# data[].attributes.headline
“The Voice That Won The Vote” by Elisa Boxer

# data[].attributes.subject
“The Voice That Won The Vote” by Elisa Boxer

# data[].attributes.body
East Tennessee Historical Society
LINK: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wXHN4of4_jh34hsNJ7GpmD2AeCNVrN1h/view?usp=drivesdk

# data[].attributes.body
East Tennessee Historical Society

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Copy of Suffragist vs Suffragette info graphic

# data[].attributes.body
East Tennessee Historical Society

# data[].attributes.headline
Virtual Tour of "Marching to Victory" exhibit

# data[].attributes.subject
Virtual Tour of "Marching to Victory" exhibit

# data[].attributes.body
East Tennessee Historical Society

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Zoom Through East Tennessee: Gallery Tour of "Marching to Victory"

# data[].attributes.body
University of Tennessee at Knoxville

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
More information coming soon! In the meantime, check out all the titles in our lit kit!

By Doreen Rappaport Illustrated by Matt Faulkner

She couldn't go to college. She couldn't become a politician. She couldn't even vote. But Elizabeth Cady Stanton didn't let that stop her. She called on women across the nation to stand together and demand to be treated as equal to men-and that included the right to vote. It took nearly seventy-five years and generations of women fighting for their rights through words, through action, and through pure determination . . . for things to slowly begin to change.
A Lady Has the Floor: Belva Lockwood Speaks Out for Women's Rights
By Kate Hannigan Illustrated by Alison Jay
Fight of the Century: Alice Paul Battles Woodrow Wilson for the Vote
Unafraid to take to the floor and speak her mind, Belva Lockwood-the first woman to get a law degree; the first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court, and the first woman to run for president in 1884-devoted her life to overcoming obstacles and demanding equality for women.

By Barb Rosenstock Illustrated by Sarah Green
Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told
When Woodrow Wilson was elected President, he didn't know that he would be participating in one of the greatest fights of the century: the battle for women's right to vote. The formidable Alice Paul led the women's suffrage movement, and saw President Wilson's election as an opportunity to win the vote for women. She battered her opponent with endless strategic arguments and carefully coordinated protests, calling for a new amendment granting women the right to vote. With a spirit and determination that never quit-even when peaceful protests were met with violence and even when many women were thrown in jail-Paul eventually convinced President Wilson to support her cause, changing the country forever. Cleverly framed as a boxing match, this book provides a fascinating and compelling look at an important moment in American history.

By Walter Dean Myers Illustrated by Bonnie Christensen
Around America to Win the Vote
Ida B. Wells worked bravely as an activist, educator, writer, journalist, suffragette, and pioneering voice against the horror of lynching. An inspiration for generations of civil rights crusaders, Wells's own words are used throughout this picture book biography to introduce young readers to this leader.
The Voice that Won the Vote: How One Woman's Words Made History
By Mara Rockliff Illustrated by Hadley Hooper

In April 1916, Nell Richardson and Alice Burke set out from New York City in a little yellow car, embarking on a bumpy, muddy, unmapped journey ten thousand miles long. They took with them a teeny typewriter, a tiny sewing machine, a wee black kitten, and a message for Americans all across the country: Votes for Women! The women's suffrage movement was in full swing, and Nell and Alice would not let anything keep them from spreading the word about equal voting rights for women. Braving blizzards, deserts, and naysayers-not to mention a whole lot of tires stuck in the mud-the two courageous friends made their way through the cities and towns of America to further their cause. One hundred years after Nell and Alice set off on their trip, Mara Rockliff revives their spirit in a lively and whimsical picture book, with exuberant illustrations by Hadley Hooper bringing their inspiring historical trek to life.

By Elisa Boxer Illustrated by Vivien Mildenberger

In August of 1920, women's suffrage in America came down to the vote in Tennessee. If the Tennessee legislature approved the 19th amendment it would be ratified, giving all American women the right to vote. The historic moment came down to a single vote and the voter who tipped the scale toward equality did so because of a powerful letter his mother, Febb Burn, had written him urging him to "Vote for suffrage and don't forget to be a good boy." The Voice That Won the Vote is the story of Febb, her son Harry, and the letter that gave all American women a voice.
Lillian's Right to Vote
Find our quick, two-page teacher's guide here: CCYAL Teacher's Guide_SSVoiceWonVoteShort

Find our extended, more comprehensive guide here: Teacher's Guide_Voice That Won
Finish the Fight: The Brave and Revolutionary Women who Fought for the Right to Vote
By Jonah Winter Illustrated by Shane W. Evans

An elderly African American woman, en route to vote, remembers her family's tumultuous voting history in this picture book publishing in time for the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Lillian, a one-hundred-year-old African American woman, makes a "long haul up a steep hill" to her polling place, she sees more than trees and sky-she sees her family's history. She sees the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment and her great-grandfather voting for the first time. She sees her parents trying to register to vote. And she sees herself marching in a protest from Selma to Montgomery. Veteran bestselling picture-book author Jonah Winter and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner Shane W. Evans vividly recall America's battle for civil rights in this lyrical, poignant account of one woman's fierce determination to make it up the hill and make her voice heard.

By Veronica Chambers and the staff of the New York Times

Who was at the forefront of women's right to vote? We know a few famous names, like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but what about so many others from diverse backgrounds-black, Asian, Latinx, Native American, and more-who helped lead the fight for suffrage? On the hundredth anniversary of the historic win for women's rights, it's time to celebrate the names and stories of the women whose stories have yet to be told. Gorgeous portraits accompany biographies of such fierce but forgotten women as Yankton Dakota Sioux writer and advocate Zitkála-Šá, Mary Eliza Church Terrell, who cofounded the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), and Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, who, at just sixteen years old, helped lead the biggest parade in history to promote the cause of suffrage.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More information coming soon! In the meantime, check out all the titles in our lit kit! By Doreen Rappaport Illustrated by Matt Faulkner She couldn't go to college. She couldn't become a politician. She couldn't even vote. But Elizabeth Cady Stanton didn't let that stop her.

# data[].attributes.headline
Resolutions from the Declaration of Sentiments, 1848

# data[].attributes.subject
Resolutions from the Declaration of Sentiments, 1848

# data[].attributes.body
East Tennessee Historical Society
LINK: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17Nt9k1ls-GmrMsQb8i_k_qq5jgNUsVw9/view?usp=drivesdk

# data[].attributes.body
Great NPS videos!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Videos - Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Alice Paul sewed a star on the National Woman's Party suffrage flag each time a state voted to ratify the 19th amendment.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress. Public domain.

What are StoryMaps?

StoryMaps are tools for digital exploration. They focus on places while telling a story. As you use a StoryMap, you can travel from one end of the country to another (digitally of course), while viewing photographs and reading stories. StoryMaps are a great way to travel without leaving your front door!

The Struggle for Women's Suffrage

This StoryMap features places related to women's suffrage (the right to vote) and the ratification of the 19th Amendment. This amendment recognized women's voting rights.

In 1919, the 19th Amendment passed both houses of Congress. But before it became law, 36 states needed to ratify it. Over the next year, states all across the country ratified the amendment. Finally, on August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, making women's suffrage legal.

In the following years, states that had not voted for the amendment showed their support for women's suffrage by belatedly ratifying it. This map features places of women's suffrage in the original 36 states that voted for the amendment as well as those that belatedly ratified it.

While there are many more places associated with women's suffrage in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the US Territories, this map highlights a few of the important places in this chapter of American history. The places on this map are recognized for their historic significance and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a National Park Service program.

The StoryMap was produced in concert with National Park Service partners, including the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
StoryMap: Places of Women's Suffrage (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What are StoryMaps? StoryMaps are tools for digital exploration. They focus on places while telling a story. As you use a StoryMap, you can travel from one end of the country to another (digitally of course), while viewing photographs and reading stories. StoryMaps are a great way to travel without leaving your front door!

# data[].attributes.body
Disclaimer: Please watch videos before sharing with your students. ETHS is not responsible for any of this content.

# data[].attributes.body
Force feeding scene;
Not rated (TV movie), would recommend for 13+

# data[].attributes.body
Dolly Parton

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
27: The Most Perfect Album | Dolly Parton | 19th Amendment (MUSIC VIDEO)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
School House Rock - Sufferin Till Suffrage

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
0:00 / 1:12•Watch full video

# data[].attributes.body
Nashville Public Television

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
+ Video Transcript

- [Wanda] Women's legal position was pretty much the same as the legal position of felons.

- [Mary] It's the need for freedom and rights and civic respect and place in society, women had to have that.

- [Marjorie] It was inevitable that race was going to play a major role in the suffrage movement. And national leaders, in order to achieve a national victory, had to have some Southern states.

- [Carole] It is not ladylike politics at all, this fight that is going to take place in the halls of the Tennessee state capital.

- [Elaine] It's this incredibly dramatic moment, and the future of American women is being decided right there.

- [Woman] Major funding for "By One Vote: "Woman Suffrage in the South" is provided by the Bethany Fund. Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area. The Joe C. Davis Foundation in memory of Frances Bond Davis. The Shayne Foundation. Cathy and Martin Brown & The MSB Cockayne Fund. And by Carlene Lebous and Harris Haston. Additional support provided by First Tennessee Foundation. Anne and Charles Roos. Hannah Paramore Breen, Andrea Conte, Laurie Gold Eskind, and the following. And by members of NPT. Thank you.

- [Rosanne] On a blistering hot August day in 1920, Seth Walker, Speaker of the Tennessee State House, convened what he hoped would be the final day of a special session. For three weeks, the House had debated whether to ratify the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, granting women the right to vote. A vote in the House chamber was all that stood in the way of Tennessee becoming the 36th and final state needed to make the 19th Amendment the law of the land.

- When the legislature was called into session by Governor Roberts, most of us expected it to be a routine affair. Actually, we reached Nashville, we learned that what we thought was practically a state issue was a national issue, because as went Tennessee, so went the nation.

- The tension in the chamber is intense. The heat is intense. You have women in their long dresses drenched in perspiration and in anxiety. You have the visitors galleries, half of which are occupied by the suffrage supporters, half by the anti-suffrage supporters. Each fearful and anxious about what this roll call is going to bring.

- [Rosanne] Tucked behind the brass bar in the back of the chamber, Sue Shelton White of Jackson, Tennessee, stood ready with pencil and paper, ready to keep a tally of the votes.

- [Elaine] Sue White is part of that third generation of suffragist who are no longer willing to be so patient. They see their future in having a voice in their government, in having more equality in other social and political aspects of their lives, and they want it now.

- [Rosanne] In the balcony, amongst the press of suffragists, Anne Dallas Dudley of Nashville leaned into the rail, ready to defy her social upbringing and shout her approval or disapproval.

- Anne Dallas Dudley comes out of Nashville nobility. She's a mother, she is beautiful, and she counteracts all the stereotypes that the anti-suffragists have used for decades.

- [Rosanne] Across the chamber in the opposite balcony, Josephine Pearson of Monteagle, Tennessee led the antis as President of the Tennessee Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage.

- And she seemed ideal. She seemed to be opposed to any rights for women, even though she herself was a single woman who had been an independent school teacher at one time.

- [Rosanne] As morning turned into afternoon, the heat rose in the chamber. The Speaker of the House pushed for the vote that he believed would be the defeat of the 19th Amendment.

- [Elaine] The men are exhausted, are frightened for their political future, it's this incredibly dramatic moment, and the future of American women is being decided right there.

- [Rosanne] After three weeks of open and sometimes furtive lobbying, political betrayals, illicit payoffs, and masterful legislative stalling tactics, the clerk began the roll call on the vote for or against the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

- [Clerk] Anderson.

- [Anderson] Aye.

- [Clerk] Bell.

- [Bell] Aye.

- [Clerk] Bond.

- [Bond] Nay.

- [Rosanne] The civic fate of millions of women across the US rested in the hands of the all-male Tennessee House of Representatives. To reach this point, American women had spent decades fighting through complex layers of social, political, and racial constraints. But nowhere were there greater challenges than in the South. And the roots of this battle went back even before the Civil War.

- [Elaine] The social fabric had been torn asunder by the Civil War and Reconstruction. And now here's another movement that promises to tear the fabric again.

- [Abby] The bulk of women didn't care anything about having the vote. And the Southern women particularly. And the Southern states did not support the suffrage movement. Tennessee was in the doubtful column.

- What was really ironic that the final battle over women's suffrage was gonna happen in a Southern state. After all, this was the region that was the most resistant, suffragists had fought hard but with little success. When people today are looking back on this, and they assumed that there was gonna be a victory at the end of this fight, they were assuming a lot.

- [Elna] The woman suffrage movement began in the northeast, and it was a direct offshoot of the anti-slavery movement. Nearly every woman who was involved in the early women's rights movement was involved in the anti-slavery movement.

- [Rosanne] Some of the first abolitionists to speak publicly about the rights of women were two sisters from Charleston, South Carolina, Sarah and Angelina Grimke, in the early 1800s.

- [Sarah] Men and women were created equal. All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet from off our necks and permit us to stand upright on that ground which God designed us to occupy.

- They begin to bring that sensibility of Southern women into the suffrage movement, decades earlier than it really begins to coalesce as a movement in the Southern states.

- [Rosanne] Fighting slavery led the Grimkes and other female abolitionists to question the accepted cultural and legal norms controlling a woman's life.

- [Elaine] Her life was supposed to be centered on the domestic sphere, that's what it was called. That meant home and hearth and family, and nothing else.

- [Wanda] Women's legal position was pretty much the same as the legal position of felons.

- [Carole] Married women had no rights to own property, to serve in juries, they did not have rights to their own children if they got divorced.

- [Elna] Any income from any work that she did would be his, the clothing on her back would be his.

- [Adele] Prior to the Civil War, most African American women were enslaved in the American South. They therefore had no control whatsoever over their own bodies, over their lives, their families and children could be taken away from them at any time.

- [Linda] Women in general were basically relegated to a position of second class citizenship. But for black women, they wore a double burden. Not only did they have to face sexism, but they also had to face racism.

- [Marjorie] Most women knew that they couldn't support themselves long term, so they had to get married, and sometimes the pool was a little thin, so if she happened to marry someone who became a brutal drunk, she was stuck.

- [Rosanne] In rising frustration at the lack of power over their own lives, a small group organized a convention on the status of women in 1848. The Seneca Falls Convention concluded with the Declaration of Sentiments. It was modeled after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men are created equal. Despite the pleas of Abigail Adams to remember the ladies.

- [Woman] We these hold these truths to be self evident, that all men and women are created equal. Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation.

- So they had a long list of things that they wanted to address, and the vote was just really only one of them. And at that time, asking for the vote was considered to be astonishingly radical.

- [Rosanne] The Seneca Falls convention sparked what grew into the main movement advocating for women's rights and woman suffrage. But most Southern women were not eager to join.

- The experiences that tended to create suffragism happened in the Northeast earlier than they happened in the South. Things like industrial development, the rise of women's voluntary associations, college education, those things happened earlier in the Northeast, and so Southern women had a generation of difference in the opportunity to experience some of those things.

- The Civil War was in some ways a crisis of gender, in that when the Civil War came and the males of a household left, the women were left, particularly in rural areas, as much of Tennessee was, women in Tennessee were left on their own to fend for themselves.

- [Rosanne] Many white women entered the public sphere by necessity, managing farms alone or becoming teachers, nurses, factory workers. At the end of the war, the South also had to contend with the social and economic upheaval of emancipation.

- [Marjorie] Reconstruction was this critical point in American history, and which Americans were reconsidering and redefining what it meant to be a citizen. And the debate centered on the 14th and 15th Amendment. Black men were given citizenship and the right to vote, but women were left out. And that ended up causing a big rift among suffragist. And the women who had fought really hard to bring slavery to an end really felt betrayed.

- White Republicans very much wanted black men, who would have allegiance to the Republican Party, to have the vote. Including women, women of any race, and the 15th Amendment was definitely too controversial and was quite clear that including women would have guaranteed its failure.

- When you ask for woman suffrage as opposed to manhood suffrage, you're asking for two major developments to happen at the same time. You're asking on the one hand, for a different way that Americans view African American men. They are no longer property. They are now your fellow citizens with all the same rights that you have, so that's a big thing. Americans can't really focus on two big changes. Or very simply, they don't want to focus on these two big changes to American society - [Rosanne] By the 1870s and 80s, a growing number of unusually bold white Southern women began advocating for women's rights. Within 20 years, their impassioned pleas convinced national leaders to look south.

- In the 1890s, white Southern Democrats were trying to regain political power. They were trying to keep black men from voting or to counter its effect. And Southern and Northern suffragists saw an opportunity in this, and they developed sort of a Southern strategy. Ironically, they borrowed some of their ideas from Henry Blackwell, a northern abolitionist, who said, "You can accomplish your goal "not by disfranchising black men, "but giving the vote to women."

- [Henry] Your 4 millions of Southern white women will counterbalance your 4 millions of negro men and women, and thus the political supremacy of your white race will remain unchanged.

- [Marjorie] They sent professional recruiters into the area. Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt went on major speaking tours throughout the region. And everywhere, spreading this message.

- When those two suffrage leaders came to Memphis, they of course spoke in very racialized settings. There's no record of exactly what they said to the black women, but you can just understand it's gonna be a little different from what they're saying to the white women. But the thing is, there's an understanding that maybe we need to address suffrage as an issue that can be pushed by women in both communities.

- It was inevitable that race was going to play a major role in the suffrage movement. And national leaders in order to achieve a national victory had to have some Southern states, and Southern suffragists were working for the vote in the midst of a regional movement to restore white political supremacy.

- [Rosanne] 25 years after losing the battle to include women in the 15th Amendment, national suffrage leaders discouraged that arguments based on justice were falling on deaf ears were willing to resort to political expediency. This moral compromise came into stark relief at their conventions held in the South.

- In an attempt to woo white Southerners to their cause, because they needed to have a national constituency, leaders of the National American Woman Suffrage Association decided to hold conventions in the South. They did, however, accept the idea of segregation. They also at the same time were sort of surreptitiously wooing black women, so they were playing both sides of the game at this point, trying to attract black women, but to do it surreptitiously so that they would not offend white people.

- [Marjorie] At about the turn of the century. State legislators throughout the South found other means of preventing African American men from voting, such as poll taxes and understanding clauses, all assisted by rulings from the Supreme Court.

- When the laws did not work well enough, they turned to physical intimidation, and those impacted black women as well, and the more active and high profile a black woman was, the more likely she was to be subject to such intimidation. After that, that whole Southern strategy was exposed as ineffective, and the movement more or less went dormant in the South until the last decade of the suffrage movement.

- [Rosanne] The social and economic upheaval of the Civil War had provided the impetus for building a Southern suffrage movement, as it thrust women into the public sphere. In the face of great need, they defied convention and threw themselves into rebuilding their families, their lives, and their communities.

- In the aftermath of the Civil War, you see women joining together and creating organizations on a local level that are capable of working together to build institutions like churches, like schools.

- When you look at organizations within the black church, with any church, women are the doers. They are the organizers. So they took those skills that they had in the church, they honed it in the community, they knew how to galvanize people.

- Church groups are providing a mechanism for women to start gathering, and that becomes more politicized and moves more into civic work and public work as women defined their roles in society as taking on problems in the community that need attention, and it is cumulative from there on.

- [Rosanne] In 1885, a young widow, Lizzie Crozier French, chafed at the limited life women lead in her conservative hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Suffrage would have been too radical an issue for most women in her community. To start broadening their minds, French founded the Ossoli Circle as a women's book club.

- The club was very successful, but after a certain period of time, she got sort of bored with them discussing things that were sort of ancient questions, and so she is reported to have stood up in the middle of one of the meetings and said, "Ladies, Dante is dead."

- [Lizzie] Now let's move on with things that can help the people now.

- [Wanda] And so she tried to change it more into a social action group.

- [Rosanne] The Ossoli Circle grew to be a powerful force for women's reform efforts in Knoxville. Throughout the segregated South, African American women's clubs also thrived.

- There were hundreds of African American women's clubs that had thousands of members throughout the South. They did differ slightly from the white women's clubs in that they were all very serious, they didn't seem to engage very much in trivial pursuits. Rather, they stuck to issues of education, reform, and political empowerment.

- [Rosanne] By the late 1800s, the Women's Christian Temperance Union had become one of the most popular organizations in the South, moving well beyond its initial mandate of prohibition.

- The WCTU allowed women to organize and act upon a variety of subjects, whether it's schools or public life, politics, all the time creating activities that allowed women to learn how to run a meeting, learn how to raise money, learn how to talk to politicians.

- [Belle] The Women's Christian Temperance Union was the golden key that unlocked the prison doors of pent up possibilities. It was the generous liberator, the joyous iconoclast, the discoverer, the developer of Southern women.

- As they moved into the public sphere, these women were interested in reforming things like working conditions and child labor. And incredibly, to raise the age of consent, which in some Southern states was as low as 10 years old. They began to see that the power they lacked in making these suggestions was the ballot box. They could come to the state capitol and talk to the lawmakers here, but until they could vote for those law makers, they had no power.

- [Abby] The men didn't want us to vote. They didn't want to be interfered with in their little setups in politics.

- From post-Civil War church groups to temperance action to community civic groups, women are claiming their space in society, and there was no repressing that or holding it back, it's the need for freedom and rights and civic respect and place in society, women had to have that. The vote for women was the logical outcome.

- By 1900, and even more by 1910, the army of women was there. They had had another generations worth of experiences in women's clubs, another generation had been to college, the moment seemed to have arrived.

- [Rosanne] By 1911, there were organized suffrage groups in all the major Tennessee cities.

- [Abby] Well, then Mrs. Kenny and I went to work and we added to those five clubs in the state. We brought it up to over 20.

- [Carole] By 1910, you've suddenly got some younger women coming along that add a little more energy to a group of women that have become rather set in their ways. Take for example, Anne Dallas Dudley. She was from what would be regarded as a good family, and yet she went to a suffrage meeting.

- There's a direct correlation between how tough it was to argue for suffrage in this region and the fact that these elite women were the ones doing it. Because only they could get away with it.

- [Rosanne] A new breed, the career woman, also joined the ranks of the suffrage movement. Sue Shelton White was the first female court stenographer in Jackson, Tennessee.

- So she's that third generation of suffragist who sees the future, sees what the vote might benefit her in many, many ways. Even more than just the vote, it's the sense of equality, of opportunity opening up, and she wants it. This movement really was grabbing the imagination of the everywoman in America. Because it promised a kind of opening not just for the vote, but for a new kind of role for women in society.

- [Rosanne] African American women also saw the promise of a new role, but their fight proved more complex. Adella Hunt Logan from Tuskegee, Alabama, was one of the few who openly advocated for suffrage while still living in the South.

- I've come across no evidence that African American women moved outside of their own communities to promote suffrage for women. What they did do, for example at Tuskegee Institute, in that protected African American environment, those women sometimes did indeed hold rallies for women voting, but they wouldn't have done so in the town of Tuskegee or have done so in the city of Atlanta.

- As the movement gained strength in the South, national leaders continued to try to appease white Southerners on the race issue. And they were very, very wary of how anything they said about race was gonna be used against them by the anti-suffragist. And so they continued to tolerate discrimination, and they played down the role of black women in the movement.

- [Rosanne] Former Tennesseans Mary Church Terrell and Ida B. Wells actively worked for woman suffrage, but in their adopted hometowns of Washington DC and Chicago, Illinois. In 1913, they were confronted with the racial politics of the movement when they were asked to march at the back of a massive suffrage parade on the nation's capital.

- Mary Church Terrell, she led a group in that march. While they marched, they marched in the back. On the other hand, you have Ida B. Wells. But what she does is that she steps out from the Chicago delegation that's walking, and she walks with the Chicago delegation of white women.

- I think what that parade incident tells us is that, first of all, there is no one way of responding. Ida B. Wells says, "Well, no, I'm not gonna do it." She was very uncompromising. Mary Church Terrell would have looked for the compromise for the good of the whole. But they're all working for the same thing.

- [Rosanne] By then, the woman suffrage movement had made major gains in other regions, especially in the West. But Southern legislators were still resistant. Tennessee suffragists did have enough support in the major cities to organize Mayday parades, with hundreds of cars and women bedecked in suffrage yellow. At the first parade in Nashville in 1914, according to the local paper, Anne Dallas Dudley gave the first open air speech by any woman in Tennessee.

- A Southern woman should be happy and content in her home on her pedestal, and here they're coming down from the pedestal into the mud of the streets, and saying, "Uh uh, things are not all right." And that was really pretty radical.

- If the most privileged person in the society rejected its fundamental hierarchical structure and demanded to have equal representation and power, then that kind of suggested the corruption of the entire system. Anti-suffragists had an arsenal of ideology and arguments against woman suffrage, that fell into basically five categories. Biological, biblical or religious, sociological arguments, racial arguments, and states rights arguments.

- [Man] Remember, that Woman Suffrage means a reopening of the entire Negro Suffrage question, loss of state rights, and another period of reconstruction horrors.

- Southerners had worked so hard since the Civil War to take away all the rights of African American men regarding politics. And now this would open this whole can of worms of who should be voting, and is it the federal government's responsibility to determine who can vote inside a state and who cannot?

- [Rosanne] By the mid 1910s, the woman suffrage movement gained enough momentum to require an organized opposition.

- [Carole] Manufacturers did not want women to have the right to vote because they would probably start pushing for regulations over these factories. The liquor industry opposed women having the right to vote because they blamed women for prohibition. And finally, there were the railroads. They had a very significant voice in the hallways and back rooms where the deals were cut here at the General Assembly.

- [Rosanne] While these business interests worked the halls of state legislatures throughout the South, women provided the public face of organized anti-suffrage groups. In Tennessee, Josephine Pearson of Monteagle emerged as the leader.

- This is what was so unbelievable about Josephine Pearson, she had never married, she was a totally independent woman, and yet she was a very effective spokesman, telling people why women shouldn't have the right to vote.

- Opposing women's suffrage, in their view, isn't opposing their own self interest, it's protecting those other areas of their self interest. Their economic self interest, their class self interest, their region's political structure, all of those things that they benefit from, they are choosing to protect.

- [Rosanne] By 1917, women had won either full or partial suffrage in 17 states. But the Southeastern states remained steadfastly resistant. As national leaders turned their organizational strength towards a federal constitutional amendment, Southern women had to face political reality.

- It's probably safe to say, Southern suffragists were very practical at this point. There were just so many states that were never going to enact woman suffrage. If they really wanted it to be nationwide, it was gonna have to come by federal amendment.

- [Rosanne] With the outbreak of war, a rift between the two national suffrage groups grew wider. Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, or the National, encouraged all her members to turn their energy toward the war effort. She hoped their actions would convince President Woodrow Wilson that women deserved the full right of citizenship. However, Alice Paul, leader of the National Woman's Party, refused to stop her aggressive tactics designed to embarrass the President.

