It didn’t make sense sometimes. And I thought - that’s tragic. Because these women would enjoy doing that.”

Writing a book might seem like a big feat to most, but as the wife of a college English teacher, it was not a surprise to DoraMae that “one of [her] biggest supporters was [her] husband, Jarrell.”

The advice she would give to someone wanting to write a book?

“Explore what you are interested in. If it sounds crazy, all the better!”