CHARLES CITY -- A ground-breaking ceremony for a visitor center at the Carrie Chapman Catt house and museum will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The new space will house a gift shop, office and exhibits not on display in the house because of limited room, according to Rhoda McCartney, founder and past president of the 19th Amendment Society.

The exhibits include photos of Catt as well as a collection of her books -- some signed by the leader in the women's suffrage movement. The items are stored in society members' basements for the time being, McCartney added.

Exhibits will also include research that tells Catt's story "a little more completely," she said.

Catt attended Iowa State University and graduated as the only woman and valedictorian for the class of 1881. She took a job teaching in Mason City and later became superintendent.

Catt married in 1885 in her parents' home in Charles City but her husband succumbed to typhoid fever a year later in San Francisco. She remarried in 1890 and continued her work securing voting rights for women.

Catt made a living as a lecturer and joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. When Anthony retired as president in 1900, she picked Catt as her successor. Catt founded the League of Women Voters in 1920.

The 20-by-40-foot center will feature a one-story building with white siding designed to resemble a barn from the late 1860s. The time frame coincides with when the house was built.

The center will be situated next to a row of trees by the driveway leading to the house. The basement will be climate-controlled permitting the storage of archival material. The main floor will be air-conditioned, and the center will also have a small kitchen area so refreshments can be served during events.

The 19th Amendment Society hopes the basement of the visitor center will be usable by winter.

The center will cost $150,000. Most of the money has already been raised through private donations.

McCartney said one more fundraiser, a wine and cheese reception, will take place this fall.

Contact Mary Pieper at mary.pieper@globegazette.com.