- [Elaine] The whole idea of women standing up and being this aggressive, on top of just being suffragists, which was considered aggressive enough, kind of puts it over the pale. And so both Southern men find it very offensive, and Southern women, even Southern suffragists.

- [Rosanne] Sue Shelton White, however, found the bold tactics appealing. She changed affiliations, eventually moving to Washington DC to work for Alice Paul.

- She served her time in the mainstream suffrage organization. She's gotten frustrated, and so she joins the Women's Party because she thinks they are going to be more aggressive and more confrontational in demanding the vote, and she's willing to do that now.

- [Rosanne] The majority of Tennessee suffragists, however, followed Carrie Chapman Catt's advice to join the war effort.

- [Marjorie] Carrie Chapman Catt was a political pragmatist, and she gambled on having her legions of activists enter the war effort. And for her, that was a real sacrifice because she was a committed pacifist, but the gamble paid off. Woodrow Wilson eventually came out and supported the federal amendment.

- [Rosanne] Only five months after the armistice, Tennessee suffragists introduced a bill to the state legislature allowing women to vote in presidential and municipal elections. In their appeal to Tennessee men, the suffragists emphasized women's contributions to winning the war, as well as how many women could already vote in other states.

- [Woman] All the women of the West, some millions of the North, and many thousands of the South are already voters. What may the women of Tennessee expect of you?

- That is what finally tipped the scale, when there were so many states that had supported it, that the politicians in both political parties began to sense that women were gonna get the vote, you were gonna double the electorate, and which side of that did you want to be on?

- [Rosanne] On April 14th, 1919, Tennessee women won the right to vote in presidential and municipal elections, adding even more momentum to the building tidal wave of pro-suffrage sentiment. Less than two months later, with President Wilson's support, both houses of the US Congress passed the 19th Amendment. To become law, the amendment now had to be ratified by 36 states. As the fight for the federal amendment went to the states for ratification, Tennessee suffragists immediately put their new state voting rights into action, creating a list of reforms they wanted and organizing a voter registration drive. Catherine Kenny spearheaded the efforts in Nashville.

- [Abby] And she did superb work of organizing. She is the strongest woman that I ever worked with in woman's suffrage. She had more political sense than half a dozen men.

- [Rosanne] In an extraordinary alliance rarely seen in the South, Kenny teamed with Dr. Maddie Coleman and J. Frankie Pierce, influential leaders in the black community, to register approximately 2000 African American women in Nashville.

- I have found very little evidence that indicates that black women and white women worked together in the South. Adella Hunt Logan tried to encourage the National Association of Colored Women to join in efforts with white groups of all sorts. But for the most part, those efforts were not very successful. The white women weren't open to it for the most part.

- [Rosanne] By September 1919, every major city in the state reported remarkable numbers of women, black and white, registering. By late March 1920, only one more state was needed to ratify the federal amendment, but few viable options remained. As spring warmed into summer, suffragists' hopes of being able to vote in the 1920 presidential election were repeatedly dashed as state legislators rejected the amendment, or governors refused to call special sessions in all but one state, Tennessee.

- So the suffragists are very nervous when they realize that the last battle may have to be fought in a Southern state. Because, again, most of the Southern states have already rejected the 19th Amendment. So there's this sense of anxiety, and well placed by the suffragists, if they don't get it now, they may not get it after the 1920 election, it'll be too hard to regain momentum.

- [Rosanne] Tennessee governor Albert Roberts resisted enormous pressure, even from President Wilson, to call a special session.

- [Abby] You know, we had an awful time getting Governor Roberts to call the extra session. He said the women would vote against him. His election was coming up right away, and he didn't want them to have the vote. And I said, "Well, you know, if you give them the vote, "they'll have to vote for you."

- So he weighed the political liability of this decision before he announced that he would call the special session. The caveat being that the special session would convene after the August primary. So the message was very clear, women, if I don't win the Democratic nomination for governor, you can probably write off having the special session, it will not take place.

- [Rosanne] As Tennessee suffragists threw themselves into organizing support, battle-hardened Carrie Chapman Catt offered her sober assessment.

- [Carrie] No matter how well the women may work, ratification in Tennessee will go through the work and action of men. And the great motive that will finally put it through will be political and nothing else. We have long since recovered from our previous faith in the action of men based upon the love of justice.

- [Carole] And they began a physically demanding and tireless crusade, going across the state, whether it be on the train, in the wagon, meeting with every member of the Tennessee General Assembly, attempting to persuade them of the justice, the righteousness of this cause.

- [Abby] I remember going in one county, near Clarksville, there was a county up there that didn't have a railroad in it. And it was way before the time of bus service. The only way I could get in there and get to the court house was to ride in that county with the mailman. He let me ride with him. They wouldn't let you today.

- The anti-suffragists are also organizing. They go from Memphis to Nashville to Chattanooga, trying to get support for halting, preventing the Governor from calling a special session. And if that fails, at least to promising to vote against ratification.

- [Rosanne] As the summer heat and sticky humidity descended on Nashville, national leaders of all factions arrived to rally their troops. Sue White returned to her home state eager but anxious, with only limited resources from the National Woman's Party. Both Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the National, and Josephine Pearson, President of the Tennessee State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, took rooms at the elegant Hermitage Hotel.

- So you've got these two women on different floors of the Hermitage Hotel, where the scene of the fight is going to take place. It becomes known as the War of the Roses, because the antis wore red roses, red flowers, and the suffragists wore yellow roses or yellow flowers.

- [Jeannette] Our headquarters for both the suffragists and the antis were in the Hermitage Hotel. They were on different floors, fortunately. But we go up and down on the elevator, and best friends wouldn't speak to each other. It was such a heated campaign.

- [Rosanne] As July gave way to August, legislators arrived for the special session, and were met by legions of women hoping to pin a yellow or red rose on their lapels.

- The suffragists had done their homework, they were indeed much more organized than the antis were. So when the session conveyed, they really thought they had a very comfortable margin. And yet this is at the point when the antis really began to work.

- [Elaine] So everyone converges on the Hermitage, and the lobby is just a swarm of people debating and arguing and lobbying and perhaps bribing.

- [Abby] The Hermitage Hotel was the scene of many fist fights. No woman would dare venture down there.

- [Rosanne] On the eighth floor of the hotel, despite prohibition laws, liquor lobbyists set up what came to be known as the Jack Daniels Suite, luring legislators there hoping to turn yellow roses into red.

- [Abby] And they served liquor there to the members, all the members that they could get drunk. They took our votes away from us with all of the men that they could.

- [Rosanne] Within the first few days of the special session, suffragists saw the effects of the anti's lobbying efforts. Powerful political allies who had pledged to lead the efforts for ratification turned anti, including Speaker of the House, Seth Walker.

- [Abby] He started out being favorable to the women's suffrage. And then they got to him, you know, there was an awful lot of bribery. No man was free from being importuned and offered an office.

- It is not ladylike politics at all, this fight that is going to take place in the halls of the Tennessee State Capitol. The arguments are fierce. The ridicule and humiliation of the suffragists were intense.

- [Dorothy] The atmosphere was very tense in the legislature, and if I told you some of the arguments against it, you wouldn't believe it. Once a month, women don't have good sense.

- Oh, no.

- So when an election comes up if it's in the time when she is non compis mentis, what are we going to face? Oh, it was a big argument, and all the rural areas went for that argument.

- [Rosanne] On the fifth day of the special session, Friday the 13th, the Tennessee Senate overwhelmingly voted to ratify the Amendment. Suffragists now had to contend with the ever shifting House of Representatives, led by their unexpected adversary, Seth Walker, a master of legislative stalling tactics.

- [Harry] And it did look like that the longer the voting was delayed, the greater chance the opponents had to defeat it. I believe there were in Nashville at the time, 100 to 150 lobbyists.

- With each delay in the Tennessee House, the suffragists became more and more anxious. Because on a daily basis, as the men convened, they saw men who had supported ratification, men who had worn yellow roses, now appearing in the House chamber wearing red roses.

- [Rosanne] When the sun rose on the 10th day of the special session, all the leaders of the many suffrage factions counted who remained on their list of supporters, and all came up short. Even most of Nashville's representatives, personally pledged by Anne Dallas Dudley, had defected to the antis. The vote would finally happen. In this one moment, in this unlikely place, rested the civic fate of millions of women. The House clerk continued the roll call for the final vote on the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

- [Clerk] Boyer.

- [Boyer] Nay.

- [Clerk] Bratton.

- [Bratton] Nay.

- [Clerk] Burn.

- [Rosanne] Harry Burn was a first time legislator from Niota, Tennessee, and the youngest member of the House at only 24 years old.

- It so happens that after I had gotten to Nashville, people from all over the country had gone into my county, that had indignation meetings that caused the courts to adjourn so that they might pass resolutions, and my constituency was in a great state of turmoil. I don't know yet exactly what the majority favored, but anyway, there's lots of feeling existed. So much so that when I would go home on a weekend, I would try to keep a bodyguard around so that no one would attack me.

- [Rosanne] With the intense pressure from Republican leaders and constituents back home, Burn had voted with antis all along, despite his personal support for suffrage. He had hoped his vote would not matter in the final outcome. But a last minute change by West Tennessee legislator Banks Turner meant the final vote would likely end in a tie.

- He is so torn, he is so conflicted. Here he is, does he do what personally, what his conscience feels is right, or does he do what will be better for him for his reelection campaign? And he's done the math and realized that with Banks Turner flipping towards the amendment, he may be the deciding vote. It's just what he didn't want to happen.

- [Rosanne] In a fortuitous bit of timing, Burn received a letter from his mother, Febb Ensminger Burn, right before he walked into the House chamber.

- My mother was a college woman. She was a student of national and international affairs. She took an interest in all public issues. She could not vote. And yet the tenant farmers on our farm, some of whom were illiterate, could vote.

- [Rosanne] Febb Burn had been closely following the reports of the Tennessee legislature in her local newspaper. Nestled amongst folksy news of his hometown, Burn's mother gave her son some advice.

- [Febb] Hurrah and vote for suffrage, and don't keep 'em in doubt. I've been waiting to see how you stood, but have not seen anything yet. Don't forget to be a good boy and help Mrs Catt with her rats.

- So when it came Harry's turn to vote, Harry, with his very quiet vote, voted aye. I vote for the suffrage cause. Harry has changed his vote. Can you believe it?

- [Rosanne] The roll call continued through to the T's.

- [Clerk] Travis.

- [Travis] Aye.

- [Clerk] Tucker.

- [Tucker] Aye.

- [Clerk] Turner. Turner.

- [Rosanne] The clerk marked Turner as not voting, and the roll call continued to the end.

- At that point, it will be a tied vote, which means suffrage will go down to defeat, even with Harry Burn's affirmative vote. What happens next is whatever's going through Banks Turner's mind. He says to the clerk.

- [Banks] I wish to be recognized, and I wish to vote aye.

- There's a moment of complete utter stunned silence, because everyone realizes, this is it. This is that one vote margin, and ratification has passed. Then there's an explosion of emotion.

- The antis are furious, they thought they had this deal sealed. And now they are furious, the suffragists are emotional beyond belief, crying, hugging each other, rose petals flying down from the balconies. And you can imagine pandemonium. It was the next day before the press caught up with Harry T. Burn. "Harry, why did you change your mind?" All the reporters wanted to know the answer to that question. And so Harry told the reporter simply, "I always take my mother's advice."

- On that roll call, when I was confronted with the fact that I was going to go on record for time and eternity on the merits of the question, I voted in favor of ratification.

- There were all manner of shenanigans being pulled politically to try to get yet another vote, but the vote held. And so somewhat reluctantly, I think, Governor Roberts finally said, "Bring me the document, I'm gonna sign it." And it was signed and immediately put on the train to go back to Washington to be presented to the Secretary of State.

- [Rosanne] Across the nation, women who had worked for suffrage, some their entire lives, celebrated this hard won civil right. For some Southern suffragists, however, the ratification by federal amendment was a bittersweet victory.

- [Pattie] It only remains for the outward and visible sign of our freedom to be put in the hands of Southern women by the generous men of other states. A situation that hurts our pride, and to which we submit with deep regret, but not apology.

- [Adele] Most Southern suffragists really wanted to get the vote by state action because of what that symbolizes. What it symbolized is that your men, the men in your life, the men in your state, see you as their political equal.

- [Rosanne] Passage of the 19th Amendment also did not mean African American women would be treated as political equals.

- African American women in the South were faced with, in many instances, the failure to enforce the provisions of the 15th Amendment. Many of them wanted to vote, many of them tried to vote, but they faced the same barriers to voting that African American men did. In other words, they were limited by provisions of poll taxes, by physical intimidation.

- They understood that there were gonna be some restrictions and restraints placed upon them. But they also understood that with fortitude, with perseverance, that they could get through it and be active participants in the political system.

- The ratification of the 19th Amendment was only the first step in a long series of battles, culminating in the 1960s with the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. But even those were not the end. Who gets to vote in this country is still being debated 100 years later.

- Looking back at history, you can see that rights are given, rights are taken away. So the fact that we won this right to vote doesn't mean it's always there. It needs to be defended, it needs to be protected. And that's an important lesson in democracy. Doesn't take away from what was achieved, but it shows that you can't just pass laws. It's not that simple.

- Having the legal right particularly guaranteed in the Constitution is an enormous first step. That doesn't mean that the world changed, that's just the tool with which we can change the world. But we have to continue the process or it'll erode.

- I think looking at the long history of woman suffrage, what we can take away is that sometimes change happens over a very, very long period of time, but they do change, and the wheel of progress just keeps right on turning, with a few maybe backward rotations, but it keeps turning.

- [Marjorie] The overall story of the Southern suffrage movement is one of failure. But the fact that Southern suffragists managed to get four states to ratify, and that Tennessee ratified despite all the pressure that was being applied to get it not to, now, that's a story in what sheer persistence can accomplish in the face of great obstacles.

- [Narrator] Major funding for "By One Vote: "Woman Suffrage in the South" is provided by the Bethany Fund. Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area. The Joe C. Davis Foundation in memory of Frances Bond Davis. The Shayne Foundation. Cathy and Martin Brown & The MSB Cockayne Fund. And by Carlene Lebous and Harris Haston. Additional support provided by First Tennessee Foundation. Anne and Charles Roos. Hannah Paramore Breen, Andrea Conte, Laurie Gold Eskind, and the following. And by members of NPT. Thank you.

}

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
By One Vote: Woman Suffrage in the South | NPT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Video Transcript - [Wanda] Women's legal position was pretty much the same as the legal position of felons. - [Mary] It's the need for freedom and rights and civic respect and place in society, women had to have that. - [Marjorie] It was inevitable that race was going to play a major role in the suffrage movement.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Happened at the Seneca Falls Convention? | History

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Looking Backward." This anti-suffrage artwork shows a woman leaving behind love, marriage, children, and home for suffrage and loneliness. This message -- that women who had the vote would be miserable -- was not uncommon in anti-suffrage messages.
Artwork by Laura E. Foster, c. 1912. Published in Life Magazine, August 22, 1912. From the collections of the Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/item/2002716765/).

Although we often see suffragist and suffragette used as though they mean the same thing, their historical meanings are quite different.

The terms suffrage and enfranchisement mean having the right to vote. Suffragists are people who advocate for enfranchisement. After African American men got the vote in 1870 with the passage of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, "suffrage" referred primarily to women's suffrage (though there were many other groups who did not have access to the ballot).

The battle for woman's suffrage was in full force in both Britain and the United States in the early 1900s. Reporters took sides, and in 1906, a British reporter used the word "suffragette" to mock those fighting for women's right to vote. The suffix "-ette" is used to refer to something small or diminutive, and the reporter used it to minimize the work of British suffragists.

Some women in Britain embraced the term suffragette, a way of reclaiming it from its original derogatory use. In the United States, however, the term suffragette was seen as an offensive term and not embraced by the suffrage movement. Instead, it was wielded by anti-suffragists in their fight to deny women in America the right to vote.

Learn about Women's Struggle for the Vote with lesson plans from Teaching with Historic Places:
Visit National Parks That Tell These Stories

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Did You Know? Suffragist vs Suffragette (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Although we often see suffragist and suffragette used as though they mean the same thing, their historical meanings are quite different. The terms suffrage and enfranchisement mean having the right to vote. Suffragists are people who advocate for enfranchisement.

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Meet Suffrage Cat!

Suffrage Cat is part of the National Park Service's commemoration of the 19th Amendment. 2020 marks the centennial (100th anniversary) of the amendment! It was an important addition to our constitution as it recognized women's voting rights. Suffrage means the right to vote in political elections.

Did you know that the cat was a symbol of the women's suffrage movement?
In April of 1916, suffragists Nell Richardson and Alice Burke started a cross-country road trip. Setting out from New York, these two women stopped in cities and towns across America to talk about the importance of women's suffrage. Along the way, the women adopted a cat that became their unofficial mascot. The cat became a symbol of suffrage!

Find a new adventure with Suffrage Cat! Print this feline out and add your own artist touch with crayons, markers, or other fun decorations. Take your new friend to visit a National Park or a National Historic Site. Get a picture of you and your new buddy.

Instructions:

Color, decorate, and bedazzle your Suffrage Cat.

Cut out and visit National Parks, National Historic Sites, and other units of the National Park Service.

Learn more about the 19th Amendment: www.nps.gov/womenshistory

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Suffrage Cat (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Meet Suffrage Cat! Suffrage Cat is part of the National Park Service's commemoration of the 19th Amendment. 2020 marks the centennial (100th anniversary) of the amendment! It was an important addition to our constitution as it recognized women's voting rights. Suffrage means the right to vote in political elections.

# data[].attributes.body
American Bar Association

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The first women's rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York. There, 68 women and 32 men sign a Declaration of Sentiments, which modeled on the Declaration of Independence, outlines grievances and sets the agenda for the women's rights movem

# data[].attributes.headline
Timeline of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the U.S.

# data[].attributes.subject
Timeline of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the U.S.

# data[].attributes.body
Center for American Women and Politics

# data[].attributes.body
Women for Women International

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Looks like you're in the UK! 🇬🇧

This is our US website. If you'd like to make a donation or sign-up for email updates please visit our UK website.

Stay in the US | Continue to the UK

Looks like you're in Germany! 🇩🇪

This is our US website. If you'd like to make a donation or sign-up for email updates please visit our Germany website.

Stay in the US | Continue to Germany

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Timeline of Women's Voting Rights | Women for Women International

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
2020 marks an important year for women voting in the United States. Along with an election, it's a century after the passage of the 19th Amendment. But just as women's voting rights weren't always the law of the land, neither was their disenfranchisement.

# data[].attributes.body
National Park Service

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This is an extended timeline of the fight for women's suffrage in the United States. It includes information on failed and successful attempts at changes in law, including at the state and federal levels, how women's suffrage has been interlaced with quests for other civil rights, and some key court cases. It spans the years from 1648, when Margaret Brent demands but is denied a vote in Maryland's colonial assembly through 2016, when Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument was designated.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
US Women's Suffrage Timeline 1648 to 2016 (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is an extended timeline of the fight for women's suffrage in the United States. It includes information on failed and successful attempts at changes in law, including at the state and federal levels, how women's suffrage has been interlaced with quests for other civil rights, and some key court cases.

# data[].attributes.body
Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.body
National Women's History Museum

# data[].attributes.body
NewseumED
(You need to make a free account to access)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Making a Change: The First Amendment & the Civil Rights Movement

Students watch and discuss a Newseum-produced documentary about the role of the First Amendment freedoms in the civil rights movement and in protests today.

You Can’t Say That in School?!

Students debate court cases to learn how far First Amendment protections extend in public schools, and why limits may be necessary.

First Amendment and Tinker

Students learn about the groundbreaking 1969 Supreme Court case that protected student speech in public schools.

Keep in the loop!

Sign up for NewseumED updates and newsletter today.

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A purple, white, and gold suffrage sash on display at the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument museum
NPS Photo/R. Mendoza

Vocabulary

amendment: a change, especially to a document like the Constitution
ratify: to sign, approve, or give formal agreement to something
suffrage: the right to vote
suffragist: someone who believes in and works for the right to vote, especially for women

Extension Activity

The purple, white, and gold striped sash worn by suffragists in the 1900s did not have any words or images on it. The American public had become so familiar with the colors as a symbol of the woman suffrage movement that slogans like "Votes for Women" weren't necessary. But when suffrage protestors carried banners, they often included text with a specific message.

Design your own sash or banner for a cause that is important to you. Think about colors, design, symbols, and words that you use to get your message across. Write a paragraph explaining your design.

Additional Resources

NPS Links
The 19th Amendment: A Crash Course
Symbols of the Woman Suffrage Movement
Design Your Own 19th Amendment Ratification Star

Other Resources
She Resisted: Strategies of Suffrage interactive from PBS's documentary series "The Vote"
Suffrage Strategies: Voices for Votes lesson plan from The Library of Congress

For Teachers

This activity uses a photograph as a primary source to facilitate student inquiry into the development of social identities and movements through symbolism and appearance.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching Justice: Symbols of Suffrage (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Vocabulary amendment: a change, especially to a document like the Constitution ratify: to sign, approve, or give formal agreement to something suffrage: the right to vote suffragist: someone who believes in and works for the right to vote, especially for women Extension Activity The purple, white, and gold striped sash worn by suffragists in the 1900s did not have any words or images on it.

# data[].attributes.headline
Symbols of the Women's Suffrage Movement

# data[].attributes.subject
Symbols of the Women's Suffrage Movement

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Symbols of the Women’s Suffrage Movement (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many symbols were used during the campaign for women’s suffrage. Here you will find some of the meanings behind colors, animals, flowers, and other symbols that suffragists and anti-suffragists used.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Prequel: Women’s Suffrage Before 1848

# data[].attributes.subject
The Prequel: Women’s Suffrage Before 1848

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This article was originally published by the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC) on April 1, 2020 as a part of the WSCC blog, The Suff Buffs. The Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission was created by Congress to commemorate 100 years of the 19th Amendment throughout 2020 and to ensure the untold stories of women's battle for the ballot continue to inspire Americans for the next 100 years.

Johanna Neuman is an award-winning historian and author of two books on the triumphant campaign by women to win the vote. As a journalist, she covered the White House, State Department and Congress for USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. Johanna won a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University and holds a PhD in history from American University. She currently lives in Florida and has dedicated the rest of her career to writing books about the history of women through archival research, storytelling, and journalist skills. Her first book as a historian was Gilded Suffragists: The New York Socialites Who Fought for Women's Right to Vote (2017) followed by How Women Won the Vote: The Long History (2020).

" 1776 State Constitution," State of New Jersey, Department of State, accessed March 13, 2020.

" Declaration of Sentiments," National Park Service, last updated February 26, 2015.

" Frederick Douglass on Woman Suffrage," BlackPast, January 28, 2007.

Grimke, Angelina Emily. Appeal to the Christian Women of the South, American Anti-Slavery Society, 1836.

" Grimke Sisters," National Park Service, last updated February 26, 2015.

" Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31, 1776," Adams Family Papers Archive, Massachusetts Historical Society, accessed 13 March 2020.

" Letter from John Adams to Abigail Adams, April 14, 1776," Adams Family Papers Archive, Massachusetts Historical Society, accessed 13 March 2020.

" Lydia Chapin Taft - New England's First Woman Voter," New England Historical Society, accessed March 13, 2020.

McMillan, Sally Gregory. Lucy Stone: An Unapologetic Life, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2015.

McMillen, Sally. Seneca Falls and the Origins of the Women's Rights Movement. NewYork, NY: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Michals, Debra. " Lucy Stone, 1818-1893," National Women's History Museum, 2017.

Michals, Debra. " Mercy Otis Warren, 1728-1814," National Women's History Museum, 2015.

Neuman, Johanna. And Yet They Persisted: How American Women Won the Right to Vote. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2020.

Purcell, Sarah J. An Eyewitness History: The Early National Period. New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc., 2004.

" Republican Motherhood," Wikipedia, accessed March 13, 2020.

Rowan, Diana Newell, " How the Revolution helped liberate women," review of Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800, by Mary Beth Norton, Christian Science Monitor, July 9, 1980.

" The Women of the American Revolution/Sarah Franklin Bache," Wikipedia, accessed March 13, 2020.

" Trail of Tears," Museum of the Cherokee Indian, accessed March 13, 2020.

Willard, Frances E. and Mary A. Livermore, eds. A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life, Buffalo, NY: 1893.

Zagarri, Rosemarie. Revolutionary Backlash:Women and Politics in the Early American Republic, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Prequel: Women's Suffrage Before 1848 (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This article was originally published by the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC) on April 1, 2020 as a part of the WSCC blog, The Suff Buffs. The Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission was created by Congress to commemorate 100 years of the 19th Amendment throughout 2020 and to ensure the untold stories of women's battle for the ballot continue to inspire Americans for the next 100 years.

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
an antisuffrage parade cartoon
Library of Congress

This month our nation celebrates the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment. Although the fight for women's rights had a much longer history than 100 years, it is in this year that many celebrate this landmark achievement of women's right to vote. The women's suffrage movement however has not always been a unified front. Many women during the Victorian period thought that suffrage was not the way for women to pursue equality, while others criticized and recognized the racial inequality amongst women and how passing legislation would not provide truly equal rights.

Many women in the Victorian period were part of the Anti-Suffragists movement. They thought the suffrage movement to be un-American and would break up the family unit. Some women were not as passionate as the Anti-Suffragist, and considered their movement to be unnecessary. Many women of higher status thought they were able to make change through the positions of their husbands, and considered themselves more of an equal to their husbands and due to their educations and work responsibilities in the home.

Other women recognized that for most suffragists, there was still a primarily white agenda. Individuals like Charlotte Forten Grimke, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, and Mary Church Terrell advocated for women of color to have a right to participate in the election of government officials. Although the amendment was successful, and ratified in 1920, it still did not provide ALL women the right to vote. Native American women as an example were not considered U.S. Citizens until 1924, and therefore denied their right to vote. Many African American women were kept from the polls, and were discouraged from voting through racial intimidation, violence, and fear. Additionally, women who were convicted of a crime were also barred from voting, even if they had served their sentence.

Interested in learning more about the complex history of the women's suffrage movement? Head to https://www.nps.gov/subjects/womenshistory/struggle-for-suffrage.htm for content from national parks
all across the U.S., and how they help tell the diverse and complicated
story of the nations Struggle for Suffrage.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Victorians and Women's Suffrage (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This month our nation celebrates the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment. Although the fight for women's rights had a much longer history than 100 years, it is in this year that many celebrate this landmark achievement of women's right to vote.

# data[].attributes.headline
“Planted in the Soil”: The Homestead Act, Women Homesteaders, and the 19th Amendment

# data[].attributes.subject
“Planted in the Soil”: The Homestead Act, Women Homesteaders, and the 19th Amendment

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Historian Jonathan Fairchild walks in a plowed field cranking a hand held vintage seed spreader.
NPS

Jonathan Fairchild is the Historian at Homestead National Monument of America, a unit of the National Park Service. He is dedicated to telling the story of the American homesteader. He has been in that position since February 2019, and has been with the National Park Service since 2017. Jon previously serving as an Archives Technician at Keweenaw National Historical Park. A native Texan, he is currently a doctoral candidate in American History at the University of Houston.

