Most presentations are created to be between 40-60 minutes in length but can be lengthened or shortened as needed. 

He Had It Coming: The True Story Behind the Musical Chicago
Did you know that the facts behind the musical Chicago are quite different from the story the beloved musical portrays? Yes, Velma (real name: Belva Gardner) and Roxy (real name: Beulah Annan) were real and the ladies of the cell block really were judged on their looks, but there is so much more to the story. For example, Sabella Nitti, the Italian immigrant who was found guilty because she wasn’t attractive was not put to death like in the musical; in fact, her case is the reason why women can serve on juries today. And “hellcat” Kitty Malm, who makes a very brief appearance in the musical, was actually a single mother struggling to protect her children. Join USA Today bestselling author Nicole Evelina for a whirlwind look at the real women behind the Jazz Age controversy and the female reporter who not only brought their stories to life, but wrote the play the musical is based upon.

Suffrage in the Land of Lincoln: How Illinois Women Won the Vote
Women fought for nearly 65 years to be enfranchised in Illinois.  From the founding of the first woman suffrage society in the state in 1855 to 1919 when Illinois became the first state to approve the 19th Amendment, thousands of women dedicated their lives to winning a right that was automatically granted to most men at age 21. Join USA Today bestselling author Nicole Evelina for a trip though time as she discusses the highs and lows of the Illinois Suffrage movement. Along the way, you’ll meet amazing women such as:

• Susan Hoxie Richardson, a cousin of Susan B. Anthony, organizer of Illinois’ first woman suffrage society (1855)
• Mary Livermore, an abolitionist whose work during the Civil War inspired her to found the Illinois Woman Suffrage Association (1869) and create the Agitator, a suffrage newspaper.
• Prudence Crandall, a teacher and an early advocate of the enfranchisement of both black and white women.
• Alta Hulett, Myra Colby Bradwell, her husband Judge James Bradwell, who were instrumental in getting laws passed that gave women the right to control their own earnings, to equal guardianship of children after divorce, to control and maintain property, to share in a deceased husband’s estate, and to enter into any occupation or profession.
• Frances Willard, President of the College for Ladies and later Dean of Women at Northwestern University, who helped establish Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the first woman ever to address an official session of the Illinois General Assembly.
• Ellen Martin, who used a legal loophole to vote, along with 14 other women, in April 1891.
• Lucy Flower, the first woman first woman in Illinois to be elected by voters state-wide in 1894.

Any many more. Plus, Nicole will explain how Chicago was the birthplace of the National League of Women Voters, a title contested by the St. Louis League to this day.

Victoria Woodhull: Forgotten by History
Former St. Louisan and First Woman to run for US President
Few people realize that the first woman to run for president in the United States was not Hillary Clinton in 2016; it was Victoria Woodhull in 1872 – 48 years before women were granted the right to vote. Born dirt poor to a con man and a religious zealot, Victoria would rise above abuse and social conventions to become a self-made millionaire who was:

• The first woman to run for President of the United States
• The first woman to speak before the House Judiciary Committee of Congress
• The first woman to run and own a stock brokerage on Wall Street
• One of the first women to run a weekly newspaper in the US

Join award-winning historical fiction author Nicole Evelina as she explores the dramatic and often unbelievable life of this real woman – a Spiritualist, suffragist, renowned public speaker and unlikely Presidential candidate who doesn’t appear in any history books. Nicole has written a historical fiction novel, Madame Presidentess, based on Victoria’s life.

Virginia and Francis Minor: Forgotten Suffrage Pioneers
In Missouri, a husband and wife couple, Virginia and Francis Minor, were key early leaders in the quest for female suffrage. Virginia founded the Woman Suffrage Association of Missouri, the first organization of its kind in the country—possibly the world— in 1867, pre-dating the National Woman’s Suffrage Association (NWSA) founded by Susan B. Anthony and the American Woman’s Suffrage Association (AWSA) founded by Lucy Stone by two years. This unusual and forward-thinking couple were at the vanguard of women’s rights, developing a philosophy of how the gender-neutral language of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution inadvertently gave women the right to vote, an argument that would become the official position of the NWSA for nearly five years. In putting this theory to the test, the Minors went on to face the highest court in the land in defense of women’s voting and citizenship rights in the 1873 Supreme Court case Minor v Happersett. Although they were ultimately overruled, and their case isn’t widely-known, it helped shape the current definition of state and national citizenship and their associated rights. Learn about  the impact of their case today, their role in the suffrage movement, and lesser-known aspects of the couple’s lives, including their service as civilians during the Civil War, Francis’ legal career, and Virginia’s efforts post-Minor that concluded only with her unorthodox funeral and the reading of her unusual will.

Guinevere: Mysterious Mythological Queen
Everyone knows something about the legendary Queen Guinevere, even if only that she was King Arthur’s (often traitorous) wife. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. Join award-winning historical fiction author Nicole Evelina as she explores the many of identities Guinevere and how her role and personality changed as the legend evolved. Nicole is the author of three fictional works about Guinevere and spent 15 years researching Arthurian legend. Note: This presentation is geared toward a general audience, but I do have an academically-focused version entitled Changing Minds, Changing Role: Guinevere Throughout Literary History, if that better suits your needs.

Spiritualism in 19^th Century America
In the aftermath of the bloody Civil War, Americans were desperate to connect with departed loved ones. In March 1848, the Fox Sisters began a movement that promised to allow the living to communicate with the dead, a phenomenon called Spiritualism that would last into the 1920s. Famous Spiritualists include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Todd Lincoln and Victoria Woodhull, the first American woman to run for president.

In this presentation, Nicole Evelina will give a brief history of Spiritualism, introduce you to the fascinating world of mediums and clairvoyants, show you some of the tools and tricks they used to communicate with the dead, and illustrate how Spiritualism helped women gain a voice in public forums.

Feminism and Suffrage in Victorian America
The first wave of feminism in the United States began in the 1830s and 1840s, leading up to the famous Seneca Falls Convention. These women were fighting for the right to vote, yes, but their movement ran much deeper; it encompassed the idea of female personhood outside of a man, sexual freedom, political equality and much more. In this presentation, Nicole Evelina will introduce you to many of the colorful characters who made up the early part of this movement. In addition, she’ll show you:

• How the causes of feminism and abolition were entwined.
• How the Civil War set the women’s movement back immeasurably.
• The myriad causes (such as temperance, abolition, etc.) that were part of the women’s movement.
• What led the women’s movement to split into two competing parties.
• The truth behind the infighting within the women’s movement.

Other suffrage-related presentations that Nicole can develop:

• Husband and wife couples in the movement
• How spiritualism and the suffrage movement were intertwined

British Celtic Culture 101
The Celts were a diverse and fascinating people whose culture goes far beyond blue woad tattoos and female warriors. In this presentation, Nicole Evelina will draw on more than 15 years of research into the British Celts to help you understand daily life for the pre-Roman, Roman, and post-Roman British Celts, including:

• Society/housing/work
• Daily life/food/clothing/entertainment
• Marriage/family
• Law/government
• Military
• Healing/hygiene

Other Historical Topics Nicole Can Speak on

• Celtic women
• Druidism and neopaganism (Celtic Wicca)
• Arthurian legend