CHARLES CITY -- Exterior walls are up, and workers are nailing shingles on what will be the welcome center at the Carrie Chapman Catt Girlhood Home.

Officials expect the entire building will be completed by July 1, though exhibits won't be in place until May 2009.

For members of the National 19th Amendment Society -- which purchased the vacant house in 1991 and then worked to restore it -- the time frame isn't that long to wait. After all, it took 15 years to get enough done so that the property could open to visitors, said Susan Jacob, a member of the society's board of directors.

Exhibits in the welcome center will differ from those in the home, which include panels showing major events of Catt's life.

"We want to show things that Carrie did in her everyday life," Jacob said.

Among items that will be displayed in the center are letters Catt received and books she owned. One of those books, "This Troubled World," was written by Eleanor Roosevelt and dedicated to Catt.

Catt attended Iowa State University and graduated as the only woman and valedictorian for the class of 1881. She later joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. When Anthony retired in 1900, she picked Catt as her successor as the organization's president. Catt also founded the League of Women Voters in 1920.

Catt lived on the property in rural Floyd County from the time she was 7 until she was a young adult.

Advocates broke ground on the welcome center about one year ago. The structure resembles a barn but will feature a brick facade that will blend in with the 1866 farmhouse near Charles City. The welcome center is one story but has a basement.

The building will cost $150,000, not including exhibits.

The center is part of the Charles City Great Places plan, and Jacob said the designation makes the project more viable.

Four years ago the home received 300 visitors. In 2007, the first year the home was open for regular hours in the summer rather than by appointment only, the number of visitors jumped to 1,500.

In addition to being a national leader in the women's suffrage movement, Catt also worked for world peace and met with Mahatma Gandi.

"Her message is still so poignant today," said Holly Connor, president of the National 19th Amendment Society.

The Carrie Chapman Catt Girlhood Home is at 2379 Timber Ave. Regular visitor hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Admission is free.

For information or to schedule an appointment for a tour, call (641) 228-2022 or (641) 228-2518. Or go online at www.catt.org.

Contact Mary Pieper at

mary.pieper@globegazette.com.