"What a lot of people don't realize, is that the story of the Homestead Act of 1862 is closely connected to the story of women's suffrage. Nearly all the states granting women full voting rights prior to the Nineteenth Amendment gave away land under the Homestead Act. Women homesteading in these states participated in local, statewide, and national suffrage networks, and as the ranks of land-owning women swelled between 1862 and 1920, and it was these homesteading women who led the way to the 19 th Amendment." - Jonathan Fairchild, Historian

Jonathan's project illustrates the link between homesteading and women's suffrage. He argues that women homesteaders were integral to the passage of the 19th Amendment, securing the vote for women - which is celebrating its centennial in 2020.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"Planted in the Soil": The Homestead Act, Women Homesteaders, and the 19th Amendment (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jonathan Fairchild is the Historian at Homestead National Monument of America, a unit of the National Park Service. He is dedicated to telling the story of the American homesteader. He has been in that position since February 2019, and has been with the National Park Service since 2017.

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Figure 1. The newly formed Republican Party and its presidential candidate, John C. Frémont, threatened to impose abolitionism and women's equality, among other radical reforms.
N. Currier and Louis Maurer, The Great Republican Reform Party, Calling on Their Candidate, 1856. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

By Rebecca A. Rix

New York women protested taxation without representation, through the 1920s, after ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, supporters of women's right to vote met opposition. In the early nineteenth century, suffragists were among the radical reformers threatening to democratize a republic still based on status hierarchies. After the Civil War and Reconstruction emancipated enslaved African Americans, established birthright citizenship, and promised equal protection to all citizens, suffragists and reformers fought for decades to realize that equality. Anti-suffragists, conversely, fought to maintain the male-headed family, rather than the individual citizen, as the representative unit of republican government. While anti-suffragists eventually lost their battle, their opposition delayed woman suffrage for decades and transformed family-based republicanism from a patrician opposition to democratization into a popular defense of tradition and family against feminism and the social welfare state. Suffragists' belief in individual representation inspired decades of battles over the right to vote and other reforms that supplemented or supplanted traditional family-based government with laws that gave women-and others once assumed to be "naturally" unequal-civil and political rights. For anti-suffragists, the franchise meant more than just the right to enter a voting booth and cast a ballot: the vote was an affirmation of the fundamental political equality of all persons holding it, in both the private and public spheres-a radical interpretation of the founding ideals that anti-suffragists were eager to extinguish wherever it threatened the republic.

In the 1830s and '40s, anti-suffragists posed woman suffrage as an absurd conclusion to the enfranchisement of unpropertied men-if all individuals had a "right" to vote, why not women? In the early nineteenth century both northern and southern states eliminated property qualifications for voting, leading to nearly universal white male suffrage. Workingmen's suffrage bolstered the assumption that men were responsible for supporting and governing their wives and dependents, who owed them deference and labor. Despite sectional differences over slavery, political leaders and clergy emphasized white men's shared sovereignty over their "domestic" dependents, including slaves.

In the 1850s, antislavery and proslavery advocates battled to define the institutions of new western states and territories as well as the status of enslaved people in free jurisdictions. The US Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision was a watershed in imbuing national citizenship with expansive civil and political rights-and then limiting that citizenship to white men. The decision enraged abolitionists, free enfranchised Blacks, and free states and fueled sectional conflict and made national citizenship a focal point of postwar Reconstruction.

Northerners had ridiculed the 1855 campaign of the "Republican Reform Party" (Figure 1) for encouraging African Americans' and women's egalitarian aspirations, but these aspirations became contentious political issues during postwar Reconstruction. In particular, the Fourteenth Amendment's declaration of birthright citizenship and its provision of equal rights protections at once invalidated Dred Scott and unsettled antebellum republicanism's conferral of rights based on one's status within the polity. Suffragists opposed the inclusion of the word "male" in the amendment's protection of voting rights, arguing instead for citizen suffrage. After its ratification, some suffragists tested this provision by attempting to vote (and sometimes succeeding), hoping the ensuing litigation would produce a judicial decision that women's citizenship conferred suffrage. Others petitioned for a woman suffrage amendment, particularly after their failure to secure universal suffrage in the Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibited denial of the vote on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Anti-suffragists noted the apparent racism of suffragists' opposition to the Fifteenth Amendment.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Anti-Suffragism in the United States (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Rebecca A. Rix New York women protested taxation without representation, through the 1920s, after ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, supporters of women's right to vote met opposition. In the early nineteenth century, suffragists were among the radical reformers threatening to democratize a republic still based on status hierarchies.

# data[].attributes.headline
Suffrage in America: The 15th and 19th Amendments

# data[].attributes.subject
Suffrage in America: The 15th and 19th Amendments

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Suffrage in America - Women's History (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The right to vote (also known as suffrage) is an important part of our democracy. Throughout history, different groups were prevented from taking part in the voting process. At one point, women, people of color, and immigrants could not vote. People without money, property, or an education were also barred from voting.

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Footnotes:

[1] Clara T. Leonard, "Letter from Mrs. Clara T. Leonard, In Opposition to Woman Suffrage," Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women, 1884. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=bc.ark:/13960/t7xm3g60x&view=1up&seq=1

[2] The term "remonstrant" derives from the word "remonstrance," meaning "protest." Remonstrants protested the ongoing movement to enfranchise women.

[3] Susan Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood: Gender and Class in the Campaign against Woman Suffrage (Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1997), 19.

[4] Leonard, "Letter from Mrs. Clara T. Leonard, In Opposition to Woman Suffrage;" Louise Stevenson, "Women Anti-Suffragists in the 1915 Massachusetts Campaign," The New England Quarterly Vol. 52, no. 1 (March 1979), 85.

[5] Elizabeth V. Burt, "The ideology, rhetoric, and organizational structure of a countermovement publication: The Remonstrance, 1890-1920," Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 75, no. 1 (1998): 74-75; Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 98.

[6] Leonard, "Letter from Mrs. Clara T. Leonard, In Opposition to Woman Suffrage."

[7] Leonard, "Letter from Mrs. Clara T. Leonard, In Opposition to Woman Suffrage."

[8] Leonard, "Letter from Mrs. Clara T. Leonard, In Opposition to Woman Suffrage;" Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 99-100.

[9] Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 102.

[10] Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 25.

[11] Members included de facto president Mrs. Charles D. Homans (Eliza), Mrs. George G. Crocker (Annie), Mrs. J. Randolph Coolidge (Julia), Mrs. Oliver W. Peabody, Mrs. G. Howland Shaw (Cora), Mrs. Robert C. Winthrop (Adele), Mrs. William B. Swett (Susan), Mrs. James C. Hooker (Elizabeth), Mrs. Henry O. Houghton (Nancy), and Mrs. James C. Fisk (Mary). Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 23, 28-31.

[12] Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 24, 59.

[13] Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood; Stevenson, "Women Anti-Suffragists in the 1915 Massachusetts Campaign," 81-82.

[14] James J. Kenneally, "Woman Suffrage and the Massachusetts 'Referendum' of 1895," The Historian 30, no. 4 (1968): 617-633.

[15] Burt, "The ideology, rhetoric, and organizational structure of a countermovement publication;" Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 24-25.

[16] Kenneally, "Woman Suffrage and the Massachusetts 'Referendum' of 1895," 620; Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 60.

[17] Kenneally, "Woman Suffrage and the Massachusetts 'Referendum' of 1895," 624.

[18] Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women, "Leaflets" Boston, 1884-1904, 60 nos. [DYW5.9M38 in card catalog, not online], Boston Athenaeum.

[19] Kenneally, "Woman Suffrage and the Massachusetts 'Referendum' of 1895,"624; Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 65.

[20] Burt, "The ideology, rhetoric, and organizational structure of a countermovement publication," 76; Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 24.

[21] Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 15, 71.

[22] Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 166.

[23] Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 170-175.

[24] "Colored Women Organize Association and Will be Represented at State House Tomorrow," The Boston Globe, February 26, 1913; "Opposes Votes for Women," The Boston Globe, February 28, 1913.

[25] "'Antis' Attack Suffrage in Faneuil Hall," The Boston Herald, April 04, 1914.

[26] Kate Gannett Wells, "An Argument against Woman Suffrage; delivered before a special legislative committee," Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women, c. 1900s. https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/women-working-1800-1930/catalog/45-990012575990203941

[27] Burt, "The ideology, rhetoric, and organizational structure of a countermovement publication," 74.

[28] Stevenson, "Women Anti-Suffragists in the 1915 Massachusetts Campaign," 81-82.

[29] Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 172, 195.

[30] Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 193; Stevenson, "Women Anti-Suffragists in the 1915 Massachusetts Campaign," 83-84; "200,000 See the Paraders," The Boston Globe, October 17, 1915; "Suffragists Promise a Record Turnout Today," The Boston Globe, October 16, 1915.

[31] Robert S. Grandfield, "The Massachusetts Suffrage Referendum of 1915." Historical Journal of Massachusetts 7, no. 1 (1979): 54; Marshall, Splintered Sisterhood, 75.

[32] Burt, "The ideology, rhetoric, and organizational structure of a countermovement publication," 79-80; Stevenson, "Women Anti-Suffragists in the 1915 Massachusetts Campaign," 93.

[33] "Women Take the Ballot Seriously," The Boston Globe, September 08, 1920.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Anti-Suffrage in Massachusetts (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Footnotes: [1] Clara T. Leonard, "Letter from Mrs. Clara T. Leonard, In Opposition to Woman Suffrage," Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women, 1884. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=bc.ark:/13960/t7xm3g60x&view=1up&seq=1 [2] The term "remonstrant" derives from the word "remonstrance," meaning "protest." Remonstrants protested the ongoing movement to enfranchise women.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
1913 Woman Suffrage Procession (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
The National Endowment for the Humanities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Woman's Suffrage by the proposed Sixteenth Amendment is before the nation for consideration," one newspaper heralded. Demanding their enfranchisement through a constitutional amendment, "women," another column remarked, "strike out in a new path." Women had been demanding the vote for some time, but this new approach was extremely far-fetched.

Although we assume today that voting is a basic right of citizenship, enshrined somewhere in the Constitution, the original Constitution actually sidestepped the issue entirely. It did not define or safeguard any individual's right to vote. Rather, at the nation's founding, individual states held jurisdiction over making (and regulating) voters within their boundaries. Women were now saying that this should be reversed-that the federal government, not the states, should make women into voters.

Roughly fifty years after a handful of suffragists conceived the idea, it became a hard-fought reality. In 1920, states ratified the Nineteenth Amendment and thereby guaranteed voting rights to women across the country. Or so it is said.

As the so-called women's suffrage amendment approaches its one hundredth birthday, it remains poorly understood-even among those who celebrate it. Just what did the Nineteenth Amendment do? Why is this long-lived campaign alternately revered and maligned? And why do the constitutional issues it helped to open remain so unsettled? Answers to all these questions require a look back at this spectacular campaign, replete with triumphs, reversals, infighting, heartbreak, and joy.
The Origins of a Federal Amendment
Although women demanded the vote as far back as the 1840s, they did not call for a federal amendment until after the Civil War, when a new battle over the status of recently emancipated freed people split the nation. What rights should former slaves have, if any? Rejecting most of African Americans' demands upon freedom, a band of congressmen nevertheless supported freedmen's demands to vote. They proposed to accomplish this through amending the Constitution.

Passing Congress in 1869, the Fifteenth Amendment declared that voting "shall not be denied or abridged . . . on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." When ratified in 1870, the amendment struck down state requirements that voters be "white," enfranchising black men nationwide. This creation of voters through federal amendment had never before been tried.

Congressional passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, however, tore apart the feminist-abolitionist community and split the movement. Often working together in the same prewar coalitions, women's rights and antislavery advocates regrouped after the Civil War to form the American Equal Rights Association (AERA). The AERA advocated the enfranchisement of both African Americans and women, as twin demands.

When the Fifteenth Amendment advanced only one of those goals, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony-leading suffragists-balked. At the group's 1869 annual convention, the pair refused to support the amendment's ratification because it omitted women. Frederick Douglass-who had escaped slavery and, by this point, become the nation's leading African-American statesman-defended the amendment as an important step forward. Sparks flew as the trio sparred.

Stanton trotted out racist defenses for her opposition. She railed against "ignorant" black manhood voting before "educated" white womanhood. And she hurled racial epithets, calling black men "Sambo." Not only would (to her mind) unfit freedmen be allowed to vote, she warned, but immigrant men too, increasing the ranks of "ignorant," incompetent voters to epidemic proportions.

Anthony backed up Stanton. If the vote was to be given "piece by piece," Anthony shouted, "then give it first to women, to the most intelligent & capable of the women at least"-clearly meaning native-born white women and displaying her own deeply held sense of racial hierarchy.

Douglass countered. Ongoing vigilante violence across the South gave black men greater priority, he argued. "I do not see how any one can pretend that there is the same urgency in giving the ballot to the woman as to the negro," he began. "With us, the matter is a question of life or death. . . . When women, because they are women, are hunted down . . . when they are dragged from their houses and hung upon lamp-posts; when their children are torn from their arms, and their brains dashed out upon the pavement, . . . then she will have an urgency to obtain the ballot equal to our own."
A Divided Movement Is Born
Angrily, Stanton and Anthony bolted from the AERA and formed a new organization, the National Woman Suffrage Association. Stanton and Anthony used their National Association to oppose the Fifteenth Amendment and advocate for their newly conceived idea for a Sixteenth Amendment, granting women's suffrage.

In their eyes, the Fifteenth Amendment had only one redeeming feature: It had nationalized suffrage, shifting voting regulation from the states to the federal government. This meant suffragists no longer had to labor at the state level, attempting to remove the word "male" from the voting qualifications in each and every state-an excruciatingly onerous fight. Now they could focus all their energies on a single citadel, the U.S. Constitution.

Not all suffragists agreed with Stanton and Anthony's constitutional logic, however. Their rivals in the AERA, which included most of its leading membership, countered the pair by forming an opposing American Woman Suffrage Association. Overseen by Lucy Stone-a prominent white reformer and peer of Stanton and Anthony-the American Association not only supported the Fifteenth Amendment, but also insisted the vote must still be won in the individual states. They rejected Stanton and Anthony's arguments that constitutional authority around voting in the U.S. had been remade. The Fifteenth Amendment had been no more than a postwar exigency, ratified in order to redress the evil legacies of slavery.

Black women, who long had a tradition of independent organizing, moved in and out of both organizations, but mostly they pursued their own vision of rights work, often in collaboration with black men. While they sometimes sought alliances with white women and supported suffrage, black women often found the two mainstream suffrage organizations too narrow, incapable of expressing their broader and racially informed visions for justice.
Two Approaches to Amending Constitutions
Although ratification settled the battle over the Fifteenth Amendment, the question of which constitutions to revise in order to win women's suffrage remained open.

The American Association worked to get the word "male" removed from the list of voter qualifications in states' governing charters. To remove it, many states required that the proposal pass two successive state legislative sessions. Some legislatures met only every other year, however. And where the proposal passed one session of a state legislature, it might not pass the second, meaning the process would have to begin all over again. In other cases, efforts to win women the vote had to pass a state referendum, going before the all-male voters of the state.

Although cumbersome, these strategies showed signs of promise when, in 1869, the same year the AERA split, Wyoming enfranchised women. A year later, in 1870, Utah did the same. Elsewhere, state constitutional conventions and state legislatures routinely took up the issue.

The National Association, by contrast, experimented with how the federal government might be leveraged to secure a citizen's right to vote. Because amending the Constitution was enormous work, in the early 1870s, they began trying out interpretations that the Constitution already enfranchised women. Voting was a basic right of federal citizenship, they argued, and, as citizens, women were entitled to vote. In 1875, however, the Supreme Court pushed back, deciding in Minor v. Happersett that voting was a privilege, not a right.

This ruling was devastating for the pursuit of voting on the explicit grounds of "rights." The National Association's petitions for an amendment were now patterned on the Fifteenth Amendment, emphasizing nondiscrimination. Just as that amendment banned states from discriminating in voting on the basis of "race," their congressional petitions requested an amendment that would effectively strike down as unconstitutional all state qualifications that voters be "male."

Amending the U.S. Constitution, however, would not be easy or simple. A federal amendment first had to have a congressional sponsor, a congressman (as all were men) to introduce it into the legislative session. Next, it had to pass both chambers of Congress (in the same session) by a two-thirds majority. Ratification, in turn, was its own herculean task, requiring approval by three-fourths of the states. And there could be no incremental victories. It was all or nothing.

The amendment appeared to gain traction in 1878, when Senator Aaron Sargent-a Republican from California, whose wife, Ellen, was an ardent suffragist-introduced the amendment into Congress for the first time:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

For almost a decade, however, the amendment remained stalled in committee until, in 1887, the Senate rejected it by a hefty margin.

Winning women the vote could not be accomplished by a single vote. Suffragists had to wade through layers and layers of power and process. There were endless politicians to coddle and cajole, not to mention the always-scarce resources needed for their voluminous campaigns. This was exhausting work, and keeping momentum alive, over decades, was itself a full-time job.
The Difference the States Made
After almost twenty years of little progress, the state strategy once again bore fruit. Colorado enfranchised women in 1893. Idaho followed suit in 1896. By the close of the nineteenth century, women were voting on equal terms with men in four states.

Although the state and federal campaigns were separate strategies, they were often two sides of the same coin. The federal amendment would likely never have passed if the individual states had not begun enfranchising women in rapid succession around the turn of the century.

Added to the original six states or territories came another eight, all west of the Mississippi: Washington in 1910; California in 1911; Arizona, Kansas, and Oregon in 1912; the Territory of Alaska in 1913; along with Montana and Nevada in 1914. By 1915, western women were voting in massive numbers. Then key eastern states began to fall. In 1917, New York suffragists scored a huge victory when the Empire State agreed to remove "male" from its voting requirements. A year later, Michigan did the same. Then came Oklahoma and South Dakota.

A host of other states began extending partial suffrage rights to women. Women could vote in certain types of elections, but not in all elections-meaning not on equal terms with men. Nevertheless, women began to vote in states that had not even amended their state constitutions. Women gained what was called "school suffrage" (voting on school matters), "municipal suffrage" (voting in municipal or city matters), and "presidential suffrage" (voting for U.S. president). By 1920, there were only eight states in which women were not already voting in some fashion.

Unfortunately, most of the aged, original, nineteenth-century suffragists died before these cascading state victories. Stone died in 1893, Stanton in 1902, and Anthony in 1906. Few who had inaugurated the fight would live to see these victories.

Yet as the word "male" was struck from state voter clauses, many states began to formally strip away poor-white and non-white men's ballots. In 1890, white supremacists in Mississippi passed the first of the Jim Crow restrictions-poll taxes, literacy tests, and more-whereupon other states followed. By 1913, many states across the nation (not just in the South) had placed significant new restrictions upon voting. Although these tests were often selectively administered against men of color-Latino, black, and immigrant-their precise language nowhere mentioned race, giving such restrictions plausible deniability of being, in fact, race-based, and thus making them legal under the Fifteenth Amendment.

For black women suffragists who had also inaugurated this fight-such as Sojourner Truth (died 1883) and Sarah Parker Remond (died 1894)-such laws represented not only dreams deferred, but dreams destroyed. These new laws did what vigilante violence had not been able to fully accomplish: Throwing most men of color off the voter rolls, until their voting numbers dwindled to almost nil.
A Federal Amendment Won
Some say Alice Paul brought the fight back to Congress. In 1890, just as Mississippi threw men off the voter rolls, the National and the American Associations unified, forming the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Anthony handpicked Carrie Chapman Catt to lead the organization. Catt was a longtime activist who had risen through the suffrage ranks under Anthony's tutelage. Catt, however, believed that a direct fight for a federal amendment was unwinnable, and that the battle had to proceed state by state. When enough states fell, she predicted, so too would a federal amendment.

Alice Paul, meanwhile, was impatient. A much younger suffragist who had cut her teeth in militant suffrage activism in Great Britain, Paul believed that a direct fight for the federal amendment should be revived. Paul clashed with Catt and soon left NAWSA to form her own suffrage organization, the National Woman's Party (NWP).

The NWP not only demanded a federal amendment-immediately-but they did so in ways that made Catt cringe. Their brash, militant tactics were an about-face from Catt's careful diplomacy. Paul and her NWP comrades were responsible for much of the gripping drama that we associate with the final push for the Nineteenth Amendment.

In 1913, they held a massive suffrage parade in Washington, D.C.-the largest peaceful protest ever assembled on D.C. streets to that point. To skewer President-elect Woodrow Wilson for his opposition to women's suffrage, they held their parade on the eve of his inauguration, upstaging him. Crowds physically attacked the marchers, and scores of women were sent to the hospital.

Then, beginning in 1917, Paul and her allies began peacefully picketing the White House. When decorum dictated they lay down their signs as the United States entered World War I, they went right on picketing. Wilson had had enough. He had the women arrested on trumped-up charges of "obstructing traffic." But as one group of women went to jail, another row of picketers took up their posts. Soon over a hundred women were put in jail, where some began hunger strikes. The prison ordered the women force-fed, as the correction officers gruesomely poured liquid nutrients down tubes forced into their throats.

These "silent sentinels" ceased their protests only when, in 1918, Congress agreed to bring the federal amendment to a vote. When that vote failed, they posted themselves back outside the White House. Wilson, meanwhile, finally declared his support.

By 1919, the tides had turned. On May 21, the House passed the amendment by a relatively large 42-vote margin. And, on June 4, the Senate followed suit, 56 for and 25 against. The amendment had carried and was headed to the states for ratification.

Although the story often focuses on Paul and the NWP for reasons of sheer drama, Catt's plodding ground game had been just as important. The scores of women already voting across the nation had convinced many that women's suffrage would not throw the world off its axis. Those voting women had also helped send pro-women's suffrage politicians to Congress. The networks Catt and NAWSA had built in the states, moreover, proved critical to this next fight.

The 14-month ratification effort had a promising start. Then panic set in. The quick succession of ratifying states slowed, then stopped-one short of the 36 states needed. Five excruciating months went by, as no states considered it. That fall, the governor of Tennessee shocked everyone by calling a session of the Tennessee legislature to affirm his state's opposition.

Because Tennessee was a southern state, known for its fierce opposition to women voting, prospects looked grim. Battalions of suffragists and armies of their opponents descended on Nashville, the state capital. Lobbying went on through the night preceding the vote. As roll call began the next day-August 18, 1920-it seemed clear the amendment would not pass.

But upon receiving a letter from his mother, urging his support-and instructing him "to be a good boy"-Harry T. Burn, the Tennessee legislature's youngest member, at only twenty-four, changed his vote. Burn declared his support. His courage caused one more defection from the opposition. And, shocking everyone, the Tennessee legislature approved ratification by a two-vote margin. The long and arduous fight for a federal amendment-which had taken decades, involved millions of women, and exacted an enormous toll-was finally over.

Newspapers trumpeted victory. "SUFFRAGE WINS," read the front page of one, "Tennessee House Ratifies . . . Giving Women of Entire Nation [the] Vote." "The federal suffrage amendment has granted women the right to vote," read another.
The Still Elusive "Right to Vote"
Victory, however, was not as conclusive as celebrations made it seem. There exists-then and now-considerable slippage between what the amendment did and what Americans claim for it. The amendment, like the U.S. Constitution, neither creates nor extends any "right to vote." The amend-ment had also not secured voting for "women of the entire nation."

In fact, discrimination in voting was still perfectly legal, as long as it was not explicitly based on "race," and now "sex." Otherwise, states were free to discriminate in whatever ways they chose. And discriminate they did-all across the country.

Turn-of-the-century laws that had disenfranchised black men in the South now also prevented black women from voting. Although the qualification of "sex" no longer barred them, selectively applied literacy tests, poll taxes, and more still did.

Nevertheless, black women showed up en masse across the South to test these limits, displaying enormous resistance to the edifice of white supremacy. In some cases, black women defied the odds and managed to vote. But, like black men, they were largely prevented from doing so. When Indiana Little, a Birmingham schoolteacher, went to register in 1926, white officials arrested her on charges of vagrancy. And when Susie Fountain, of Pheobus, Virginia, attempted to take that state's literacy test, the white registrar handed her a blank sheet of paper. Naturally, she failed.

Discriminatory laws kept women of color from voting in the North and West as well. During the early 1900s, native-born whites in both regions worked to "purify" the electorate of "problem voters," which largely meant immigrants and voters of color. Numerous northern and western states expanded their residency requirements for voting, tightened registration requirements, and shortened registration windows. Twelve northern and western states-from New York to California-also added literacy tests to their state requirements for voting. Like those in the South, these tests were often selectively administered against voters of color, including women. Yet because neither "race" nor "sex" was mentioned in the letter of these laws, they were also perfectly constitutional. Still others, particularly Asian, Pacific Islander, and indigenous women, were barred from voting by restrictions on their citizenship.

This countervailing reality of women's ongoing disenfranchisement underscores just what had been lost when the amendment text had shifted to enshrine only nondiscrimination instead of a constitutionally given right to vote. As white suffragists watched the Fifteenth Amendment crumble after the 1890s, why hadn't they ditched this single-grounds, nondiscrimination approach and revised the text to demand a citizen's right to the ballot? The narrow wording of the Nineteenth Amendment, unchanged since 1878, was likely a concession to multiple factors, including that women understood after the Minor decision that decisively claiming a "right to vote" was unlikely to pass, given how radically it would remake the Constitution. At the same time, this was also a concession to American racism.

Many white suffragists believed that discrimination in voting on other grounds was desirable. Stanton, for example, had always supported an educational test for voters, something on full display in her 1869 objections to the Fifteenth Amendment. The same was true for other suffragists, and this text allowed for discrimination on myriad grounds, as long as the reason was not "sex."

When millions of women protested their continued disenfranchisement after 1920, the mainstream, largely white suffrage organizations refused to listen. White women declared victory. And, in the process, they-just as their amendment had-tacitly condoned the continued operations of American racism.

Meanwhile, scores of women continued their fight for this elusive right, something they would not secure until the 1965 passage of the federal Voting Rights Act, which, together with subsequent reauthorizations, tore down many of their obstacles to the ballot.

For all its merits, the Nineteenth Amendment, like the Fifteenth Amendment, did not radically remake the Constitution into a guarantor of voting rights, even though this is routinely claimed. It is certainly true that the amendment's opening line references such a right-"the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied"-but that mention is an illusion, having no fixed reference point in the Constitution, then or now. The United States is, in fact, one of the few constitutional democracies that extends no such right in its governing charter.

As centennial celebrations gear up around the Nineteenth Amendment, we will hear again and again about how women won the right to vote in 1920. It makes for a great story, full of drama and triumph. And it was a tremendous, historic victory that affirmed in various ways that women were, and should be, part of the body politic, at least in principle.

But the real story is considerably more complicated. Because states, and not the federal government, appoint voters, millions of women were already voting before 1920. And because what women technically won was only nondiscrimination in voting on the basis of "sex," millions of women still could not vote after 1920. Given this, we cannot pinpoint a single date when women won the vote, reflecting just how localized voter governance is in the United States.

Subsequent to 1920, various court cases, federal laws, and two more constitutional amendments (barring poll taxes and lowering the voting age to 18) have continued to bar state-level disenfranchisement in significant ways, but none of those federal measures have yet assured Americans of a "right to vote." Securing that perceived right, which the fights for both the Fifteenth and the Nineteenth amendments cleaved opened, remains the unfinished work of this hard-fought historical legacy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Winning the Vote: A Divided Movement Brought About the Nineteenth Amendment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Woman's Suffrage by the proposed Sixteenth Amendment is before the nation for consideration," one newspaper heralded. Demanding their enfranchisement through a constitutional amendment, "women," another column remarked, "strike out in a new path." Women had been demanding the vote for some time, but this new approach was extremely far-fetched.

# data[].attributes.headline
Knoxville women voted in an election a year before the 19th Amendment

# data[].attributes.subject
Knoxville women voted in an election a year before the 19th Amendment

# data[].attributes.body
Knoxville News Sentinel

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Knoxville women voted in an election a year before the 19th Amendment | Opinion

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The first chance for Knoxville women to vote was in the mayoral and city commission races on Sept. 6, 1919.

# data[].attributes.body
Tennessee 4 Me

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Vote
The right to vote had been limited since the United States was formed. In fact, the U.S. Constitution doesn't address it.

The common belief of that time was that only men who owned land had the independence to vote their belief and a stake in the outcome of that vote.

It didn't take long for men who didn't own land, and who had fought against "no taxation without representation," to realize that they were once again being shut out.

As a result, states struggled with different ways to qualify voters. Men who owned property of a certain value were also given the vote. Tennessee's constitution in 1796 gave the vote to all male citizens, white and black, who owned land in the state.

In the 1834 constitutional convention, delegates agreed that all men, regardless of property holdings, should be able to vote. But delegates also inserted the word "white" in describing who could vote, thus taking the vote away from free black men.

After the end of the Civil War, the 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified giving black males the right to vote. For a brief period during Reconstruction, African Americans in the South voted, and served in elected office.

With the end of Reconstruction, black men lost many of the gains they had made. In Tennessee African Americans never completely lost the right to vote, but a new constitution passed in 1870 began a poll tax, a tax that had to be paid before a man could vote. This reduced the number of poor black and white people who could vote.

Women also wanted the right to vote. They began efforts that culminated with the passage of the 19th amendment giving voting rights to women. The final passage occurred in Nashville.
There were several confrontations between owners and companies and the men who worked for them. These included strikes and sometimes outright violence. Miners in Anderson County had so much conflict over the use of convicts in the mines that this struggle is sometimes called convict wars.

Farmers, upset over low prices for their goods and high interest rates, attempted to organize in an alliance. This alliance had some success in passing laws giving farmers relief. Other farmers in Middle Tennessee and Kentucky went to war with each other and tobacco companies over efforts to hold prices down for dark-fired tobacco.

And finally, some laborers around Reelfoot Lake in upper West Tennessee resorted to violence to stop investors from draining part of the lake for development, which would take away their livehoods.

Picture Credits:

Photograph of the Black Patch Tobacco Association Parade taken September 24, 1904 in Guthrie, Kentucky. This photo shows the Black Patch float. It is shaped like a boat and has the words "C. H. Fort Captain," listed on the side. The photo also shows men on board the float holding banners with one saying, "Adams is sailing with the Association." Tennessee State Library and Archive.

Photograph showing two miners. The men are shown seated on a railway car. This photo was created sometime between the 1880s and 1920s. Tennessee State Library and Archive.

Photograph entitled, "The suffrage watchfire before the White House." The photo shows four demonstrators from the National Women's Party holding banners and standing beside a small fire in front of the White House. The protesters wanted Wilson to support women's suffrage. One of the banner reads, "President Wilson is deceiving the world when he appears as the prophet of democracy. President Wilson has opposed those who demand democracy for this county. He is responsible for the disfranchisement of millions of Americans. We in America know this. The world will find him out." Library of Congress.

Photograph showing a sawmill crew. The leader of the crew, James Lafayette Dyche II, is shown standing to the right of a horse with his hands in his pockets. This photo was taken in Bluff City, Tennessee in 1880. Tennessee State Library and Archive.

Photograph of the Railway Employees Association. This photograph was taken in 1911. It shows the organizations president, Humphrey Bowling. Bowling is seated 3rd from the left on the first row. His wife, Rose Stoddard Bowling is seated directly behind him Tennessee State Library and Archive.

Photograph of Reelfoot Lake. The image was taken in Obion County, Tennessee in 1922 and shows several buildings near the edge of the lake. Tennessee State Library and Archive.

Photograph showing women in Chattanooga.This photo was taken on Gay street and shows numerous women dressed in winter coats.Tennessee State Museum Collection.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Tennessee 4 Me - Getting a Fair Share - The Vote The right to vote had been limited since the United States was formed. In fact, the U.S. Constitution doesn't address it. The common belief of that time was that only men who owned land had the independence to vote their ...

# data[].attributes.headline
Read an argument against women voting by Tennessean John Vertrees

# data[].attributes.subject
Read an argument against women voting by Tennessean John Vertrees

# data[].attributes.body
Tennessee 4 Me

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Confronting the Modern Era

John Vertrees was also actively involved in the anti-suffrage campaign in Middle Tennessee. He believed that a woman's primary role was that of mother and that military service should be a stipulation to political enfranchisement. In a speech to the men of Tennessee, he proclaimed,

I do not believe that the women of Tennessee want the ballot, but even if they do, the question which men must determine is not affected in the least. It is not a question of what women want, but what they ought to have; and as men only now vote, it is a question for men alone to determine. However for that reason, and also because it is a question relating to those who are dearest to men, and for whom they labor and live, the decision should be made with an eye single to what is right, and best-not for women, not for men; but for all; for the men, women and children of Tennessee.

John J. Vertrees. An Address to The Men of Tennessee on Female Suffrage (Nashville, Tennessee: 1916)

Confronting the Modern Era >> Life in Tennessee >> Getting a Fair Share >> Woman's Suffrage

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Read an argument against women voting by Tennessean John Vertrees

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Tennessee 4 Me - Read an argument against women voting by Tennessean John Vertrees - John Vertrees was also actively involved in the anti--suffrage- campaign in Middle Tennessee. He believed that a woman's primary role was that of mother and that military service should be a stipulation to political -enfranchise-ment.

# data[].attributes.body
Tennessee 4 Me

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By the 1850s most white males over the age of 21 could vote. Women could not. One of the first public meetings about voting rights for women came at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. But others had mentioned it earlier.

# data[].attributes.body
Tennessee 4 Me

# data[].attributes.body
Tennessee 4 Me

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Meriwethers
Elizabeth Avery Meriwether of Memphis was one of the first women in the state to publically push for women's suffrage in the early 1870s. She wrote letters to newspapers and published a booklet about women's rights.

In 1876 she went to the polls and attempted to vote in the presidential election of that year. She then rented a theater and held a meeting to explain her beliefs. In 1881 she joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony on a speaking tour in New England. In her book of recollections, she quoted a newspaper that said her "keen sarcasm, wit and humor caused frequent bursts of laughter and applause."

Another time, Elizabeth was stopped at a train station by a young man who knelt beside her and began praying for her conversion. She told him he was probably suffering from dyspepsia (indigestion), and to get up.

Her sister-in-law, Lide A. Meriwether formed the first suffrage league in the state in 1889. It was located in Memphis. Other leagues were formed in Maryville in 1893 and in Nashville in 1894. During the Tennessee Centennial Exposition in 1897, suffragists met in the Woman's Building and formed a statewide association.

However, the resignation of Lide Meriwether from this group in 1900 left it without any strong leaders. By 1910 there was renewed interest. Several suffrage clubs formed and began holding meetings, essay contestants, debates, teas, and balls.
Lizzie Crozier-French was an unusual woman for her time. She was born into one of Knoxville's most prominent families and married into a socially prominent family. When she became a widow at 22 years of age, Lizzie began a life of service. She founded a female institute in 1885.

Later she founded the Woman's Educational and Industrial Union to assist working class women and women prisoners. She was appointed the first police matron in the South to oversee women prisoners. It was natural that with all her abilities for organizing and public speaking, that Lizzie would turn her attention to women's suffrage.

In 1910 she formed the Knoxville Equal suffrage League and took the cause statewide. Lawyers at the Tennessee Bar Association meeting in Nashville might have been surprised when Lizzie stood up and addressed their meeting without an invitation. Tennessee women, she said, become "non-persons" when they marry since state laws require that wives turn over all their property to their husbands.

After the 19th amendment was passed in 1920, Lizzie Crozier-French cast her first vote in the election that fall. On the application form for the vote, under occupation, she wrote "suffragist."
Anne Dallas Dudley was a society leader, the mother of two children. Although at one point, she said she was an anti-suffragist, after reading and studying about the issue, she changed her mind. "Not only does the world need women's votes, but woman needs the ballot for her own development," she explained.

Anne Dudley and two of her friends, Maria Daviess and Ida Clyde Clark, formed the Nashville Equal suffrage League in 1911 with Dudley as president. They organized parades, usually led by Anne Dudley and her children. Over the next eight years, the group helped form organizations in 78 towns in Tennessee. Dig Deeper: Why did the league want Anne Dudley and her children in front of the parade?

Dudley was elected president of the state suffrage movement and then went on to the national organizations. She was put in charge of the congressional steering committee trying to push the 19th amendment through congress. When the final vote on the ratification of that amendment came up in Nashville, Anne Dallas Dudley was there, trying to persuade legislators to vote for women's suffrage.
Sue Shelton White was one of the more militant members of the women's suffrage movement. Born in Henderson, Tennessee, White graduated from college and was one of the first women court reporters. She helped organize the Jackson Equal suffrage League.

White decided that the more radical suffrage group, the National Woman's Party (NWP), was more effective and joined that party in 1918. She participated in a suffrage demonstration in front of the White House which burned the words of a pledge to help women get the right to vote that President Woodrow Wilson made and didn't fulfill. She was arrested and spent five days in jail.

White also came to Nashville during the vote on the 19th amendment and lobbied lawmakers. After the amendment was passed, White earned her law degree and worked for Senator Kenneth McKellar from Tennessee. She later worked as an attorney for Franklin Roosevelt's administration to help implement the Social Security Act.

Frankie J. Pierce
Frankie Pierce was born to a house slave in Smith County sometime during or right after the Civil War. She was educated at a private school set up for African Americans after the war.

When she dis-cover-ed that there was no institution that would take black delinquent girls, forcing the authorities to put them in jail, Pierce helped found an educational institution for those girls. When she recognized that there were no restroom facilities in downtown Nashville for African American women, she helped organized a protest march to the mayor's office. As a result, Montgomery Ward department store installed a restroom for "colored" women.

It was natural that she then became involved in the women's suffrage movement. In a speech to a state suffrage meeting in May, 1920, Pierce said, "What will the Negro women do with the vote? We will stand by the white women."

In return, Pierce said her group was only asking one thing, "a square deal." In a joint effort, unusual for the times, white suffragists joined with black women and successfully lobbied the legislature for a state vocational school for African American girls.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Tennessee 4 Me - Tennessee Suffrage Leaders - The Meriwethers Elizabeth Avery Meriwether of Memphis was one of the first women in the state to publically push for women's suffrage in the early 1870s. She wrote letters to newspapers and published a booklet about women's ...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Tennessee played a pivotal role in the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in 1920. By that summer, 35 of the 36 states necessary had ratified the amendment. Eight states had rejected the amendment, and five had not voted. Suffragists saw Tennessee as their last, best hope for ratification before the 1920 presidential election. Governor Albert H. Roberts called a special session of the General Assembly on August 9 to consider the issue. Pro-suffrage and anti-suffrage activists from around the state and the country descended on Nashville, intent on influencing the legislature.

Tennessee women played a vital role in rallying support for the 19th Amendment. Anne Dallas Dudley of Nashville, Abby Crawford Milton of Chattanooga, and Sue Shelton White of Jackson were prominent among those who fought to gain popular and legislative support for women's suffrage. Among the national suffrage leaders in Nashville that summer was Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The anti-suffrage movement also counted numerous Tennessee women among its leaders, including Josephine A. Pearson, a Monteagle educator who was president of the Tennessee State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage and the Southern Women's League for the Rejection of the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. Each of these women is represented within the collection.

The summer of 1920 was one of intense pro- and anti-suffrage activity in Nashville. After the resolution passed easily in the Tennessee State Senate, both sides lobbied furiously to secure votes in the state House of Representatives where the vote was extremely close. When young Harry T. Burn of Niota changed his vote to support ratification, he broke a tie in the House of Representatives and made history. The Tennessee General Assembly voted to approve the 19th Amendment to the United State Constitution on August 18, 1920. Opponents worked feverishly to rescind the ratification vote on constitutional technicalities. Some anti-suffrage legislators even fled the state in an attempt to prevent a quorum in the General Assembly. Their efforts failed, and on August 24, 1920, Governor Albert H. Roberts certified Tennessee's ratification of the 19th Amendment. Two days later, U. S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby issued a proclamation that officially declared the ratification of the 19th Amendment and made it part of the United States Constitution. Tennessee provided the 36th and final state needed to ratify this landmark amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Tennessee played a pivotal role in the passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in 1920. By that summer, 35 of the 36 states necessary had ratified the amendment. Eight states had rejected the amendment, and five had not voted.

# data[].attributes.headline
How Tennessee Became the Final Battleground in the Fight for Suffrage

# data[].attributes.subject
How Tennessee Became the Final Battleground in the Fight for Suffrage

# data[].attributes.body
Smithsonian Magazine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The struggle for women's suffrage in the United States started on July 19, 1848, when women's rights activists and allies gathered in Seneca Falls, New York. The Declaration of Sentiments, modeled on the Declaration of Independence, enumerated "a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her." Suffragists wrote, "We insist that they [women] have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of these United States." For the following seven decades, they would campaign for women's right to vote, enduring splinters within their movement and combatting anti-suffragists, while trying to sway the American public and politicians to their cause.

The amendment to at last extend the franchise to women first passed the U.S. House in 1918 and the Senate the year after, and then, as called for in the Constitution, it was time for three-quarters of the state legislatures to approve it. In the end, it came down to one state and one legislator's vote. The final battle in the fight was pitched during a muggy summer in 1920 in Nashville, Tennessee. A comprehensive new book, Elaine Weiss' The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote (out on March 6, 2018), goes inside the fiery final debate over the 19th Amendment.

While we know how the story ends, Weiss' book is still a page-turner. Following central figures, like Carrie Chapman Catt of the mainstream National American Woman Suffrage Association, Sue White, who worked for Alice Paul's more radical Women's Party, and Josephine Pearson, who led the anti-suffragists, Weiss explores the women's motivations, tactics and obstacles. She takes readers to the halls of the city's Hermitage Hotel, where lobbying swayed lawmakers, and to the chambers of the statehouse where last minute changing of votes made history.

Mostly importantly, Weiss's book resists the notion that suffrage was something men graciously gave to women, and that this victory was inevitable. Many women fought passionately for their right to vote, battling against men, and other women, who wanted to keep it from becoming law. The Woman's Hour shows suffragists doing the hard work of politics, including canvassing, lobbying and negotiating compromises. Smithsonian spoke with author Elaine Weiss about her new book.

How did the battle for women's suffrage all come down to Tennessee?
By 1920 we're talking about no longer getting resolutions or referenda in the states to allow women to vote state by state. It's finally come down to an amendment to the Constitution. In January 1918, the House passes the federal amendment, but the Senate refuses to, and it takes another year-and-a-half until World War I is over. It's in June of 1919 that the Senate finally relents [to consider the amendment]. They actually reject it twice more and then finally June of 1919 it is passed by Congress and it goes through the ratification process. Three-quarters of the states have to approve the amendment. There are 48 states in 1920, so that means 36 states have to approve it.

It goes to the states, and it's a very difficult process because one of the things that the [U.S.] senators did to make it harder for the suffragists, and very purposefully so, was that they held off their passage of the amendment until it was an off-year in state legislatures. At that time, most state legislatures did not work around the calendar. Lots of governors didn't want to call special sessions. But there's a Supreme Court decision around this time that says amending the Constitution has its own laws and they take precedence over any state Constitutional law. The legislature has to convene to confront whatever amendment comes down to them.

After a recent defeat in Delaware, and with no movement in Vermont, Connecticut and Florida, suffragists turn to Tennessee, one of the states that hasn't acted yet. Even though it's a southern state, is considered a little more moderate than Alabama and Mississippi who have already rejected the amendment.
What would the fight for suffrage have looked like if ratification in Tennessee failed?
If you look at the score card, that would've been the 10th state that had rejected it. Thirteen would put it over the threshold of not having 36 states accept it. This is the pivotal moment: anti-suffragists see that if they can thwart ratification in Tennessee then things may really start to change. The anti-suffragists are also fighting to re-litigate in certain states where the amendment's been accepted. They're going back into court in Ohio, in Texas, in Arkansas and saying, we see irregularities and we want to expunge the ratification in these states. If they do this in a few more states, and if they're successful in the state courts, it might happen.

Does it mean that it would never have been ratified? Probably not. But after the war, Carrie Catt, the leader of the mainstream suffragists, and Alice Paul see that the nation is moving into a more conservative, reactionary frame of mind. They sense it by the presidential candidates. You have Warren Harding for the Republicans saying he wants a "return to normalcy," and everyone understands what that means. No more Progressive era, no more getting entangled in international wars, no more League of Nations, and they can see that the nation is moving in a way that women's suffrage might not be part of the agenda anymore.

It would probably have retarded the progress of nationwide suffrage for a decade or so at least. Then who knows, then you have to get it through Congress again and all that. It's hard to say that women would never have gotten the vote by federal amendment, but it certainly would've been very much delayed and perhaps for a significant amount of time, because they'd lost momentum.
Race played a surprising role in the ratification fight.
The federal amendment held the promise-or the threat, depending on your point of view-of black women voting. Politicians were nervous about this, while the southern anti-suffragists used it as ammunition for opposing the amendment. The suffragists tried to appeal to a wide range of people, including those who were racist, by saying "white women will counteract the black vote." They were willing to use what we would see as racist arguments to get the vote for all women.

They know what they're doing. Not to say there aren't some blatant racists among the suffragists, but from what I could see this is a blatantly political move that they need to keep this coalition together and they will make whatever arguments seem to assuage any doubts in the southern states.

You do have Susan B. Anthony who really does, in her work and in her life, want to erase the kind of structural racism that she sees. She is personal friends with many black Americans, but she too asked Frederick Douglass not to come to the first suffrage convention that's held in Atlanta. She says she doesn't want him to be humiliated there, but you can see it in another way that she doesn't want to antagonize the white women who are there. You see this over and over again. It's hard to see these women who are fighting for democracy to succumb to this kind of racist approach.
We think of money's role in politics as new, but the suffragists had to overcome that.
The forces against suffrage are very familiar to us today. There was a lot of money in the anti-suffrage campaign from the liquor industry, because many suffragists also supported the temperance movement, and from the manufacturers, because women voters might want to outlaw child labor. They were against suffrage because it would be bad for business.
What does conventional wisdom get wrong about the suffrage movement?
This was a much more complicated story than we've been led to believe or think we know, that it brings together a lot of the issues that are themes of American history, which is racial animosities, corporate influence in our government, the role of the church and religious thought and what is its place in public policy, and the whole idea that women are not of one mind.

There are women who opposed suffrage and, of course, there are women who vote very different ways now. You see all of these elements of American history and what we're still dealing with today as a microcosm in Tennessee. That's what I found so fascinating about it, that it wasn't just a fight for suffrage. This was a cultural war, but it was also a political war. It was a hearts and minds kind of battle where we were deciding on a whole new idea of what women's citizenship was. We were also deciding what kind of democracy we wanted, and we're still having that conversation today.

Women's suffrage is usually seen as an event: men gave women the vote. We don't have a sense of the complexity of the issue, the politics involved or of the real sacrifices that these suffragists made. That means we don't understand how our democracy changes. How aggressive do you have to be make it better? We still have a lot to learn about how social movements can change America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Tennessee Became the Final Battleground in the Fight for Suffrage

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The struggle for women's suffrage in the United States started on July 19, 1848, when women's rights activists and allies gathered in Seneca Falls, New York. The Declaration of Sentiments, modeled on the Declaration of Independence, enumerated "a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her."

# data[].attributes.body
(Also, search “suffrage” on this site to find some great TN suffragist biographies!)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex"-Nineteenth Amendment, U.S. Constitution.

In August 1920 the Tennessee General Assembly ratified the Nineteenth Amendment and handed the ballot to millions of American women. The amendment's jubilant supporters dubbed Tennessee "the perfect 36" because, as the thirty-sixth of the forty-eight states to approve the amendment, it rounded out the three-fourths majority required to amend the Constitution. The legislature's historic vote inaugurated a new era for women and for politics and secured Tennessee's place in the annals of American women's history.

Tennessee became the final battleground in a struggle that began in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. The demand for the vote was the most controversial of the twelve resolutions adopted at the first women's rights convention in the United States and the only one that did not win unanimous approval. Suffrage seemed like such an outlandish idea at the time that it made feminists easy targets for ridicule. Still, women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony persisted and made the vote the focal point of the crusade for women's rights.

Suffragists (as the advocates of votes for women were called) faced stiff opposition, especially in the South. Long after the Civil War, many southerners continued to remember that feminism had emerged as an offshoot of abolitionism. More importantly, the call for women's rights challenged a precept deeply rooted in religion, law, and custom: the belief that women should be subordinate to men.

But in the South as in the North, some women resented their inferior status and joined the quest for suffrage. Elizabeth Avery Meriwether of Memphis was among the first. In the early 1870s she wrote letters to newspapers and briefly published her own journal to promote women's rights and prohibition. Meriwether attempted to cast a ballot in the 1876 presidential election, then rented a theater to explain why she believed women should have the right to vote.

After Elizabeth Meriwether left Tennessee in 1883, her sister-in-law Lide Meriwether took up the cause. Lide Meriwether served as president of the state Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) for the next seventeen years and until her retirement in 1900 led the fight against liquor and for women's rights. The WCTU played a central role in the debate over the hotly contested issue of prohibition: Union members lobbied the state legislature, circulated petitions, and held prayer meetings at polling places where referenda outlawing liquor were on the ballot. As a result of the temperance crusade, many women became convinced that they had a place in politics, and under Meriwether's leadership the WCTU endorsed woman suffrage.

Meriwether founded Tennessee's first woman suffrage organization in Memphis in 1889. The second appeared in Maryville in 1893; the third, in Nashville a year later. By 1897, the year of the Centennial Celebration in Nashville, ten towns had suffrage societies. Suffragists met at the Exposition's Woman's Building in May, heard speeches by suffrage leaders from Kentucky and Alabama, and formed a state association with Meriwether as president.

The state organization held its second meeting in Memphis in 1900, and Meriwether announced her resignation. She had been the driving force for suffrage since the mid-1880s, and her retirement was a severe blow to the struggling movement. The cause received another blow when the WCTU, under new leadership, renounced its earlier endorsement of votes for women. Prohibition had gained public support, but woman suffrage remained unpopular. The temperance union sacrificed women's rights for the sake of its larger goal. After 1900 suffrage activity ceased for several years.

The movement revived in 1906, when southern suffragists met in Memphis to form a regional association. During the conference, Memphis women organized their own suffrage league, the only one in the state for the next four years. In 1910 Lizzie Crozier French, who, like Lide Meriwether, had campaigned for suffrage and temperance since the 1880s, founded a suffrage society in Knoxville. The following year, women in Nashville, Chattanooga, and Morristown established local organizations. Over the next several years, suffrage clubs appeared in towns throughout the state.

In 1913 Sara Barnwell Elliott, president of the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association, invited the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to hold its next convention in Tennessee. NAWSA officers accepted the invitation and asked the state organization to decide which city would host the convention. A poll of local leagues produced a tie between Chattanooga and Nashville. At an acrimonious meeting the state executive committee selected Nashville, but the dispute led to a rift in the association, and the state convention in Knoxville during October 1914 split into two factions. Meeting on opposite ends of the same hall, one group elected Lizzie Crozier French president while the other chose Eleanore McCormack of Memphis. Each claimed to be the original organization, and each side blamed the other for the rupture. French's group obtained a charter as the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association, Incorporated (TESA, Inc.). McCormack's faction also called itself the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association (TESA) but did not incorporate.

Both associations affiliated with NAWSA, but TESA, Inc. welcomed the national convention to Nashville in November 1914. The meeting brought some of the most famous women in the nation to Tennessee, including reformer Jane Addams, founder of Hull House in Chicago, and NAWSA president Anna Howard Shaw, a physician and ordained minister. In addition to business meetings, suffragists also hosted such social events as a barbecue at the Hermitage that featured a race between an automobile with a female driver and an airplane with a female pilot. The convention attracted favorable publicity and increased support for suffrage in Tennessee.

The two state suffrage organizations offered separate proposals to enfranchise women. TESA, Inc., lobbied for an amendment to the state constitution. In May 1915 the general assembly adopted a joint resolution favoring the proposal, the first step in the amendment process. The resolution would have to pass again in 1917 and then be approved by a majority of voters before it could become law. Because the procedure for amending the constitution was so cumbersome, TESA joined with other groups, including the Manufacturers' Association, in calling for a convention to draft a new constitution that would, suffragists hoped, allow women to vote. The disagreement over strategy and TESA's alliance with the Manufacturers' Association, which opposed many reforms suffragists favored, widened the rift between the two state organizations.

A third statewide suffrage organization appeared in Tennessee in 1916 when Knoxville women formed a branch of the Congressional Union (later renamed the National Woman's Party). The union represented the militant wing of the suffrage movement and never gained a large following. State chair Sue Shelton White, however, attracted national attention in 1919 when she and other radical suffragists were arrested for burning President Woodrow Wilson in effigy during a demonstration in Washington, D.C.

Opponents of suffrage-antisuffragists or antis-also organized in 1916, forming a branch of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. Virginia Vertrees of Nashville became the group's first president. When ill health forced her to resign, Josephine Anderson Pearson of Monteagle replaced her. Smaller than the suffrage organizations, the association nevertheless became a potent force because it received support from some of the most powerful political lobbies in Tennessee, including distillers, textile manufacturers, and railroad companies. Virginia Vertrees's husband John, a Nashville attorney who represented a major distillery, directed the association from behind the scenes.

Suffragists and antis faced off in 1917 when the general assembly considered a proposal to grant women the right to vote in local elections and for president. Suffragists lobbied hard for the bill; antis worked equally diligently against it. Suffragists won a major battle but lost the war when the House passed the measure but the Senate defeated it. Suffragists then resorted to another tactic. Before the session adjourned, both TESA and TESA, Inc., renewed the call for a constitutional convention. Antis mobilized a counterattack. Convinced that a majority of men opposed votes for women, John Vertrees and others maneuvered for a referendum on woman suffrage. They hoped that a decisive defeat at the polls would put the issue to rest. The legislature refused to approve the referendum, but lawmakers scheduled an election on a constitutional convention for July. On July 28, 1917, voters overwhelmingly rejected the proposal.

A few months earlier, in April 1917, the United States had entered World War I. Suffragists threw themselves into the war effort. They sold war bonds, organized Red Cross chapters, planted "Victory Gardens," and raised money to support European orphans and provide luxuries to American soldiers overseas. The war gave suffragists the opportunity to demonstrate their patriotism and to counter the argument that women should not be allowed to vote because they could not contribute to national defense.

In 1918 TESA and TESA, Inc., reunited, and the following year they once again lobbied the general assembly for the right to vote in municipal and presidential elections. This time they succeeded; both houses passed the bill in April. John Vertrees immediately filed a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality, but the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the law. Tennessee suffragists had won their first major victory.

Two months after Tennessee granted women partial suffrage, Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment. By the spring of 1920, thirty-five states had ratified it. If one more state approved it, women might be enfranchised in time to vote in the fall elections. When the Delaware legislature unexpectedly defeated the amendment in early June, suffragists pinned their hopes on Tennessee. They knew that they faced a difficult struggle. Although suffrage had gained popular support, strong opposition remained. Before debate on the amendment could begin, suffragists had to persuade the governor to call a special session of the legislature. Governor Albert H. Roberts had spoken against woman suffrage during his campaign two years earlier. He belonged to the antiprohibition wing of the Democratic Party, and his closest advisers opposed votes for women. He feared that women would vote against him because of his opposition to women's rights and prohibition and because of persistent rumors about his relationship with his highly paid female personal secretary. Roberts faced a tough race for reelection in 1920, and he knew that woman suffrage might bring about his downfall.

Suffragists and their allies mobilized. Sue Shelton White wrote the governor a letter on behalf of the National Woman's Party, and TESA sent a delegation of prominent women to meet with him. Both organizations enlisted pro-suffrage politicians and officeholders, including President Woodrow Wilson. Finally, the governor capitulated. On June 25, 1920, he announced that he would convene the general assembly in August. The governor's announcement set off one of the most heated political battles in Tennessee history. Suffragists and antisuffragists alike converged on Nashville; each side was determined to win the final battle.

Anne Dallas Dudley, Catherine Talty Kenny, and Abby Crawford Milton led the fight for the amendment. All three were leaders in TESA and in the newly formed League of Women Voters, and all were veterans of several legislative campaigns. They were skilled politicians, well versed in the realities of Tennessee politics. They received extensive support from the national suffrage organization. NAWSA President Carrie Chapman Catt coordinated the early stages of the campaign from New York. In mid-July she came to Nashville and remained until the fight was over. The National Woman's Party sent Sue Shelton White and South Carolinian Anita Pollitzer to lobby for the amendment.

The antis criticized the suffragists for inviting outsiders into Tennessee, but they called in their own reinforcements, including the wife of a former Louisiana governor and the presidents of the Southern Women's League for the Rejection of the Susan B. Anthony Amendment and the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. They also received assistance from three prominent southern women-Laura Clay of Kentucky and Jean and Kate Gordon of Louisiana-who favored votes for women but opposed the federal amendment because of their commitment to states' rights. Antisuffragists established their headquarters in the Hermitage Hotel and launched a massive publicity campaign.

Both sides recruited male allies-including newspaper editors, businessmen, and politicians-and courted legislators. Suffragists repeatedly accused antis of using underhanded tactics. Early in the summer, TESA polled members of the general assembly and identified lawmakers who promised to vote for the amendment but who might be susceptible to bribes. By August, every single legislator listed as susceptible had defected to the antis.

The special session convened on August 9. The Senate was solidly pro-suffrage and ratified the amendment four days later. The House delayed. Speaker of the House Seth Walker, who had originally supported the amendment, changed his mind on the eve of the session's opening and used his power to postpone the vote. The House debated the amendment on August 17 and scheduled the vote for the following day. The galleries were packed when Walker called the session to order on August 18. In the tense atmosphere, both sides knew the vote was too close to call. A motion to table the ratification resolution ended in a tie which represented a victory for suffragists, although the real test lay ahead.

The roll call began. Two votes for were followed by four votes against. The seventh name on the list was Harry Burn, a Republican from McMinn County. Suffrage polls listed him as undecided. He had voted with the antis on the motion to table, and suffragists knew that political leaders in his home district opposed woman suffrage. They did not know, however, that in his pocket he carried a letter from his widowed mother urging him to vote for ratification. When his name was called, Harry Burn voted yes.

Suffragists also received unexpected support from Banks Turner, an antisuffrage Democrat who at the last minute bowed to pressure from party leaders, and from Seth Walker, who at the end of the roll call switched his vote from no to aye. Walker's reversal did not reflect a change of heart. It was, instead, the first step in a parliamentary maneuver that would enable the House to reconsider the ratification resolution. But when Walker changed his vote, he inadvertently gave the amendment a constitutional majority; the final tally showed that fifty of the ninety-nine House members had voted yes. Tennessee had ratified the Nineteenth Amendment. During the next several days antisuffrage legislators attempted to rescind Tennessee's ratification, but their efforts failed. On August 26, 1920, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby issued a proclamation declaring the Nineteenth Amendment ratified and part of the United States Constitution.

Tennessee suffragists were elated and proud of the pivotal role their state had played. "I shall never be as thrilled by the turn of any event as I was at that moment when the roll call that settled the citizenship of American women was heard," Abby Crawford Milton wrote. "Personally, I had rather have had a share in the battle for woman suffrage than any other world event." (1) The victory was especially sweet because of the deeply entrenched hostility that suffragists faced in the South; only three other southern states-Arkansas, Kentucky, and Texas-ratified the amendment in 1920. The suffrage movement in Tennessee that had begun with Elizabeth Avery Meriwether's lone crusade ended with a triumph that guaranteed millions of women the right to vote and changed the face of American politics forever.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Woman Suffrage Movement | Tennessee Encyclopedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex"-Nineteenth Amendment, U.S. Constitution. In August 1920 the Tennessee General Assembly ratified the Nineteenth Amendment and handed the ballot to millions of American women.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Tennessee’s Woman Suffrage Story in Two Minutes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Suffrage Postcard Project revolves around three central DH initiatives: feminist data visualization; feminist digital archiving; and feminist digital pedagogy.

*****

1. Feminist Data Visualization
How can feminist data visualization approaches to our data set of postcards offer new perspectives the early-twentieth-century suffrage movement? To answer this question, The Suffrage Postcard Project is building a feminist data visualization tool in collaboration with University of South Florida faculty and graduate students from the Department of English and the Department of Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics to build a DH tool for feminist data visualization. The digital tool uses intersectional feminist critical code studies theory to write machine-learning algorithms for data visualization of data sets (archived postcards).

One critical concern of feminist data visualization, as Catherine D'Ignazio explains, is the representation of absence; what is not represented is as significant as what is represented. A feminist data visualization tool, for our purposes, may take account of the absence of women of color, immigrant women, working-class women, non-cisgender women, and women without children in visual representations of women in pro- and anti-suffrage postcards.

2. Feminist Digital Archiving
The Suffrage Postcard Project engages in the scholarship of digital archiving and encoding. The SPP's researchers collectively theorize feminist archiving and encoding methodologies and then, in a team setting, apply such methodologies to the practice of archiving and encoding suffrage postcards. The SPP team operates by the principle that we do not archive and encode what we know, but we archive and encode in order to know. The recursive process of archiving and encoding facilitates the production of new knowledge pertaining to visual imagery, gender, and suffrage, as our researchers must confront the limitations and affordances of the digital when creating the archive.

The SPP is committed to creating an open-access, searchable, and easy-to-use digital archive of suffrage postcards for research and teaching purposes. We hope that you will find our site useful for such purposes and ask that the site is credited by citation or hyperlink in any research or teaching.

3. Feminist Digital Pedagogy
The Suffrage Postcard Project team works together in the theorization and practice of feminist digital pedagogy. The SPP operates, in part, as a digital sandbox for DH researchers at all career stages who are interested in learning more about digital humanities practices and methodologies. This learning takes place in a feminist DH lab setting, undergirded by a non-hierarchical infrastructure meant to facilitate a heightened sense of critical research consciousness and individual agency for all team members.

Well aware of the institutional titles bestowed upon academics and educators, as well as our inability to fully divorce ourselves from them, team members for the SPP nonetheless aim to conduct research, through vigilant collaboration, so as to operate outside of these limitations. For the sake of our readership, we use universally-recognizable institutional titles within the SPP.

*****

The Suffrage Postcard Project can be followed on Twitter (@Suff_Postcards).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Suffrage Postcard Project revolves around three central DH initiatives: feminist data visualization; feminist digital archiving; and feminist digital pedagogy. ***** 1. Feminist Data Visualization How can feminist data visualization approaches to our data set of postcards offer new perspectives the early-twentieth-century suffrage movement?

# data[].attributes.headline
Photos from the National Woman’s Party Collection

# data[].attributes.subject
Photos from the National Woman’s Party Collection

# data[].attributes.body
Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Search results from Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party, Available Online

# data[].attributes.headline
Photos: The Battle for Women's Suffrage in the U.S.

# data[].attributes.subject
Photos: The Battle for Women's Suffrage in the U.S.

# data[].attributes.body
The Atlantic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
One hundred years ago this week, on June 4, 1919, the U.S. Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would guarantee women the right to vote, and sent it on to the states for ratification (which took another 14 months). The battle for women's suffrage in the United States had been taking place for years-in Congress, in the streets, and at home-with supporters organizing demonstrations, petitions, parades, and speeches, and coordinating with fellow activists in England, France, and other countries. Gathered below, images of some of the brave women who worked tirelessly for years to demand equal rights, and finally succeeded by having them written into law.

View this page Hints: full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Photos: The Battle for Women's Suffrage in the U.S.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
One hundred years ago this week, on June 4, 1919, the U.S. Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would guarantee women the right to vote, and sent it on to the states for ratification (which took another 14 months).

# data[].attributes.body
Many of these cartoons portray the state of Tennessee as "Colonel Tennessee"

# data[].attributes.body
East Tennessee Historical Society

# data[].attributes.body
Sue White with Tennessee flag

# data[].attributes.headline
How Women Won the Vote Additional Print & Online Woman Suffrage Resources

# data[].attributes.subject
How Women Won the Vote Additional Print & Online Woman Suffrage Resources

# data[].attributes.body
LOC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Suffrage Strategies: Voices for Votes | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jump to: Preparation Procedure Evaluation Students examine a variety of primary source documents related to the women’s suffrage movement. They identify different methods people used to influence and change attitudes and beliefs about suffrage for women. Students then create or…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How is feminism expressed? What forms does feminism take on a personal level or on a larger scale? How does gender inequality intersect with injustices related to race, ethnicity, religion, age, or other markers of identity? What tactics have artists used to confront gender inequality? Discover compelling stories of creativity, struggle, and resilience in this new set of resources from the National Gallery of Art for K-12 educators. Thematic modules contain introductory essays, downloadable high-resolution image sets featuring background information, essential questions for students, Classroom activities and selected additional resources.
(National Gallery of Art)

Image credit: Left image credit: ]Detail of[ Samuel Masury, Frances Clayton, c. 1865, albumen print (carte-de-visite), National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2019.97.2.

Right image credit: [Detail of] Samuel Masury, Frances Clayton, c. 1865, albumen print (carte-de-visite), National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2019.97.1.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How is feminism expressed? What forms does feminism take on a personal level or on a larger scale? How does gender inequality intersect with injustices related to race, ethnicity, religion, age, or other markers of identity? What tactics have artists used to confront gender inequality?

# data[].attributes.headline
Evaluating Differing Opinions in Political Cartoons

# data[].attributes.subject
Evaluating Differing Opinions in Political Cartoons

# data[].attributes.body
Teaching with Primary Sources

Quarterly (Learning Activity – Secondary Level)

# data[].attributes.body
LOC

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching Rhetorical Analysis with Suffrage-themed Advertisements | Teaching with the Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How were advertisements used to support the suffrage movement?

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Primary Sources and Lesson Plans from Library of Congress

19th Amendment Web Guide
This introduction to primary sources is well-organized and easy to navigate. It includes: newspapers, photographs, links to video of Theodore Roosevelt talking to suffragists, Mary Church Terrell papers, Carrie Chapman Catt papers, Elizabeth Cady Stanton papers, sheet music of suffragists, and more.

Education Materials
Check out the Education Materials link for a teacher guide, clickable primary sources, images, scrapbooks, maps, and a primary source analysis sheet (useful tool).

" Their Rights and Nothing Less" Lesson Plan
Geared towards secondary (7-12) students, this lesson plan includes three lessons: introduction to analyzing primary sources; historical context of women's suffrage with analysis of suffrage arguments in primary sources; and creating a primary source timeline with suffrage emphasis.

Photos, Prints, and Drawings
This is a large collection of primary source photos, prints, and drawings related to suffrage--great to use with the primary source analysis sheet.

National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection
Check out these 1,935 primary sources, mainly from the collection of Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

By the People Suffrage: Women Fight for the Vote
This collection includes transcribed papers of Susan B. Anthony, Mary Church Terrell and others. There are letters, speeches, daybooks, and more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Resources for Teaching Women’s Suffrage - Independence National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Use these resources in your classroom for teaching women’s suffrage.

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Providing free education tools and materials for teachers, interpreters, students, and lifelong learners inside and outside the National Park Service is one important way we support the agency's mission. The value of America's cultures and diverse heritages may be lost if it's not passed on to the next generation or experienced by the present one.

The National Park Service offers tools such as the Teaching with Historic Places program and the Teacher's Portal. The Teaching with Historic Places Program offers free, online lesson plans featuring the places where American women made history as pioneers, activists, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, and more. Find lesson plans about historic places in National Parks and in the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects.

Educators and parents can also find resources for all grade levels in the Teacher's Portal. Search for lesson plans, traveling trunks, materials for loan, and more.

The National Park Service also offers other resources, including theme studies and Junior Ranger books. Check out the "Did You Know?" section to discover the little-known stories of American women.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teach It! - Women's History (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Providing free education tools and materials for teachers, interpreters, students, and lifelong learners inside and outside the National Park Service is one important way we support the agency's mission. The value of America's cultures and diverse heritages may be lost if it's not passed on to the next generation or experienced by the present one.

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Identity. Diversity. Justice. Action. These learning activities engage students with the history of women's ongoing struggle for equality. Each lesson uses an item from the National Woman's Party collection or an aspect of the story of suffrage to make connections to broad questions of equity and the work of social change using anti-bias objectives from the Learning for Justice framework.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Article Series (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Identity. Diversity. Justice. Action. These learning activities engage students with the history of women's ongoing struggle for equality. Each lesson uses an item from the National Woman's Party collection or an aspect of the story of suffrage to make connections to broad questions of equity and the work of social change using anti-bias objectives from the Learning for Justice framework.

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching the 19th Amendment - Women’s History (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore educational resources associated with the 19th Amendment and women’s suffrage. These free, online lesson plans feature American women and the places where they made history. The National Park Service also offers other resources, such as theme studies and Junior Ranger books. Explore the Teac…

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
19th Amendment to the United States Constitution

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

An Overview of the 19th Amendment

In 1848 women and men met in Seneca Falls, New York to advance the cause for women's rights. The convention, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha Wright, Mary Ann M'Clintock, and Jane Hunt marked the beginning of a formal women's suffrage movement. The men and women of the movement made speeches and petitioned Congress, pressuring government officials to recognize the woman's right to vote. Stanton, Mott, and suffrage advocate Susan B. Anthony did not live to see women get the right to vote. Instead, they paved the way for future suffragists like Alice Paul, Ida B. Wells, and Mabel Ping-Hua Lee.

The women leading the women's suffrage movement were not always unified. Some suffragists thought only white women should exercise their right to vote. Others like Charlotte Forten Grimke, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, and Mary Church Terrell knew women of color also had a right to participate in electing government officials.

The first constitutional amendment to secure votes for women was introduced to congress in 1878. It failed. By 1919, suffragists get another amendment introduced to congress that would secure women's right to vote. The 19 th Amendment passed both the House and Senate. The states ratified the 19 th Amendment in 1920, officially recognizing women's right to vote.

While many women were able to head to the polls, the amendment did not give voting rights to all women. Women of color, immigrants, and lower income women were often deterred from voting by laws and social pressure. For example, Native American women were not considered US citizens until 1924 and were not permitted to vote. Women who were convicted of a crime were also unable to vote, even if they completed their sentence.

After the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, suffragists like Alice Paul knew that their work was not finished. While the government recognized women's right to vote, many women still faced discrimination. Paul and other members of the National Woman's Party drafted the Equal Rights Amendment. If ratified, the amendment would guarantee equal rights to all people regardless of their gender. The Equal Rights Amendment was ratified by both houses of Congress in the 1970s but failed to get adequate support from the states. It has not yet been ratified to the Constitution.

Women's rights advocates did make progress in passing other legislation after 1920. Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, making it illegal to pay a woman less for doing the same job as a man. A year later, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act is often associated with the Civil Rights Movement as it prohibits employers from discriminating against an individual based on their race. The act also states that employers cannot discriminate against someone based on their gender. Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers could choose not to hire a woman because of her gender.

A century after the ratification of the 19 th Amendment, women are still advocating for their rights. This activism would be impossible without the power of the vote that enables women to have a say in the democracy they live in. The 19 th Amendment is a milestone in American history.

A Brief Timeline of the 19th Amendment

June 1848- The first Woman's Rights Convention takes place in Seneca Falls. Suffrage is part of the resulting Declaration of Sentiments

February 3, 1870- The 15th Amendment is ratified, guaranteeing the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

January 1878- A women's suffrage amendment is introduced to Senate. It fails in 1887.

1914- Another women's suffrage amendment is introduced. It also fails.

1918- The 19th Amendment passes the House and then fails in the Senate by 2 votes.

February 10, 1919- The 19th Amendment fails in the Senate by 1 vote.

May 21, 1919- The 19th Amendment passes in the House.

June 4, 1919- The 19th Amendment passes in the Senate.

June 10, 1919- Wisconsin and Michigan are the first states to ratify the 19th Amendment.

August 18, 1920- Tennessee is the 36th State to ratify the 19th Amendment law, passing the three-fourths threshold requirement for the amendment to become law.

August 26, 1920- The 19th Amendment is adopted as part of the US Constitution.

Voting Rights After the 19 th Amendment

The 19th Amendment did not guarantee that all women and men in the United States could vote. Securing this essential right has been an long struggle, that for some, continues on to this day.

1924, Indian Citizenship Act- Native Americans deemed US citizens, but states continue to decide who votes. Many continue to disenfranchise Native Americans.

1943, Magnuson Act- Chinese in America granted the right to become citizens, and therefore to vote (the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 previously prevented this)

1962- Utah is the last state to enfranchise Native Americans.

1965, Voting Rights Act- African Americans and Native Americans continued to face exclusion from voting through mechanisms like poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 eliminated many of these.

Learn more about the 19 th Amendment

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 19th Amendment: A Crash Course - Women's Rights National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
19th Amendment to the United States Constitution The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

# data[].attributes.body
Library and Archives Workshop: Women's Suffrage Movement

# data[].attributes.headline
On Their Shoulders: The Radical Stories of Women's Fight for the Vote

# data[].attributes.subject
On Their Shoulders: The Radical Stories of Women's Fight for the Vote

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
On Their Shoulders: The Radical Stories of Women’s Fight for the Vote - Women’s History (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These articles, written by subject matter experts, were originally published by the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission (WSCC) as a part of the WSCC blog, The Suff Buffs. The Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission was created by Congress to commemorate 100 years of the 19th Amendment throughout 2…

# data[].attributes.body
Teaching Tolerance

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This lesson is the fourth in a series called Expanding Voting Rights. The overall goal of the series is for students to explore the complicated history of voting rights in the United States. Two characteristics of that history stand out: First, in fits and starts, more and more Americans have gained the right to vote. Second, over time, the federal government's role in securing these rights has expanded considerably.
Please note this lesson was originally written to be used with NBC Learn videos, but those videos are no longer available. The transcripts to those videos are linked in the materials list.
Framework

This lesson has students explore how women succeeded in gaining the right to vote in this country. Until 1920, most states limited the right to vote to men (and in many states only white men). Over a period of about 75 years, a movement of American women used nonviolent tactics at both the state and federal levels to demand their right to vote. The outcome was the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1920.

Vocabulary

suffrage [ suhf-rij] ( noun) the right to vote

suffragist [ suhf- r uh-jist] ( noun) someone who wants to extend the right to vote; frequently used to refer to women

Activities

1. For some background information, read Why Women Couldn't Vote. It explains that in the early 1900s, the United States lacked a coherent national policy guaranteeing women the right to vote. This reading will prepare you for a more in-depth look at the women's suffrage movement.

2. Different groups of women used different strategies to gain the right to vote. Read Suffragists Change Tactics from the NBC Learn archives.What are the three different phases of the suffrage movement identified by historian Sarah Chinn in the video? (Note: Moral persuasion, state-by-state and federal amendment. Have students write each one on chart paper and post each chart in a different corner of the room.)

3. ( Note: Have students count off by threes.) Students who are "ones" go to the corner with moral persuasion sign, the "twos" go to the state-by-state sign and the "threes" to the federal amendment sign.(Note: Give each group the Strategy Card that corresponds to the strategy identified in their corner. If you have enough computers in the classroom for each group to work on one, have groups work where they are. If you don't, print a copy of the appropriate documents/transcripts ahead of time and give it to the group.) Read your group's strategy card and discuss it together to see if you understand it. To get more information, view/read any sources identified on your group's card, and do any additional research you need so that you have a solid understanding of your group's beliefs and actions. Create a presentation for the class showing how your group went about trying to win votes for women. Which group might picket, march or chant in public places to draw attention to their cause? What would other groups do? Keep in mind that you want the rest of the class to understand the answers to these two questions: 1) What arguments did your group make about why women should have the right to vote? 2) How did they present those arguments?

4. Form groups of three, with each group having a representative from each of the three strategies (that is, one person from a moral persuasion group, one from a federal amendment group and one from a state-by-state group). Staying in character, discuss your group's position on women's suffrage and strategies. Make a three-way Venn diagram to clarify what you have in common and how you differ. Study the diagram together. Have each person take a turn explaining why she either would or would not be willing to work with the other two groups to gain the right to vote. Tell the rest of the class about your group's decision and how you reached it.

5. Read the Nineteenth Amendment. Plan a celebration of its ratification, with each of the three groups contributing. Be creative with your contributions! They might include, for example, decorations, a speech, a song or costumes.

6. Finally, after the festivities, write an essay or prepare a presentation that addresses this question: Do you think women would have gotten the right to vote if the federal government had not proposed a constitutional amendment? Why or why not?
Activities and embedded assessments address the following standards from Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This lesson is the fourth in a series called Expanding Voting Rights. The overall goal of the series is for students to explore the complicated history of voting rights in the United States. Two characteristics of that history stand out: First, in fits and starts, more and more Americans have gained the right to vote.

# data[].attributes.headline
Women's Suffrage- Teacher's Primary Source Set

# data[].attributes.subject
Women's Suffrage- Teacher's Primary Source Set

# data[].attributes.body
Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The resources in this primary source set are intended for classroom use. If your use will be beyond a single classroom, please review the copyright and fair use guidelines.

Teacher's Guide

To help your students analyze these primary sources, get a graphic organizer and guides: Analysis Tool and Guides

In July 1848, the first calls for women's suffrage were made from a convention in Seneca Falls, New York. This convention kicked off more than seventy years of organizing, parading, fundraising, advertising, and petitioning before the 19th amendment securing this right was approved by Congress and three-fourths of the state legislatures. After the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, women used the organizing skills they had honed during in the Suffrage movement to continue to fight for equality.

Background

The passage of the 19th amendment was the result of centuries of struggle, culminating in the late 19th century in a burst of public activism and civil disobedience that not only secured voting rights for women, but also helped define new possibilities for women's participation in the public sphere.

Early Rights

Early in the history of the United States, women in New Jersey could legally vote, provided they met property requirements. However, this changed in 1807 when the State Assembly passed a law limiting suffrage to free white males. There would not be another law explicitly giving the vote to women until 1869, when the Wyoming territory granted women over 21 years of age the right to vote in all elections.

While some states explicitly prohibited women from voting, in 1872 New York did not, opening the door for Susan B. Anthony and a small group of suffragists to register and vote. They were arrested three weeks later on a charge of "criminal voting." Anthony was found guilty and fined $100 plus court costs.

Early Activism and Organizations

The first large gathering of those fighting for women's rights occurred in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. One outcome of the Seneca Falls Convention was the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Sentiments, modeled on the Declaration of Independence that called for civil, social, political, and religious rights for women. Many of the signers of the Declaration, including Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, would go on to become the leaders of a generation of suffrage activists.

In the decades that followed the Seneca Falls Convention, formal groups were established to lead American women in their bid for voting and other rights. Well-known organizations include the National Woman Suffrage Association and would eventually unify to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. These groups lobbied for local and state voting rights in addition to working at the national level.

The Congressional Union was formed in 1913 to accelerate and intensify the fight with more radical protest methods as had been done in Britain. The National Women's Party, formed in 1916, was an outgrowth of this organization.

Other Activities

Suffrage leaders were involved in other progressive movements before and after the Seneca Falls convention in addition to their suffrage work. Susan B. Anthony, an outspoken advocate for suffrage, was also a well-known abolitionist. Anthony and other suffragists got their start by speaking on the anti-slavery circuit. Suffragists were also interested in the dress reform movement and temperance. Additionally, Elizabeth Cady Stanton saw suffrage as a way for women to access more equal marriages through divorce rights and property rights. For suffragists, these many causes fit together. With access to the ballot came an unprecedented power to affect change for these other social issues.

Suffragist Strategies and Shortfalls

In addition to organizing formal suffrage groups and rallying at conventions and meetings, supporters of universal suffrage employed a number of other strategies. Suffrage activists exercised their First Amendment rights to "peaceably assemble" and "petition for a government redress of grievances" first using traditional strategies, including lobbying lawmakers, and then implementing more radical -- for the time -- tactics such as public picketing and refusing bail after arrest. Individuals and groups published periodicals such as The Revolution, which focused on women's rights but also covered politics and the labor movement. Activists campaigned in ways that were considered "unladylike," such as marching in parades and giving street corner speeches. One radical strategy that had not been tried previously was regular picketing of the White House. Protesters carried banners naming President Wilson as an opponent of suffrage. The resulting arrests only served to bring more attention to the suffrage movement. The fight for suffrage rights escalated when the United States entered World War I in April 1917 and many women moved into the workforce.

Even while suffrage organizations and leaders professed goals of greater equality, they did not always include all women. White leaders were often exclusive and discriminatory. A group of African American women's clubs was barred from joining the Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission in 1919 on the eve of the 19th Amendment's passage. Some white suffragists argued that enfranchising women would expand the "native" voting population. Despite this open racism, African American women organized and advocated for suffrage and equality throughout the movement. Some, like Mary Church Terrell, worked closely with white leaders while advocating for racial equality. Ida B. Wells, an anti-lynching activist, organized a separate organization for African American women, the Alpha Suffrage Club. In this way, the women's suffrage movement, tainted with racism, was a problematic as it was progressive.

Anti-Suffrage Activism

Both women and men worked to oppose universal suffrage. Some argued that women wielded enough power within the home that there was no need for the American Woman Suffrage Association, which for power in society. State and national groups such as the New York State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage and Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage were formed to actively resist suffrage rights for women. These groups were often opposed to any role for women outside the home, fearing the downfall of the family as well as a decrease in women's work in communities and their ability to influence societal reforms.

A Continuing Legacy

Although women's right to vote was secured by Constitutional amendment in 1920, the legacy of the suffragists continues to the present day. In fighting for the right to vote, women formed national political organizations, developed new strategies for protest, and brought women into the public sphere in new and more visible ways. These advances were not limited to their work for enfranchisement, but also laid the groundwork for civic action that has been emulated by those working for other civil rights causes.

Suggestions for Teachers

Select items that reflect different strategies used in the fight for equal suffrage. Study the items opposing suffrage and compare strategies. If time allows, brainstorm or research to identify other strategies used in the struggle for suffrage.

Use the anti-suffrage items to identify and study the arguments made by those opposed to suffrage. Study the maps to form a picture of which states and territories enfranchised women and which did not. Speculate about why there were differences in rights in different states and areas, and then look for evidence to support the hypothesis.

Study the political cartoons and select one for further analysis. What do you think was the cartoonist's opinion of women's suffrage? Who do you think was the audience for the cartoon? What methods does the cartoonist use to persuade the audience? If time allows, search the Library's collections for another political cartoon about suffrage, identify the cartoonist's opinion about women's suffrage, and compare the methods each cartoon uses to make its point.

Examine several items reflecting the consequences for the suffragists' actions. What can you discover about the treatment of suffragists from these items? Ask students to think about what causes they'd be willing to fight for, knowing there might be harsh consequences.

Additional Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Women's Suffrage | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Jump to: Background Suggestions for Teachers Additional Resources In July 1848, the first calls for women's suffrage were made from a convention in Seneca Falls, New York. This convention kicked off more than seventy years of organizing, parading, fundraising, advertising, and petitioning before the 19th amendment securing this right was approved by Congress and three-fourths of the state legislatures.

# data[].attributes.headline
Women's Suffrage- Teacher Activity Guide

# data[].attributes.subject
Women's Suffrage- Teacher Activity Guide

# data[].attributes.body
Scholastic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching Tools | Resources for Teachers from Scholastic

# data[].attributes.body
National Archives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change in the Constitution - guaranteeing women the right to vote. Some suffragists used more confrontational tactics such as picketing, silent vigils, and hunger strikes. Read more...

Primary Sources
Links go to DocsTeach, the online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives.
Teaching Activities

Additional Background Information

In July 1848 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY. The Seneca Falls Convention produced a list of demands called the Declaration of Sentiments. Modeled on the Declaration of Independence, it called for broader educational and professional opportunities for women and the right of married women to control their wages and property. After this historic gathering, women's voting rights became a central issue in the emerging debate about women's rights in the United States.

Many of the attendees to the convention were also abolitionists whose goals included universal suffrage - the right to vote for all adults. In 1870 this goal was partially realized when the 15th amendment to the Constitution, granting black men the right to vote, was ratified. Woman suffragists' vehement disagreement over supporting the 15th Amendment, however, resulted in a "schism" that split the women's suffrage movement into two new suffrage organizations that focused on different strategies to win women voting rights.

The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony in May of 1869 - they opposed the 15th amendment because it excluded women. In the year following the ratification of the 15th amendment, the NWSA sent a voting rights petition to the Senate and House of Representatives requesting that suffrage rights be extended to women and that women be granted the privilege of being heard on the floor of Congress.

The second national suffrage organization established in 1869 was the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), founded by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. The AWSA supported the 15th Amendment and protested the confrontational tactics of the NWSA. The AWSA concentrated on gaining women's access to the polls at state and local levels, in the belief that victories there would gradually build support for national action on the issue. While a federal woman suffrage amendment was not their priority, an 1871 petition, asking that women in DC and the territories be allowed to vote and hold office, from AWSA leadership to Congress reveals its support for one.

In 1890, the NWSA and AWSA merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). It became the largest woman suffrage organization in the country and led much of the struggle for the vote through 1920, when the 19th Amendment was ratified. Stanton became its president; Anthony became its vice president; and Stone became chairman of the executive committee. In 1919, one year before women gained the right to vote with the adoption of the 19th amendment, the NAWSA reorganized into the League of Women Voters.

The tactics used by suffragists went beyond petitions and memorials to Congress. Testing another strategy, Susan B. Anthony registered and voted in the 1872 election in Rochester, NY. As planned, she was arrested for "knowingly, wrongfully and unlawfully vot[ing] for a representative to the Congress of the United States." She was convicted by the State of New York and fined $100, which she insisted she would never pay. On January 12, 1874, Anthony petitioned Congress, requesting "that the fine imposed upon your petitioner be remitted, as an expression of the sense of this high tribunal that her conviction was unjust."

Wealthy white women were not the only supporters of women's suffrage. Frederick Douglass, formerly enslaved and leader of the abolition movement, was also an advocate. He attended the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. In an editorial published that year in The North Star, the anti-slavery newspaper he published, he wrote, "...in respect to political rights,...there can be no reason in the world for denying to woman the elective franchise,..." By 1877, when he was U.S. marshal for the District of Columbia, Douglass's family was also involved in the movement. His son, Frederick Douglass, Jr.; daughter, Mrs. Nathan Sprague; and son-in-law, Nathan Sprague, all signed a petition to Congress for woman suffrage "...to prohibit the several States from Disfranchising United States Citizens on account of Sex."

A growing number of black women actively supported women's suffrage during this period. They organized women's clubs across the country to advocate for suffrage, among other reforms. Prominent African American suffragists included Ida B. Wells-Barnett of Chicago, a leading crusader against lynching; Mary Church Terrell, educator and first president of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW); and Adella Hunt Logan, Tuskegee Institute faculty member, who insisted in articles in The Crisis, a publication of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), that if white women needed the vote to protect their rights, then black women - victims of racism as well as sexism - needed the ballot even more.

In the second decade of the 20th century, suffragists began staging large and dramatic parades to draw attention to their cause. One of the most consequential demonstrations was a march held in Washington, DC, on March 3, 1913. Though controversial because of the march organizers' attempt to exclude, then segregate, women of color, more than 5,000 suffragists from around the country paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue from the U.S. Capitol to the Treasury Building.

Many of the women who had been active in the suffrage movement in the 1860s and 1870s continued their involvement over 50 years later. In 1917, Mary O. Stevens, secretary and press correspondent of the Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War, asked the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee to help the cause of woman suffrage by explaining: "My father trained me in my childhood days to expect this right. I have given my help to the agitation, and work[ed] for its coming a good many years."

During World War I, suffragists tried to embarrass President Woodrow Wilson into reversing his opposition and supporting a federal woman suffrage amendment. But in the heated patriotic climate of wartime, such tactics met with hostility and sometimes violence and arrest. Frustrated with the suffrage movement's leadership, Alice Paul had broken with the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to form the National Woman's Party (NWP). It employed more militant tactics to agitate for the vote.

Most notably, the NWP organized the first White House picket in U.S. history on January 10, 1917. They stood vigil at the White House, demonstrating in silence six days a week for nearly three years. The "Silent Sentinels" let their banners - comparing the President to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany - speak for them. Many of the sentinels were arrested and jailed in deplorable conditions. Some incarcerated women went on hunger strikes and endured forced feedings. The Sentinels' treatment gained greater sympathy for women's suffrage, and the courts later dismissed all charges against them.

When New York adopted woman suffrage in 1917 and President Woodrow Wilson changed his position to support an amendment in 1918, the political balance began to shift in favor of the vote for women. There was still strong opposition to enfranchising women, however, as illustrated by petitions from anti-suffrage groups.

Eventually suffragists won the political support necessary for ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. For 42 years, the measure had been introduced at every session of Congress, but ignored or voted down. It finally passed Congress in 1919 and went to the states for ratification. In May, the House of Representatives passed it by a vote of 304 to 90; two weeks later, the Senate approved it 56 to 25.

Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan were the first states to ratify it. On August 18, 1920, it appeared that Tennessee had ratified the amendment - the result of a change of vote by 24 year-old legislator Harry Burn at the insistence of his elderly mother. But those against the amendment managed to delay official ratification. Anti-suffrage legislators fled the state to avoid a quorum, and their associates held massive anti-suffrage rallies and attempted to convince pro-suffrage legislators to oppose ratification. However, Tennessee reaffirmed its vote and delivered the crucial 36th ratification necessary for final adoption. While decades of struggle to include African Americans and other minority women in the promise of voting rights remained, the face of the American electorate had changed forever.
Materials created by the National Archives and Records Administration are in the public domain.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change in the Constitution - guaranteeing women the right to vote. Some suffragists used more confrontational tactics such as picketing, silent vigils, and hunger strikes.

# data[].attributes.body
Tennessee DOE

# data[].attributes.headline
Education Outreach- Progressive Era & WWI

# data[].attributes.subject
Education Outreach- Progressive Era & WWI

# data[].attributes.body
TSLA

# data[].attributes.headline
Curriculum Materials- Progressive Era, Roaring Twenties & WWI

# data[].attributes.subject
Curriculum Materials- Progressive Era, Roaring Twenties & WWI

# data[].attributes.body
Teach TN History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Progressive Era, Roaring Twenties, & World War I Menu Page

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Key Words: Alvin C. York, World War I, Medal of Honor Key Words: Suffrage, 19th amendment Key Words: Austin Peay, road building, education reform Key Words: Clarence Saunders,David Crosthwait, Rockefeller Center, Piggly Wiggly, Memphis, Grocery store Key Words:Convict labor, Coal Creek, Mining, Strike Key Words: Harry T.

# data[].attributes.body
TN History for Kids!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Anne Dudley was a wealthy Nashville woman who lived when women weren't allowed to vote. She decided to do something about it, and for much of her life she was one of the leaders in the movement to give women the right to vote (such women were known as suffragettes).

Dudley organized one of the first suffragette parades in Nashville, which shocked many of her friends in Nashville society. Her efforts (and the efforts of many others) paid off in 1920, when Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment to the U. S. Constitution, giving women the right to vote.

Anne Dudley didn't receive a lot of public recognition for her accomplishments until somewhat recently. In recent years, statues of her (and other suffrage leaders) were created and put on display in both Knoxville and Nashville. And in 1917, the small road between the Nashville Public Library and Legislative Plaza was renamed Anne Dallas Dudley Boulevard.

ALSO: Anne Dudley wasn't the only important suffragette leader from Tennessee. There were many others, including Sue Shelton White, who was originally from Chester County. Click here to learn more about Sue Shelton White.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Anne Dudley was a wealthy Nashville woman who lived when women weren't allowed to vote. She decided to do something about it, and for much of her life she was one of the leaders in the movement to give women the right to vote (such women were known as suffragettes).

# data[].attributes.body
TN History for Kids!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ida B. Wells was born in Mississippi and lived almost half of her life in Illinois. But along the way she spent time in Memphis, and it was there that the course of her life changed.

Today, many people regard Wells - a journalist, activist, teacher, organizer and plaintiff - as the grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement. We'll tell you her story and let you decide for yourself.

Ida B. Wells was an unlikely candidate for fame. She was a slave when she was born in 1862, although it should be pointed out that her father James Wells - also a slave - was a skilled carpenter. He was the son of his owner and a slave (so Ida B. Wells' grandfather was white). James Wells actually built the home in which Ida was born (and which still stands in Holly Springs, Mississippi).

When the Civil War ended in 1865, Ida B. Wells became one of tens of thousands of former slaves who received an education because of the Freedmen's Bureau. She attended Shaw University (now Rust College) near her home in Mississippi.

But in 1878, the yellow fever epidemic laid waste to Holly Springs. Sixteen-year-old Ida Wells lost both her parents and one of her siblings in the epidemic.

Members of the Freemasons, a group to which Ida's father belonged, tried to split up the six remaining Wells children to live with various friends and family. Young Ida was completely opposed to this idea, telling the Freemasons that they "weren't going to put the children anywhere." She then dropped out of school and found a job as a teacher. With the help of her grandmother she managed to keep the family together for about two years.

Around 1880, Ida and her sisters moved to Memphis, where she got a teaching job. During the summers, Wells attended classes at Fisk University in Nashville.

On September 15, 1883, Ida Wells was riding the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad from Memphis to the nearby community of Woodstock and chose to sit in the rear coach. This coach was, by railroad custom, reserved for white, non-smoking passengers. The railroad porter told her to move to the front coach. She refused, and she was literally dragged from the train.

When Wells got back to Memphis, she hired a lawyer and sued the railroad for damages.

By the time the case came to trial (on November 19, 1884), Ida Wells had been involved in another, very similar, incident on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, and the judge appears to have combined the two incidents into a single case. The trial was not a long one but was very interesting; the court heard testimony from several passengers, from the porter and from Ida herself. (The original transcript of this trial can be found at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.)

On Christmas Eve, 1884, Circuit Court Judge Pierce ruled in favor of Wells and awarded her $500 in damages. However, the railroad appealed the case and, three years later, won that appeal before the Tennessee Supreme Court (throwing out Judge Pierce's decision and ruling against Wells). The court stated in its opinion (which you can find at any law library in Tennessee): "We know of no rule that requires railroad companies to yield to the disposition of passengers to arbitrarily determine as to the coach in which they take passage."

All this time Wells was working as a teacher and writing for newspapers on the side. She earned very little money from her writing, but in 1891 she became a co-owner of a newspaper called the Memphis Free Speech.

In 1892, Wells wrote in detail about a horrible lynching that had taken place in Memphis in which a mob dragged three black men - co-owners of a grocery store - from jail and murdered them. This experience led her to investigate other lynchings. And, as a result of her articles, some white citizens of Memphis burned the Free Speech office; Wells was forced to stay away from Memphis under threat of violence. She, like thousands of other African Americans of her era, left the South and moved north - first to New York and later Chicago.

For the next several years Ida Wells became one of America's most prolific writers and speakers about the lynchings that were happening with some regularity in the South. She wrote hundreds of articles and essays. One of the most important was a pamphlet called, "Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases." Here is an excerpt from it:

"The mob spirit has increased with alarming frequency and violence. Over a thousand black men, women and children have been thus sacrificed the past ten years. Masks have long been thrown aside and the lynchings of the present day take place in broad daylight. The sheriffs, police and state officials stand by and see the work well done."

Wells spoke all over the North and on two occasions conducted speaking tours of England. In the process she had many admirers but, in an era where her candor was unique, many critics as well. In 1899, for instance, she was not invited to speak at the conference of the National Association of Colored Women, apparently because whites who gave to the organization said they would no longer financially support it if the organization embraced Wells. A few years later, she was one of the more prominent black leaders who opposed Booker T. Washington's strategy of accommodation with white oppression.

Along the way, Ida B. Wells married Ferdinand L. Barnett, a Chicago attorney who shared her convictions. From that point forward she was known by the hyphenated name Ida B. Wells-Barnett (very unusual in an era when women almost universally took their husband's last names). In addition to being an active writer and speaker for her entire life, she managed to also have and raise four children.

In 1931, while working on her autobiography, Ida B. Wells-Barnett died.

Today, Ida B. Wells' story is a required part of the Tennessee history curriculum in the fifth and eleventh grades. Yet there is some irony in this. After all, here is a person who lived in Tennessee for a short time and who probably would have been murdered had she returned.

Also, she wasn't really acknowledged in her time the way civil rights leaders of the late 20th century were honored. She was ahead of her time in many ways. But today Ida B. Wells has far more admirers than critics.

Today there are dozens of books about Ida B. Wells. Two that we recommend in particular are Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells and Ida: In Her Own Words (edited by Michelle Duster), which contains her pamphlet on lynching.

In 1940, a public housing project in Chicago was named for Ida B. Wells. That public housing project was recently torn down, which is why her descendants are trying to create a new monument to honor her.

One other thing about the grandchildren and great grandchildren of Ida B. Wells: they descend on Holly Springs, Mississippi, every July 16 to honor their famous ancestor, visit her birthplace and see other local sites.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ida B. Wells was born in Mississippi and lived almost half of her life in Illinois. But along the way she spent time in Memphis, and it was there that the course of her life changed. Today, many people regard Wells - a journalist, activist, teacher, organizer and plaintiff - as the grandmother of the Civil Rights Movement.

# data[].attributes.headline
Frederick Douglass: A “Radical Woman Suffrage Man”

# data[].attributes.subject
Frederick Douglass: A “Radical Woman Suffrage Man”

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Frederick Douglass, circa 1888.
Library of Congress

The New England Woman Suffrage Association held its 20th annual convention May 28-31, 1888 at Tremont Temple in Boston. The Boston Globe reported that the "entire floor of the Temple was wholly taken up, the first balcony was packed and the upper gallery comfortably filled. There were enough leaders in the reform present to fill the stage..." These luminaries included Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, William Lloyd Garrison, and Frederick Douglass among others. Though these leaders clashed over goals and tactics in years past, they set their history and differences aside to join together to celebrate this milestone anniversary and call once again for women's suffrage.

Lucy Stone opened the proceedings with:

Following her brief opening remarks, Stone turned the podium over to Frederick Douglass to give the first speech of the evening. The audience greeted him "with a hearty outburst of applause" and he "had to stand bowing his acknowledgements for some minutes."

Looking across to those on the stage and out into the audience, Douglass, the seventy-year old veteran of the abolition movement, no doubt saw many familiar faces from his years of activism in and around Boston and New England. Historian S. Jay Walker wrote that the "Anti-Slavery and Woman's Rights movements grew up so closely as to be almost indistinguishable in their earlier period." Acknowledging this shared history, Douglass stated that the women's suffrage movement "has a valid claim upon my 'service and labor,' outside its merits" for it "is composed in part of the noble women who dared to speak for the freedom of the slave...." He continued:

Later in this speech, Douglass invoked the Declaration of Independence in his call for women's suffrage. He stated that the "great charter of human liberty" declared that "all rightful powers of the government are derived from the consent of the governed." Yet, he said, no one has:

His words echoed the arguments long employed by suffragists throughout the years at conventions and events such as the Boston's Women's Tea Party. Using the words and ideals of the American Revolution, suffragists asserted their rightful claim to full and equal participation in American society. These arguments certainly resonated strongly to the audience that night in Boston, a city proudly aware of its central role in the American Revolution.

Acknowledging his long-standing belief in universal rights and suffrage, Douglass declared:

He concluded his powerful speech with an "earnest plea that the ballot be given to women." He said:

Later in the convention, Douglass reaffirmed the principles and commitments set forth in his speech by vowing that "whatever time may be given me on earth, be it little or much, will be devoted as far as I am able to this great cause of woman."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Frederick Douglass: A "Radical Woman Suffrage Man" (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The New England Woman Suffrage Association held its 20th annual convention May 28-31, 1888 at Tremont Temple in Boston. The Boston Globe reported that the "entire floor of the Temple was wholly taken up, the first balcony was packed and the upper gallery comfortably filled.

# data[].attributes.body
NPS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Author Biography

Dr. Ida E. Jones is the inaugural University Archivist for Morgan State University. She is the author of The Heart of the Race Problem The Life of Kelly Miller (2011); Mary McLeod Bethune, Activism and Education in Washington, D.C. (2013); William Henry Jernagin in Washington, D.C.: Faith in the Fight for Civil Rights in Washington, D.C. (2015); and most recently Baltimore City Rights Leader: Victorine Q. Adams, the Power of the Ballot (2019) which won the African-American Historical and Genealogical Society's International biography book award. She curated an online exhibition for the National Women's History Museum "Claiming Their Citizenship: African American Women From 1624-2009." She is the former managing editor of the Negro History Bulletin 1999 to 2005. She is a former National Director of the Association of Black Women Historians 2011-2013. Jones has appeared on CSPAN, National Public Radio, BBC radio and in numerous publications. She is currently co-vice president of Baltimore City Historical Society and managing editor of the Gaslight BCHS's newsletter. She is a newly appointed Board member of the National Collaborative for Women's History Sites. She is an adjunct faculty member at Lancaster Bible College. Jones believes deeply in the words of Mrs. Bethune who said, "power must walk hand in hand with humility and the intellect must have a soul."

[1] Ortiz, Paul. Emancipation Betrayed: The Hidden History of Black Organizing and White Violence in Florida From Reconstruction to the Bloody Election of 1920. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (2005), p. 194.

[2] Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn. African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850-1920. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press; Second Printing edition (May 22, 1998), p. 82.

[3] McCluskey, Audrey Thomas. A Forgotten Sisterhood: Pioneering Black Women Educators and Activists in the Jim Crow South. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield (2014), p. 65.

[4] Bethune, Mary McLeod. "Women Should Vote in Tribute to Those Who Fought for the Ballot," The Chicago Defender (September 6, 1952), p. 10.

[5] Taylor, Lois. "Would Head for Congress, Says Retiring National Council Head," Afro American (November 19, 1949), p. 10.

[6] McCluskey, Audrey Thomas. & Elaine M. Smith (eds.). Mary McLeod Bethune Building a Better World. Bloomington, IN Indiana University Press (1999), p. 20.

Bethune, Mary McLeod. "Women Should Vote in Tribute to Those Who Fought for the Ballot," The Chicago Defender (National Edition) September 6, 1952 pg. 10.

Hanson, Joyce A. Mary McLeod Bethune and Black Women's Political Activism. Columbia, MO, University of Missouri; First edition (March 14, 2003).

McCluskey, Audrey Thomas. A Forgotten Sisterhood Pioneering Black Women Educators and Activists in the Jim Crow South. Lanham, MD. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

McCluskey, Audrey Thomas. & Elaine M. Smith (eds.). Mary McLeod Bethune Building a Better World. Bloomington, IN Indiana University Press, 1999.

Ortiz, Paul. Emancipation Betrayed: The Hidden History of Black Organizing and White Violence in Florida From Reconstruction to the Bloody Election of 1920. Berkeley, CA University of California Press, 2005.

Robertson, Ashley N. Mary McLeod Bethune in Florida Bringing Social Justice to the Sunshine State. Charleston, SC The History Press, 2015.

Taylor, Lois. "Would Head for Congress, Says Retiring National Council Head," Afro American, November 19, 1949, p. 10.

Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn. African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850-1920. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press; Second Printing edition (May 22, 1998).

Wesley, Charles H. The History of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs: A Legacy of Service. Washington, DC.: National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, Inc., 1984.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Mary McLeod Bethune, True Democracy, and the Fight for Universal Suffrage (U.S. National Park Service)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Author Biography Dr. Ida E. Jones is the inaugural University Archivist for Morgan State University. She is the author of The Heart of the Race Problem The Life of Kelly Miller (2011); Mary McLeod Bethune, Activism and Education in Washington, D.C. (2013); William Henry Jernagin in Washington, D.C.: Faith in the Fight for Civil Rights in Washington, D.C.

# data[].attributes.headline
African-American Women Leaders in the Suffrage Movement

# data[].attributes.subject
African-American Women Leaders in the Suffrage Movement

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Edited by Edith Mayo
This listing of African American Women Leaders in the American Woman Suffrage Movement is taken from the works of Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, former Professor of History and Coordinator of Graduate Programs in History at Morgan State University in Baltimore. She is the foremost authority on African-American women in the suffrage movement. A founder of the Association of Black Women Historians, her extensive research has enriched our historical knowledge of this topic. The works from which this information was taken are listed at the end of this entry. The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial wishes to acknowledge and express deep appreciation for her ground-breaking work.
HISTORICAL NOTE ON WOMAN SUFFRAGE ORGANIZATIONS:
After the Civil War, woman suffrage supporters organized the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) in 1866. By 1870, this group had splintered because of divisions over tactics, aims, and personalities. Two groups emerged: the National Woman Suffrage Association,(NWSA) led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, considered the more radical group, supported a Federal Amendment to enfranchise women. The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), considered the more mainstream group, led by Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe, adopted a state-by-state approach to winning the vote for women. These two groups united in 1890 becoming the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Although nominally led by veteran suffragists Stanton and Anthony, the NAWSA generally adopted the state-by-state approach to suffrage. These affiliations are important in distinguishing the approach to woman suffrage adopted by individual Black suffragists.

African American women were in a difficult position. Sometimes they worked in their own clubs and suffrage organizations, sometimes with white suffragists. Black women did not accept their exclusion from white suffrage organizations or the racist tactics employed by white suffragists. In the twentieth century, more and more Black women joined the ranks of suffragists as the movement progressed.
SOJOURNER TRUTH: c. 1797(?) - 1883
Born Isabella (later Van Wagener), a slave in upstate New York, she was the first known African American suffragist. An illiterate, itinerant preacher and reformer from Ulster County, New York, she was an emancipated slave who supported herself with menial jobs. She traveled throughout the eastern United States and attended woman's rights conventions as an outspoken proponent for woman's rights and woman suffrage. Her overwhelming presence, personal magnetism, and unique oratorical style captivated audiences and won even skeptics to the cause. She also earned money by selling the Narrative of Sojourner Truth, written for her by Olive Gilbert. In 1852-53, she spent several days with Harriet Beecher Stowe, who called her "The Lybian Sibyl," who spread Truth's fame in an Atlantic Monthly article in 1863. She was said to have delivered a powerful speech in favor of woman's rights at the Akron, Ohio woman's convention in 1851, remembered as "Ain't I a Woman?" a speech which some historians today question because it is written in Southern slave dialect, while Truth had the speech of one raised in Dutch-speaking New York. This speech secured her reputation as a famous champion of the woman's rights cause. In 1864, she traveled to Washington D. C. where she was received by President Lincoln in the White House. In December of that year, the National Freedman's Relief Association appointed her "counselor to the freed people" at Freedman's Village, Arlington Heights, VA. Truth also attended meetings of the American Equal Rights Association where she called for the vote for both Black men and for women. In the mid-1850s, she moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, where she lived among an enclave for free Blacks. In 1875, Truth returned to Battle Creek , amid forays of lecturing, where she died in 1883.
CHARLOTTE VANDINE FORTEN, SR: (1785 - 1884)
An abolitionist and suffragist, Charlotte Forten came to Washington, D. C. in the late 1870s with her husband, James Forten, a Black abolitionist. Charlotte worked in the government and taught school. She had been a founder and member of the interracial Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, many of whose members became active in the women's rights movement.
HARRIET FORTEN PURVIS (1810 - 1875):
Daughter of wealthy sail maker and abolitionist reformer James Forten, Sr., Harriet and her sisters were founding members of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society, and members of the American Equal Rights Association, where Harriet served as a member of the executive committee. Affluent and educated, the sisters helped lay the groundwork for the first National Woman's Rights Convention in October, 1854, and helped organize the Philadelphia Suffrage Association in 1866.
MARGARETTA FORTEN (1806 -1875):
Margaretta was an educator and abolitionist. She and her mother, Charlotte Forten ,and her sister, Harriet, were founders and members of the interracial Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. The Forten sisters had never been enslaved.
HARRIET (HATTIE) PURVIS, JR:
A niece of the Forten family of reformers, Purvis was active in the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association and a member of their Executive Committee. Between 1883 and 1900, she served as a delegate to the National Woman Suffrage Association. She also served as Superintendent of Work among Colored People for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, championing both reforms. Unlike Gertrude Mossell, who made her voice heard through the Black press, Purvis did not. As a result, her views about woman suffrage remain little known. A friend of Susan B. Anthony, she, like Frances Harper, represented the second generation of Black women suffragists. Harriet was a member of the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association in 1884, and was a delegate to the National American Woman Suffrage Association between 1883 and 1900.
ANGELINA WELD GRIMKE (1880 -1958):
Archibald Grimke moved to Washington with his daughter Angelina Weld Grimke, where he became a Republican Party diplomat and Civil Rights activist. His daughter, a well-known feminist in the District of Columbia, was a journalist, playwright, poet, lesbian, suffragist and teacher of English at Dunbar High School (formerly the M Street High School). She was a member of a family of distinguished women reformers, including the Fortens and the Grimkes. A radical feminist, Angelina wrote for several journals such as Margaret Sanger's Birth Control Review. Educated at Wellesley, she became a talented short story author, dramatist, and orator, whose literary works exposed her ideas about the pain and violence in Black women's lives, and her rejection of the double standards imposed on women by the courts, education, employment, and marriage. Her works foreshadowed the Harlem Renaissance. She, herself, never married. Angelina used the above rationales saying, "The injustices will end" when women get the ballot. In remaining single, she maintained her position on the Dunbar High School faculty for many years, because school practices at the time forced married women out of their careers. Angelina became an important member of the social and intellectual Black elite of Washington, D. C.
CHARLOTTE FORTEN GRIMKE (1837 - 1914):
An abolitionist and suffragist, Charlotte, a niece of Harriet Purvis and Margaretta and Sarah Forten, was raised in a family of abolitionist zeal. She was tutored at home, but attended a high school in Salem, Massachusetts where she lived with the Charles Remond family, having been sent there by her father because Black students were denied admission to the Philadelphia public schools. She graduated with distinction in 1855. She was among the volunteer teachers to the community of former slaves at Port Royal, GA. Charlotte became a teacher, author, and educator of freedmen, as well as a suffrage supporter. Moving to Washington, D. C. in 1873, she held a clerkship in the Treasury Department. In 1878, she married Francis James Grimke, a former slave and son of white South Carolina planter, Henry Grimke, and nephew of white abolitionists and feminists, Sarah and Angelina Grimke-Weld. In Washington, she mentored her niece, Angelina Weld-Grimke and the prominent Black teacher, Anna Julia Cooper. As a suffragist, she affiliated with the American Woman Suffrage Association.
SARAH REMOND (1826 - 1887(?)):
Sarah Remond was an antislavery lecturer and physician, one of eight children. The Remonds were a noted abolitionist family, well known in anti-slavery circles and, as a child, Sarah had attended abolitionist meetings. She was an activist in the Salem and Massachusetts Antislavery Societies. In 1856, Sarah was appointed an agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society. From Salem, Massachusetts, Sarah and her brother, Charles, spoke at the national woman's rights convention in New York City in 1858, where both were honored for their speeches advocating woman suffrage. She also took her anti-slavery cause to British audiences, where she drew large crowds. She was a member of the American Equal Rights Association, where she served as a guest lecturer, and toured the Northeast campaigning for universal suffrage. Discouraged by the split in the woman suffrage movement after the Civil War, she left the United States, becoming an expatriate in Florence, Italy, in 1866, where she studied medicine and is said to have received a diploma certifying her for "Professional Medical Practice." Little is known of her later life and death. Her departure from the United States suggests the hopelessness she felt about African American women ever achieving equality in their homeland. The summaries of her lectures published in newspapers and periodicals are the remaining record of her anti-slavery work.
CHARLOTTA (LOTTIE) ROLLIN (1849 - ?):
After the Civil War, the woman suffrage movement split into two separate organizations: the National Woman Suffrage Association (the more radical group led by Stanton and Anthony), and the more mainstream group, the American Woman Suffrage Association, (led by Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe). Lottie Rollin joined the American Woman Suffrage Association. During Reconstruction, Blacks participated in Southern Reconstruction politics, and Rollin became active in South Carolina where she and her sisters, Frances and Louisa, influenced state politics in the late 1860s and 1870s. She worked for Black congressman Robert Brown Elliott. Rollin spoke on the floor of the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1869 in support of universal suffrage. By 1870, Lottie chaired the founding meeting of the South Carolina Woman's Rights Association and was elected secretary of the newly-organized Association and, in 1871, led a meeting at the state capital to advocate woman suffrage.

Lottie and her sisters, Frances, Kate and Louisa, were all active in promoting woman suffrage at both the state and national levels.
MARY ANN SHADD CARY (1823 - 1893):
A veteran suffragist from Washington, D. C., Cary worked as a journalist, teacher, lawyer, and politician. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, she was perhaps the first African American suffragist to form a suffrage Association. During the 1850s, she was a leader and spokesperson among the African American refugees who fled to Canada after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850. In 1853, she founded the Provincial Freeman, a newspaper dedicated to the interests of Blacks in Canada. She was acclaimed as "the first colored woman on the American continent to establish and edit a weekly newspaper." By 1869, she was a widow. She moved to Washington, D. C. and decided to study law and became the first woman student at the newly established Howard University Law School, while teaching in the District of Columbia school system during the day. Although listed in the Howard law class of 1871-72, Cary was not permitted to graduate because the D.C. legal code did not permit a woman's admission to the bar. After a decade, Cary returned to Howard and received her law degree. She spoke at the 1878 convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association. In her arguments advocating suffrage, she clearly applied the principles of the 14 th and 15 th Amendments to women as well as men. She called for an amendment to strike the word "male" from the Constitution. In 1871, Cary unsuccessfully tried to vote in D. C. but she and 63 other women prevailed upon officials to sign affidavits attesting that women had tried to vote. In 1876, Cary wrote the National Woman Suffrage Association on behalf of 94 Black women requesting that their names be enrolled in the July 4 th (1876 was the 100 th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence) autograph book as signers of the Woman's Declaration of Sentiments, which demanded the immediate enfranchisement of American women. Unfortunately, the names were not included. In her suffrage work, Cary connected education, women's labor questions, and economic and business development to political empowerment. In 1880, she organized the Colored Women's Progressive Franchise Association in Washington, D. C., whose statement of purpose included an agenda both political and economic.
FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER (1825 - 1911):
Harper was a Philadelphia lecturer and organizer of African American women. Born in Baltimore, MD, about 1845, she published a collection of poetry and prose entitled, Forest Leaves. In 1854, she delivered an antislavery lecture in New Bedford, Massachusetts, "Education and the Elevation of the Colored Race," whose success launched her career. She interspersed her lectures with selections from her Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects, her volume of antislavery poems. She married Fenton Harper in 1860 and settled near Columbus, Ohio. With the death of her husband in 1864, she resumed lecturing. She published numerous articles, poems, and books in the periodicals of her day. She was a founding member of the American Woman Suffrage Association, and in 1873, after returning from a tour of freedman's communities in the reconstructed states of the South, she delivered the closing speech at the AWSA convention in New York. Harper told the convention, "As much as white women need the ballot, colored women need it more." She called for equal rights and equal access to education for Black women, clearly defining race as a factor in the denial of women's rights. Harper also spoke out against substance abuse, particularly alcohol, in the Black community. By 1887, she joined the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, where she served as the Superintendent of Work among the Colored People. She lectured and organized Black women into Temperance Unions, publishing reports in the Methodist Episcopal Church journal. In 1896, she was an organizer of the National Association of Colored Women and became its vice president. She died in Philadelphia at the age of eighty-five.
GERTRUDE BUSTILL MOSSELL (1855 - 1948):
From Philadelphia, Mossell was from a prominent free African American family of reformers, and married a physician. A professional journalist (Mrs. N. F. Mossell), she wrote a women's column in T. Thomas Fortune's newspaper, The New York Freeman. Her first article, entitled "Woman Suffrage," published in 1885, encouraged women to read suffrage history and articles on women's rights. Like Frances Harper, Mossell believed intemperance to be a great hindrance to the progress of the Black community. Her pro-suffrage arguments were similar to other African American suffragists of that era in calling for a Federal Amendment to enfranchise women, and she directed her arguments to the Black community through the Black press. As an affluent mother of two, as well as a professional writer, she could relate to middle-class views of housewives who were feminists.
JOSEPHINE ST. PIERRE RUFFIN (1842 - 1924):
Ruffin was a Massachusetts journalist and noted abolitionist before the Civil War. She joined the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association in 1875, and affiliated nationally with the American Woman Suffrage Association. In addition, she was a Black woman's club leader in that state. She was the wife of George L. Ruffin, one of the woman suffrage representatives from Boston in the state legislature. In later years, she stated that she had joined the Massachusetts suffragists because of the warm welcome she was offered by the leaders Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and other suffragists. In 1895, she convened the first conference of the National Federation of Afro-American Women, probably the first national organization of Black women, in Boston, thereby becoming a leader in the Black woman's club movement. Hundreds of Black women answered the call to convene, published in the Woman's Era. She challenged the opposition to woman suffrage in Boston, writing an editorial in her Black women's newspaper, the Woman's Era, co-authored with her daughter, Florida Ridley. She edited the Woman's Era, the first newspaper published by and for African American Women. She sarcastically told her audience that because of the organized opposition of the men toward woman suffrage, "Not for many years has so much enthusiasm and interest been shown" in support of women's voting rights. Throughout the 1890s, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin continued to urge white women to join with Black women to further women's advancement, but her pleas fell largely on deaf ears outside of Massachusetts, and she was personally discriminated against when seeking to represent her club at the 1900 convention of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, leading to the virtual segregation of Black and white women's clubs.
CARRIE LANGSTON (EXACT DATES UNAVAILABLE - LATE 19TH EARLY 20TH Centuries):
From Lawrence, Kansas, Carrie was the daughter of civil rights activist Charles Langston and mother of Harlem Renaissance poet, Langston Hughes. A journalist, she wrote for the newspaper, The Atchison Blade, encouraging African American women to seek education, become politically active, and enter the profession of journalism. Refuting what she called "the male notion" that women were contented with their lot, she criticized men who attempted to keep women in an inferior position in society. She was the mother of famed African American poet Langston Hughes.
HISTORICAL NOTE ON THE AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN'S CLUB MOVEMENT:
Toward the end of the 19 th Century, Black women organized themselves in woman's clubs as a vehicle to accomplish their aims for change and reform. Many African American women joined local women's clubs and further organized at the national level. In 1896, the National Federation of Afro-American Women merged with the National League of Colored Women to form the National Association of Colored Women, with activist Mary Church Terrell as its first president. Black women's clubs became central to their reform and support of woman suffrage. On the national level, African American woman suffrage mobilization developed with the formation of the national black women's club movement where suffrage became an agenda item. Their political impact was formidable; the NACW maintained a suffrage department. In 1916, the NACW passed a resolution in support of the woman suffrage amendment. The NACW's vehicle for suffrage action was the Equal Suffrage League, which mobilized clubs to support suffrage.
MARY CHURCH TERRELL (1863 - 1954):
Terrell was a writer, educator, suffragist, and civil rights activist as well as a prime mover among Black women suffragists and clubwomen of the 20 th century. She was the daughter of a millionaire from Memphis, Tennessee, where her father Robert, a former slave, rose to become a wealthy landowner. Educated at Oberlin College where she earned both an undergraduate and a Masters degree, Mary Church moved to the nation's capital to teach at the famous M Street High School where she met and married the principal, Robert Church. She became a leader of the Black community's social and civic life, and the first African American woman appointed to the school board in the District of Columbia. She was a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, adopting the mainstream feminist ideas and suffrage strategies. When two major African American women's clubs merged to become the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) in 1896, Terrell was elected its first president. She founded the National Association of College Women which became the National Association of University Women. She was widely published in both the Black and white press.

Terrell, in her recorded speeches in the NAWSA's History of Woman Suffrage, reminded white women that to exclude Black women from voting because of race was like excluding white women because of gender. In her speeches to the suffrage organization, she repeatedly defended against the charges of corruption among Black men, reminding white women of the racial barriers that kept many former slaves powerless. Terrell was instrumental in building Black women's clubs into a national movement for reform in the Black community, and the impact of the Black women's club movement was politically significant. In an article for the Crisis in 1915, she strategically compared the plight of Blacks and women. Terrell accepted a number of invitations to speak before white groups, advocating the vote for Black women.

In the famous March, 1913 suffrage parade in Washington, D. C., organized by Alice Paul and the Congressional Union of the NAWSA, Terrell marched with the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority from Howard University, assembled in the area reserved for Black women. She continued to represent and speak for Black women at national woman suffrage conventions. She served as director of work among Colored women in the east for the Republican National Committee after women won the vote.

Terrell's lifelong commitment to liberating Blacks from oppression did not stop with her significant club work and advocacy of suffrage. In 1950, Terrell, then in her 80s,began a movement to integrate eating establishments in the District of Columbia. She walked picket lines and sued the District of Columbia under legislation passed during the Reconstruction era! She successfully de-segregated public accommodations and restaurants in the District of Columbia, in 1953, when the Supreme Court upheld the decision - a fitting climax to a life of reform.
IDA B. WELLS-BARNETT (1862 - 1931):
Wells-Barnett was a journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, and Civil Rights leader. She was a militant journalist who wrote for several Black newspapers. She was originally from Holly Springs, Mississippi, where she attended Rust College. She eventually moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she worked as a teacher and started her journalism career. She led an anti-lynching crusade after three of her friends were lynched. In response, a white mob destroyed her Memphis Free Speech printing press. Threats to her life forced her to move to New York City. She eventually moved to Chicago where she worked on a pamphlet to distribute at the 1893 World's Fair. While there she also wrote for the Chicago Conservator newspaper, edited by Ferdinand Barnett, whom she married in 1895. Also in that year, she published a book, The Red Record, detailing the atrocities of lynching. She co-founded the National Association of Colored Women and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1896 and 1909 respectively.

A supporter of woman suffrage, she founded the Alpha Suffrage Club for African-American women, the first suffrage club for Black women in Illinois. She marched in the 1913 suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., but refused to march at the back of the parade as other Black women did. She continued to be an outspoken advocate of Black women's political activism. The Alpha Suffrage Club, of which Wells-Barnett was president, published a newsletter to educate the Black community about issues and candidates on the ballot. The club was influential in electing Black politician, Oscar DePriest, to the United States House of Representatives.
MARY TALBERT (1866 - 1923):
Talbert was a Buffalo, New York, educator, activist, suffrage supporter, and vice president of the National Association of Colored Women. A graduate of Oberlin College, she married William Talbert in 1891. Talbert was a founder of the Niagra Movement , which was a forerunner of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A speaker of note, she lectured in the United States and abroad. Her leadership in the Black Women's Club movement developed Black female leadership and became a political voice for African American women. She wrote suffrage articles for the Crisis magazine, and focused on political strategies to unify African American women. She also served as vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, where she and others from the organization presented evidence about the disenfranchisement of Black women.

A pioneer in the historic preservation movement, she helped save the Frederick Douglass home in the Anacostia section of Washington, D. C., along with Douglass's wife and Nannie Helen Burroughs.
MRS. R. JEROME JEFFERY (EXACT DATES UNAVAILABLE):
Mrs. Jeffrey was a club woman leader from Rochester, New York, had been a cohort of Susan B. Anthony, and was president of the New York Federation of Colored Women. She was part of the networks of Black women in the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Unfortunately, there appear to be no existing records of Jeffrey's arguments advocating suffrage. Yet, her organization is often connected with advocacy of woman suffrage. Her photograph was pictured negatively as a friend of suffrage leaders Carrie Chapman Catt and Anna Howard Shaw in a racist flyer used by anti-suffragists as the kind of woman who would be enfranchised if women got the vote.
MRS. I. L. MOORMAN (EXACT DATES UNAVAILABLE):
From New York, Mrs. Moorman was president of the Negro Women's Business League in New York City. She was affiliated with white suffrage supporter, Alva Belmont, and presided over a meeting in which Black women discussed with Belmont the proposal for funding a meeting room for Black suffragists to be underwritten by Belmont under the auspices of Belmont's organization, the Political Equality Association. Moorman assured Belmont that Black women would "be glad of the opportunity of joining the [suffrage] movement." This appeared to be a significant meeting as the point of interracial suffrage cooperation was initiated in the campaign for the woman suffrage in New York.
MARY E. JACKSON (EXACT DATES UNAVAILABLE):
From Rhode Island, Jackson was a state civil service employee who early in the 20 th century worked with the Northeast Federation of Colored Women and headed the suffrage department of the National Association of Colored Women. Writing for a special suffrage issue of the Crisis magazine, Jackson wrote that " . . . all objections to the ballot for women are but protests against progress, civilization and good sense."
ADELLA HUNT LOGAN (1863 - 1915):
Adella Hunt was born into slavery, the daughter of a white planter and African American mother. She was educated at Atlanta University with the aid of her white father. An intellectual, Logan became a professor at Tuskegee Institute, headed by Black educator and activist Booker T. Washington, where she joined the faculty in 1883. In 1888, she married Warren Logan, a teacher at Tuskegee. As a life member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association who championed the vote for women early in the 20 th century, Logan attended white suffrage meetings, as she was light enough to "pass" for white. A native of Sparta, Georgia, she contributed much to the philosophy of the black woman suffrage movement. She lectured at conferences of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and was a charter member of the Tuskegee Woman's Club, which was a center of political club work among elite Black women. Logan was influential in promoting suffrage as a major concern among the club members. She staged lantern slide nights and organized suffrage parades for woman's club members and her civics class at the beginning of President William McKinley's re-election campaign. Logan's published views in the Colored American Magazine and the Crisis, combined a traditional woman suffrage rationale with Black woman suffrage tenets, adding the dimensions of race. Logan used the arguments of Black suffragists of the past, such as Mary Ann Shadd Cary, Frances E. W. Harper, and Sojourner Truth. What Logan articulated that others did not, was that the vote would be a protection against the rape and sexual abuse of African American women. She commented that the "right of suffrage is withheld from women largely by ignorant and vicious men." Her voice for the vote reached a national audience. Hers was the most comprehensive attack by an African American woman on the anti-woman suffrage arguments. Tragically, Logan suffered from depression and committed suicide in 1915.
MARY MCCURDY (EXACT DATES UNAVAILABLE):
McCurdy directed her suffrage argument to the African American community through the Black press, encouraging women to speak out during a period of heightened racial segregation. Living in Rome, Georgia, she carved out a career as a journalist and activist, encouraging Black women to use political means to solve social ills of the Black community. She was president of the local Black women's temperance union in Rome, Georgia, and also edited the National Presbyterian, a temperance newspaper. Taking a position held by many women of the time, McCurdy held that the women of her race held a moral authority often lacking among men. She predicted that Black women would never allow their votes to be bought. McCurdy, like other Black women reformers, acknowledged the connection between the suffrage and temperance movements in the African American community.
FANNIE (FRANCES) BARRIER WILLIAMS (1855 - 1944):
Williams was an educator, clubwoman, and political and woman's rights activist. From Brockport, New York, after graduation she went to the District of Columbia to teach. She married S. Laing Williams and they eventually settled in Chicago. She joined the Illinois Women's Alliance and lectured on the need for Black women to vote. An acknowledged leader in the African American women's club movement in Chicago, Illinois, she tried to join the prestigious Chicago Woman's Club in 1894 and, after 14 months of controversy, Williams was admitted to membership. She wrote a history of the "colored" woman's club movement, published in 1902. She traced the development of the movement which, by the early 20 th century, numbered 400 clubs. She estimated that there were 150,000 to 200,000 Black members active in clubs nationwide. Prejudice against African American club women, she claimed, had brought women of the race closer together in their work. She was a co-founder of both the National Association of Colored Women and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Williams was the only African American chosen to eulogize Susan B. Anthony at the 1907 National American Woman Suffrage Convention.
CORALIE FRANKLIN COOK (1861 - 1942):
Coralie Franklin Cook was a descendant of Betty Hemmings, a slave at Monticello (great-granddaughter of Brown Colbert), and the first descendant of a Monticello slave to graduate from college. Born in Lexington, VA, she graduated from Storer College in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. A powerful public speaker, she became a faculty member at Howard University. At Howard she met and married George William Cook, a professor and Dean of the school. Cook had moved to Washington, D. C. in the late 19 th. Century, and became the second African American woman appointed to the School Board of the District of Columbia. A leader in the Black women's club movement, she was a founder of the National Association of Colored Women and an ardent suffragist who also moved within the inner circles of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, as she was educated, professional, and middle-class. Cook reminded white women that they could not ignore the political rights of the less fortunate. She, like Terrell, married a professional man, Howard University professor George W, Cook. Writing in the Crisis magazine, Cook reminded Black men that "disfranchisement because of sex is curiously like disfranchisement because of color. It cripples the individual; it handicaps progress; it sets a limitation upon mental and spiritual development." She became a prominent social and civic leader among Washington's African American elite.
JANIE PORTER BARRETT (1865 - 1948):
Janie Porter Barrett was a social settlement house founder, educator, and leader in the Black women's club movement. Born in Athens, GA, she was a graduate of Hampton Institute, where she became fired with a desire to uplift her race. After graduation, she taught at Lucy Laney's Haines Normal and Industrial School in Georgia, and then taught night classes at Hampton Institute. She married Harris Barrett of the Hampton business school faculty. In 1890, Barrett set up her home as the Locust Street Social Settlement House bringing education, vocational training, and social services to the Black community in Hampton, VA. Hers was the first settlement house in Virginia, and the first Black settlement house in the nation. The success of this experiment enabled her to build a separate building to house the settlement in 1892. Her settlement house became famous in the Settlement House movement, and her power in the community gained her the position of the first Presidency of the Virginia Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. Like other Black activists and settlement workers, she supported woman suffrage as a strategy to empower women. The Virginia Federation became noted for its reform and rehabilitation work with incarcerated Black girls in the Virginia prison system. In 1914, the Federation purchased Peaks Turnout, north of Richmond, VA, as a rehabilitation, education, and training center for Black young women, and in 1915 the Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls was opened there. The curriculum offered an eighth grade education and training in laundry, sewing, and housekeeping, fitting them for jobs after leaving school. In 1930, Barrett was asked to attend the White House Conference on Child health and Protection. She chaired the Executive Board of the National Association of Colored Women from 1924-28. Her Industrial School continues to exist today as the Barrett Learning Center.
NAOMI TALBERT [ANDERSON] (1863 - ?):
Talbert was a suffragist, poet, and advocate for equal rights, who was born to free Black parents in Michigan City, Indiana. A member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and a suffrage supporter, she spoke from the platform at the 1869 National Woman Suffrage Convention, held in Chicago. Stanton and Anthony published excerpts of her speech in their newspaper, The Revolution, identifying her only as "a colored women," not by her name. She spoke in the then-classic African American oratorical style, mixing elements of suffragist arguments with strong Biblical references, calling for the right of women to vote. Her identification with Stanton and Anthony caused offense in her African American community of Chicago, and she was severely censured. Seeking to defend herself, she published an article in the Chicago Tribune, which was very similar to her speech at the Convention. Her speech and article reflected 19 th century Black oratorical style, mixing political arguments with religious symbolism. Struggling to support her ailing husband and family, she moved to Portsmouth, Ohio and learned the trade of hairdressing. There she organized a home for Black children while continuing to speak and write promoting temperance and the vote for women.
MARGARET MURRAY WASHINGTON (1865 - 1925):
Washington played many important roles in the national African American community. Of mixed racial background, she was an educator at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and the third wife of Booker T. Washington, leader of the Institute, whom she married in 1893. She often wrote his speeches. She became the lady principal of the Tuskegee Institute, where she founded Mt. Meigs School for Boys and an industrial school for girls at Tuskegee. Washington was Vice President of the National Association of Colored Women, and editor of the association's official publication, National Association Notes. By 1915, Washington had become president of the NACW, which she had co-founded. When Susan B. Anthony invited national women's organizations to enter official statements to be published in the fourth volume of the History of Woman Suffrage, Washington responded for the National Association of Colored Women and her statement was the sole representation of Black women in that volume. The Tuskegee Woman's Club, which Washington founded, became the center for educational, social and political club work among the elite and educated women associated with Tuskegee Institute. She was noted for promoting interracial cooperation.
ANNA J. COOPER (1858 - 1964):
One of a cohort of distinguished Black activists, scholars, and reformers in the nation's capital, Anna Cooper had earned a degree from Oberlin College in 1884 and came to the District of Columbia to teach at the famed M Street High School, where she was a teacher and principal. She viewed the status of Black women as central to the progress of the nation. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, she received her Ph.D. in history from the Sorbonne, Paris. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. When Anna Cooper arrived in Washington, she was a widow and did not remarry. She had previously been an instructor at Wilberforce College in Ohio. As a distinguished teacher, she became a social activist and clubwoman who mentored other women such as Angelina Grimke and Nannie Helen Burroughs. Cooper exemplified women who had been former slaves who had managed to become college-educated women. A feminist, Cooper wrote a highly influential book entitled, A Voice from the South, in 1892, articulating Black feminism and a vision of self determination through education and social uplift. She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha women's sorority, the first organization of its kind for Black college-educated women. The Anna J. Cooper Center on Gender, Race, and Politics at Wake Forest University honors her work.
NANNIE HELEN BURROUGHS (1879 - 1961):
Burroughs was a Black educator, church leader, and suffrage supporter, feminist, and businesswoman. Originally from Orange, Virginia, Burroughs was brought to Washington, D. C. by her mother to obtain a better education. After graduating from the M Street High School, where Anna J. Cooper and Mary Church Terrell became her role models, discrimination in the District's public schools prevented her from obtaining a teaching position - she was considered to be "too dark." Burroughs moved to Memphis, Tennessee to work for the Black Baptist Convention. In 1900, at the Richmond, VA gathering of the National Baptist Convention, Burroughs delivered a powerful speech entitled, "How the Sisters are Hindered from Helping," which won her instant acclaim and recognition. Burroughs founded the Woman's Convention of the National Baptist Convention, a woman's church organization which became one of the most important and nationally powerful organizations of African American women. As a national feminist, Burroughs was its guiding hand, building it to become the largest body of African American women in the United States with a membership of more than one million women, and leading it to the support of woman suffrage. She headed the organization until her death.

In 1909, Burroughs established the National Training School for Women and Girls, which became a major influence nationally in the education of Black women, on land she purchased in the nation's capital. The school combined a rigorous academic curriculum with industrial training for Black women. She used the Home Economics curriculum to enable her students to obtain lucrative domestic positions with rich, white families, a prominent career path for Black women at that time. The school also educated more missionaries for service abroad than any other school. Burroughs also opened the Sunshine Laundry, which trained students to work in the laundry industry, and helped the school weather the economic hardships of the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, the White House had all its laundry done at the Sunshine Laundry, helping to keep the school solvent.

Burroughs was a staunch supporter of woman suffrage and wrote articles of support in the Crisis magazine. She brought her Woman's Convention of the National Baptist Convention to support woman suffrage.
MAMIE DILLARD (EXACT DATES UNAVAILABLE):
A Black Temperance organizer from Lawrence, Kansas, she specifically linked the politics of reform in the community to woman suffrage, crediting the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) for influencing the passage of school suffrage for women in several states. Dillard urged Black women to join segregated Black unions and this proved fruitful as, by the turn of the 20 th century, there were several WCTU unions throughout the nation. Segregated, "Colored" unions provided Black women autonomy and leadership opportunities they would have been denied if integrated into unions headed by white women.
VICTORIA EARLE MATTHEWS:
Born into slavery in Georgia, Matthews was an African American social worker, author, newspaper woman, settlement house leader, and social activist who had moved from Georgia to New York City after the Civil War. With little education, Matthews worked as a domestic servant until she married. Writing under the pen name of Victoria Earle, Matthews became a journalist with T. Thomas Fortune's New York Age and the Woman's Era. She met Ida B. Wells when Wells came to New York to lecture against lynching. Matthews helped organize a testimonial for Wells and this event led to the development of the Women's Loyal League of New York and Brooklyn. Matthews was among the clubwomen attending the conference that led to the founding of the National Federation of Afro-American Women, a forerunner of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW). She served as Chair of the Executive Board of the NACW. Victoria Earle Matthews was also well known as the founder and leader of a colored Social Settlement House in New York, known as the White Rose Mission, which provided young Black women with safe housing, education, and job skills to prepare them for useful work and successful lives.
LUCY LANEY (1854 - 1933):
Laney was an educator of African Americans who founded the first school for Black children in Augusta, GA. After attending Atlanta University, she founded and was the principal of Haines Normal and Industrial Institute, named after the benefactor who provided the money to finance the school. Lucy Laney served in that post for 50 years. She also served as president of the City Federation of Colored Women's Clubs of Augusta, Georgia. This club was an influential organization in the life of the Black community in Augusta.
LUGENIA BURNS HOPE (1871 - 1947):
Lugenia Burns Hope was a social activist, reformer, and community organizer. She was the wife of Atlanta University's first Black president, John Hope, whom she married in 1897. He joined the faculty at what is now Morehouse College, and later became it president. Among the most influential Black women leaders in the South, Lugenia became one of the first African American social workers, founding the Neighborhood Union in 1908, which provided educational programming, medical care, job training, and social services to Atlanta's Black community. She was also a founder of the Atlanta branch of the National Association of Colored Women. She combined race and gender activism. Hope was particularly concerned about the plight of Black female domestic workers. Domestic or household labor was the dominant occupation of Southern Black women. She wrote a statement outlining her concerns about the sexual abuse and terrible housing conditions of these women. Because Black women worked in white women's homes, they were absent from their own children. Hope encouraged white women to help Blacks establish day nurseries, playgrounds, and recreation centers to protect and train Black children. Hope was concerned with segregation in public travel and transportation, deploring the conditions under which Black women were forced to travel in segregated streetcars and train stations. An outspoken supporter of equal suffrage, she stated that the ballot "is the safeguard of the nation." She served as Chair of the Department of Neighborhood Works of the National Federation of Colored Women's Clubs.

During World War II, when the United Service Organization (USO) did not provide services to Black soldiers, Lugenia Hope coordinated nationwide Hostess Houses to provide recreation and relocation programs to Black and Jewish soldiers who had served in the United States Armed Forces.
JOSEPHINE BRUCE (1853 - 1923):
Born in Philadelphia and educated in Cleveland, Bruce was a political activist and the wife of Republican Blanche K. Bruce, the first United States Senator from Mississippi during the Reconstruction Era. Senator Bruce supported the enfranchisement of women while serving as Senator. While Senator Bruce served in the Senate and, later, when the couple remained in Washington, their home became a center of Washington, D. C. social life. Josephine Bruce was a charter member of the Colored Woman's League of Washington, D. C. and helped organize the National Organization of Afro-American Women in 1894, a forerunner of the National Association of Colored Women. During Margaret Murray Washington's presidency of the National Association of Colored Women, Josephine Bruce headed the national Executive Committee of the NACW, and was editor of its publication, Notes. Bruce wrote editorials for the NACW publication demonstrating the increasing concern of the organization's leadership and membership regarding woman suffrage. She also published articles in the Crisis magazine and in voice of the Negro. She also became editor of the magazine for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. After the death of her husband, she joined the faculty of Tuskegee where she became Dean of Women. Like a number of other Black women reformers, she brought together her community's concerns with both Temperance and Suffrage.
VERINA MORTON JONES: (1865 - 1943)
Dr. Jones was a physician, suffragist, and clubwoman. Born in Cleveland in 1865, she graduated from the prestigious Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1888, and became the first woman to pass the Mississippi medical exam and the first woman licensed to practice medicine in Mississippi. After her marriage to Walter Morton in 1890, she moved to Brooklyn where she co-founded (with Mary White Ovington) and led the Lincoln Settlement House in Brooklyn, New York. The settlement was an extension of the famous Henry Street Settlement in New York City headed by Lillian Wald. The settlement offered a free kindergarten, a day nursery for working parents, and a clinic. Morton Jones was active in the National Association of Colored Women and fought for woman suffrage while she served as president of the Brooklyn Equal Suffrage League. Later, she became a member of the Executive Board of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1913 -1925.
SOURCES CONSULTED:
Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote: 1850-1920 (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press) 1998.

Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, "African American Women and the Woman Suffrage Movement," in One Woman One Vote: Rediscovering the Woman Suffrage Movement, ed. Marjorie Spruill Wheeler (NewSage Press, 1995) Chapter 7.

Darlene Clark Hine, Wilma King, Linda Reed, eds., "We Specialize in the Wholley Impossible": A Reader in Black Women's History (Brooklyn: New York) 1995. Quote from African American leader Nannie Helen Burroughs.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
The short biographies of African American Leaders in the woman Suffrage Movement were compiled using Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn's information about their role and contributions to the suffrage movement combined with biographical information which I added concerning their lives, birth and death dates, and other information from the reference work Notable American Women, published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University (first three volumes), available at most libraries. I also consulted biographical references on the Internet for those women for whom entries existed. Please consult these sources for additional biographical information and references.
About Edith Mayo
Edith Mayo is a nationally renowned historian and Curator Emerita in Political and Women's History at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. She is author of numerous publications and academic articles, including her books First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image (1995), The Smithsonian's Book of First Ladies: Their Lives, Times, and Issues (1996), and Presidential Families (2006).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
African American Women Leaders in the Suffrage Movement

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Edited by Edith Mayo This listing of African American Women Leaders in the American Woman Suffrage Movement is taken from the works of Dr. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, former Professor of History and Coordinator of Graduate Programs in History at Morgan State University in Baltimore. She is the foremost authority on African-American women in the suffrage movement.

# data[].attributes.headline
Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States

# data[].attributes.subject
Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States

# data[].attributes.body
Alexander Street

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States will eventually offer short biographies of about 3,700 grassroots women suffragists whose activism was concentrated in the period 1890-1920, but also occurred before and after those years. Using the names of suffragists found in contemporary publications and other sources, we have used online databases and newspapers to support biographical sketches of thousands of women heretofore not featured in historical accounts of the movement. In this way we seek to expand historical understanding of the movement and its supporters. Written entirely by volunteers, the sketches include three groups: militants associated with the National Woman's Party, Black suffragists affiliated with a variety of local and national organizations, and mainstream suffragists affiliated with the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The sketches place women's suffrage activism within the frame of women's broader social agenda, before and after the passage of the 19th Amendment in August 1920. For the convenience of scholars and students, we also include previously published biographical sketches of well-known suffragists, such as those found in Notable American Women and Notable Black American Women.
Editor's Guide to Using the Database available here. Database last updated June 15, 2022
Introduction

With the latest installment, the Online Biographical Dictionary is almost complete. We anticipate another installment in December 2022, bringing the number of sketches to 3,700. We have created an inclusive collection, including white and black suffragists, and mainstream and militant suffragists. The sketches will place women's suffrage activism within the frame of women's broader social agenda, before and after the passage of the 19th Amendment in August 1920.
Thanks to Our Hundreds of Volunteers-Especially State Coordinators
The database has grown organically from its modest beginnings with many decisions along the way that have shaped the database that you are accessing today. Database editor Tom Dublin has prepared a brief essay describing the work process that has been involved.

As of June 2022 we have identified 72 suffragists as "impossible to find." They are part of the original groups of activists--NAWSA, Black Suffragists, and NWP-- but volunteers have been unable to find enough information about them to write biographical sketches. Click here to view the lists and contact Tom Dublin if you know something about any of these suffragists and would like to write a 500-word biographical sketch.

To cite a biographical sketch from the Online Biographical Dictionary follow this example:
Author, "Biography of [Name of activist]," Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States, accessed online at [provide URL of the sketch].

Because the free-standing version of the OBD is freely accessible, it is best to cite the URLs for those biographical sketches.

The introduction, acknowledgments, highlights, essays on Suffrage Communities, and the three sections of the database can be accessed below.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States will eventually offer short biographies of about 3,700 grassroots women suffragists whose activism was concentrated in the period 1890-1920, but also occurred before and after those years.

# data[].attributes.body
Google Arts & Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The china to the right was ordered by Newport socialite Mrs. Alva Belmont from the English firm of John Maddock and Sons for use in the lunch room at the headquarters of her Political Equality Association in New York, The small restaurant was intended specifically for working girls. Certain pieces of the set could be purchased there also, such as the creamer, which sold for 25 cents. They made their appearance again in 1914 at a large celebration at Mrs. Belmont's Marble House Mansion in Rhode Island, when her daughter, the Duchess of Marborough, returned from England. Other suffrage china was distributed in America, but pieces from this set are, by far, the most widely seen today.

The English suffragists produced far more china than did their American counterparts. The example from above was distributed by Women's Political and Social Union and designed by Sylvia Pankhurst, daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, founder of the WSPU. The set with the trumpeter transfer was first sold at the Exhibition held at the Prince's Skating Rink in Knightsbridge on May 13-26, 1909, It was later reproduced for WSPU shops. The original set included a teapot along with six cups and saucers.

The china pictured below, like the set to the left, was made by Williamson's of Staffordshire. It features the Holloway or Portcullis image modified by Sylvia Pankhurst from a design that appeared originally on the crest of the House of Commons. Only the cup and saucer along with the creamer are known, but probably other pieces were ordered as well. The arrow on the gate represents the design that appeared on the prison uniforms of incarcerated suffrage prisoners.

Although printed ribbons appeared in political campaigns as early as the first quarter of the 19th century, it was to take more than 50 years before any type of corresponding suffrage ribbon was to emerge on the scene.

During the failed suffrage campaign in Kansas in 1867, which attracted both Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton as volunteers, local workers fashioned not printed but home-made cloth ribbons in yellow, the color of the state flower of Kansas, the sunflower. The idea of the yellow ribbon as a suffrage symbol quickly spread out of that state, and by 1887 one pro-suffrage journal could proclaim that yellow "had been adopted as the distinguishing badge of the woman suffrage army." It became the official color of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, whose buttons and ribbons typically were made in yellow or gold. Many ribbons were printed to be used as convention delegate badges, but some were worn in parades.

Most ribbons were used as delegate badges at conventions, but there are some exceptions, including the 1894 Kansas ribbon pictured above that was issued by a newspaper.

Although most people think of the sash when they have an image of the marchers in suffrage parades, other items such as umbrellas and pennants could also carry a message. The umbrella at the left was distributed nationally by the National American Woman Suffrage Association and sold to supporters for $1 each and $10 per dozen. This particular example has the name of the state of Idaho painted on, and was probably used in a demonstration that celebrated those states that at the time had granted women full voting rights.

The first pennants used in presidential campaigns appeared just after the turn of the century, and felt pennants supporting suffrage appeared soon after. Most were nondescript, containing "Votes for Women" in black letters set against a yellow background. The three here are slightly more elaborate with the top piece showing Ella Buchanan's famous image of the suffragist arousing her sisters and the bottom pennant borrowing Caroline Watt's "Bugler Girl" design from England. The letters "WSP" stand for the "Woman Suffrage Party."

During the four state Eastern Campaign of 1915, suffragists were especially inventive in creating novelties to draw the public's attention to the upcoming referenda in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. The colorful foot-high tin bird on the left was nailed to telephone poles, fence posts, and trees around Boston on July 17 of that year, a date called "Suffrage Blue Bird Day" by local Massachusetts activists. Reportedly, over 100,000 of these birds were produced.

The tin thread holder on the right was named after Sarah Bagley, an early labor activist in Lowell, Massachusetts. Bagley left the city in 1848 to take care of an ill father, but her efforts on behalf of women workers were still remembered in 1915 when this particular piece was made. State Headquarters awarded $500 in prize money to be divided among the top 17 women who had achieved the most in terms of their sale. Profits were divided equally between the State organization and local affiliates.

To respond to the fears of some that suffrage would lead to chaotic revolution, suffrage supporters often used iconic representations of children to deliver their message. Such imagery made suffrage appear both mainstream and non-threatening

The cards on the right display a theme common to anti-suffragists regarding the chaos and confusion that would come about if women achieved the vote. Women would take over what were formerly considered to be all male occupations while men would stay home, minding the baby and washing clothes.

In 1907, Kodak introduced a new service for users of its pocket size cameras. People could send them in photographs, and Kodak would affix them to post cards. The resultant product was called a "Real Photo" post card. Suffragists immediately took advantage of the new process. It allowed them to photograph images that commercial photographers avoided, thus recording scenes of history that might otherwise have been lost. Some activists, heeding advice found in "The Woman's Journal," began making propaganda cards with pictures of their children holding placards upon which pro-suffrage slogans had been written and then selling them with proceeds going to the cause. English suffragists exploited the new form even more than Americans, and some commercial photographers joined in; one of the most prominent of these was Christina Broom, who took up photographic publishing after her husband had become incapacitated.

There were two English Associations that produced considerable art work for the English movement, the Suffrage Atelier and the Artists' Suffrage League. Women artists created posters and banners as well as designed post cards, some examples of which are shown to the left.

The English could be quite scathing in their portrayal of suffrage. The card picturing the devil running away from the suffragist here is but one of several on the theme, as is the card mocking the force feeding of the hunger striker. Emmeline Pankhurst is lampooned as "Mrs. Ortobee Spankedfirst.

Suffrage fans, generally flat and made out of cardboard, were an especially popular form of memorabilia, particularly in those days that preceded air conditioning. They were a highly welcome give-away at ball games, picnics, horse races and other outdoor activities, even for those who did not otherwise support the suffrage movement. They were very prominent in the referendum campaigns in New York and Massachusetts in 1915 and 1917. The illustration by Emily Chamberlain of two children in patriotic dress also was used on a post card.

Labels or Cinderella Stamps were very popular among suffragists, who placed them on letters, post cards, convention programs, and luggage.

The casting of the Suffrage Liberty Bell was a major event in the 1915 Campaign in Pennsylvania. A truck was specially fortified to carry it around to every county in that state.

In America, the celluloid button saw its first extensive use in 1896 when William Jennings Bryan ran against William McKinley for President. Advertisers quickly saw their potential to promote a product, and many buttons were soon made for that purpose.

Suffrage activists in England and America were probably the first to use the form to promote a social cause as opposed to a political campaign, and, accordingly, hundreds of varieties appeared on both sides of the Atlantic. English examples often had an enamel rather than celluloid finish.

Most suffrage associations had their own official colors, which found their way onto their pins. Also nearly ubiquitous was the phrase "Votes for Women" and the depiction of stars on the pin, the number of which indicated how many states at the time of issue had granted women the right to vote in presidential contests.

Suffragists collected these buttons and advertised for them in various movement journals of the period.

,

Given its size and influence, the National American Woman Suffrage Association produced few buttons, although their black on gold "Votes for Women" variety was the most widely used of any suffrage pin. The 1848 ruby glass stick pin in the upper left was produced in 1876 as NAWSA's first button. "Ballots for Both" was made to counter the fears that "Votes for Women" excluded men. The white enameled flag was based on an English design.

The Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, which produced the pin on the right for a demonstration in New Haven in 1916, was partially founded by Isabella Beecher Hooker, sister to Harriet Beecher Stowe. For a time, it was headed by Katharine Hepburn, mother of the actress. She was known for her aggressive but non-violent approaches to issues.

The two states that probably were responsible for producing more suffrage pins than any other were New York and New Jersey. The pins on the left are delegate badges from conventions of the New York Woman Suffrage Association. NYWSA, unlike other such groups, was not hesitant to picture their leaders on buttons. The pin located at the bottom panel, contains the image of Ella Crossett, one of the organization's presidents. Several of the New Jersey pins to the right refer to October 19. That was the day in 1915 that the state held a referendum on suffrage that, unfortunately, went down to defeat. Ironically, NJ women had, temporarily, the right to vote in 1776.

Among the most attractive suffrage buttons of all, pictured on the right, were those distributed by the Women's Political Union, founded in 1910 by Harriot Stanton Blatch, Elizabeth Cady Stanton's daughter. For her organization, Blatch modified the name of the militant English WSPU and borrowed their official colors of purple, green, and white. The Clarion image comes from a design created by Caroline Watts for the English movement.

English suffrage associations honored their members who had been imprisoned for the cause with special pins. The first, pictured at the top right of the next panel, was given out in 1908 by the Women's Freedom League. The recipient's name was inscribed on the back of the brooch. Just below is the Holloway Badge, designed by Sylvia Pankhurst, daughter of the founder of the Women's Social and Political Union, Emmeline Pankhurst. It was modeled after the crest of the House of Commons, and contained the image of the arrow, imprinted on the dress of WSPU prisoners. The most famous prison badge of all, however, was the "Hunger Strike" medal, given out to all WSPU prisoners who refused food in Holloway, and were eventually force fed. It came in a silk lined box, with the honoree's name in gold print (in this case, Lavender Guthrie). Her name was also etched on the back of the medal, the front containing the words "Hunger Strike."

Suffrage newspapers and journals first appear in the mid-nineteenth century, reflecting in part the suffragists' frustration at not finding much news of their activities in the mainstream press. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton began their own short-lived "The Revolution" in 1869. Lucy Stone's "Woman's Journal," was the longest lived, and served for a while as the official organ of both AWSA and NAWSA. The English "Votes for Women" was put out by the WSPU. The most notorious of the group was "Woodhull and Claflin's" Weekly, which landed Victoria Woodhull in jail for obscenity.

The suffrage issue graced the covers of American popular magazines as far back as the mid-19th century, when the movement and its adherents were usually ridiculed. As suffrage became more and more popular with women, these periodicals began shifting positions, perhaps out of a general enlightenment of their editors, perhaps out of an economic fear that women would not continue to purchase them if they continued to be hostile to suffrage. The theme of suffrage made frequent appearances in both "Life" and "Frank Leslie's Weekly."

Bright, colorful posters, as well as simple black and white broadsides were a common feature to the suffrage movement in the 20th century, The English were especially fond of publishing pieces rendered by artists.

The only example of a suffrage produced cosmetic known to exist is this small 1 1/2" round box of "Votes for Women" Face Powder. Alva Belmont did sell various grooming products at the "Department of Hygiene" at the New York Office of her Political Equality Association. These products, however, were all commercial brands and did not have a suffrage tie-in. Mrs. Belmont believed that good grooming along with the vote were both essential for women to achieve empowerment. Young activists may have experimented with rouge and lipstick, but generally these types of products were probably frowned upon by the older guard, who wished to portray suffrage as a non-threatening addition to the traditional fabric of the American tapestry.

This 2" celluloid dime bank, a product of the Michigan suffrage campaign of 1917, was one of several such items issued by suffrage organizations throughout the country at this time. The hope was that women of limited income would fill the bank with coins and return it to their local headquarters. While a dime was worth considerably more than it is today, the filling of this bank was, nevertheless, a seemingly painless way for even a relatively poor shop girl to make a contribution to the cause. Cardboard banks, shaped like actual banks, were also distributed.

Suffragists sold a variety of playing cards both in America and England, insisting that they not be purchased for gambling.

The anti-suffrage movement, despite being well-funded, particularly by the liquor industry who feared that suffrage would lead to prohibition, produced little in the way of memorabilia. One worker explained this lack by indicating that the anti-forces did not want to follow the lead of suffragists in developing a strategy for their arguments. What minimal items were produced generally tended to be fashioned in red (or pink), which was the official color of the anti's. Most fans that they distributed tended to be both cheaply designed and manufactured. The pennant shown here is one of the few examples of such a piece to have survived, The suffragists produced far more buttons and poster stamps than did their adversaries.

Even though women in most states were not permitted to vote for President until 1920, some localities did allow them to cast a ballot in municipal elections. Special ballot boxes were created for women to prevent them from secretly voting for other offices. If they did, their votes could be identified and thrown out. The Woman Suffrage Party ticket from 1876 was the result of a temporary alliance between suffragists and prohibitionists. Women agreed to work for temperance candidates if they would support suffrage. The booklet on the right was given out to women in Boston in the 1880's when they gained the right to vote for members of the local school board. It listed not only eligibility requirements for voting but also procedures on how to vote.

Victoria Woodhull and Belva Lockwood were the first two women to run for president in this country, the former in 1872 and the latter in 1884 and 1888. Neither, of course, was nominated by a major party, and both of their campaigns generated controversy within the movement itself.

Woodhull was known for her radical stands on a number of issues, including that of "free love," and it was feared by many suffrage workers that her notoriety would reflect poorly on women in general. Lockwood, who had earned a degree in law along with the right to argue before the Supreme Court, may have been considered less outrageous by the public, but there were still many women who feared that a candidacy for any woman would bring about mockery and detract from the legitimacy of the suffrage issue. All of the ribbons pictured in the panel to the right that allegedly were made to support her candidacy were actually produced by men's groups lampooning her campaign through marches and satiric demonstrations in which participants dressed as women.

The quixotic George Francis Train had many connections with the suffrage movement. When he ran for President as an independent in 1872, support for suffrage was one of his planks. He distributed many varieties of Cartes of himself, which he frequently autographed.

Both Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were frequently photographed, and their Cartes and Cabinet Photos were both sold and given out free to supporters. Some were distributed through their paper, "Revolution."

Alice Paul, who often focused on the visual in promoting the movement, nevertheless distributed to supporters little in the way of colorful objects of memorabilia. The "Jailed for Freedom" brooch was modeled after Sylvia Pankhurst's Holloway design.

The Political Equality Association was founded in 1909 in New York by wealthy Newport socialite, Alva Belmont. Mrs. Belmont's imperious attitude turned off many in the movement, including Carrie Chapman Catt, but many suffrage organizations did welcome her money. The official color of the PEA was blue, although Mrs. Belmont refused to wear it during marches. Her headquarters featured a lunch room for working women, along with a beauty shop that she referred to a "The Department of Hygiene." Items pictured here include a button, a celluloid mirror, and a pennant.

Most ceramic figures dealing with suffrage themes were made in Germany, and many of those by the firm of Schafer and Vater for the English market. Animals such as geese, cats, and dogs were popular subjects as well as policemen (bobbies) dealing with militant children suffragists. American examples include the whiskey flask in the rear of this collage, which depicts Teddy Roosevelt dressed as a suffragette, and Rose O'Neill's Kewpie Doll, all in white with a "Votes for Women" sash. O'Neill was a major supporter of suffrage.

The ceramic bells on the right were distributed in various English resort towns. On one side was the figure of a beautiful woman imprinted with a positive suffrage slogan. On the other was a harridan, generally identified with "Sairey Gamp," a dissolute, sloppy, and alcoholic nurse from Charles Dickens' novel, "Martin Chuzzlewit." Theoretically the figure was neutral, but since the town crest was imprinted on the Gamp side, the manufacturer probably assumed that potential purchasers were largely anti-suffrage in sentiment.

Many of the older generation suffragists were just as opposed to the use of tobacco as they were to alcohol. When it was rumored that the Women's Political Union planned to sell cigarettes in the new suffrage shop they were opening in December of 1910, Lucy Gaston Page, head of the Anti-Cigarette League, but a friend of the WPU, came all the way from Chicago to investigate. They turned out to be chocolate, but the WPU did sell cigarettes made out of tobacco in 1912, as did the WSPU in England. The 19th century items pictured below, a mock-up cardboard box for "Women's Rights Smoking Tobacco," a tobacco box for a similar sounding brand, and a pipe picturing a figure of undetermined gender with a hat proclaiming "Votes for Women," are all negative in intent.

To the right is a grouping of suffrage themed games and toys. Most suffrage games, including various board games, were designed for adults, not children, and were intended to combine suffrage instruction with entertainment. The few non-satiric dolls that appear were generally hand-made and of limited issue. There were a few games of Old Maid, with the suffragist, of course, representing the old maid, but, even with the hostility to the movement, their production was limited. American suffragists passed out several varieties of whirligigs or spinners. Most board games were of English manufacture.

Role-Exhibit created by Dr. Kenneth Florey, Professor Emeritus, Southern Connecticut State University, Author of "Women's Suffrage Memorabilia: An Illustrated Historical Study," McFarland Press, 2013

The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

Stories from Women's Suffrage Memorabilia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Women's Suffrage Memorabilia - Google Arts & Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The china to the right was ordered by Newport socialite Mrs. Alva Belmont from the English firm of John Maddock and Sons for use in the lunch room at the headquarters of her Political Equality Association in New York, The small restaurant was intended specifically for working girls.

# data[].attributes.headline
Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote

# data[].attributes.subject
Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote

# data[].attributes.body
National Archives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Celebrate the 19th Amendment’s centennial and discover the diverse struggle for women’s voting rights throughout American history.

# data[].attributes.headline
For Democracy: Celebrating 100 Years of the 19th Amendment

# data[].attributes.subject
For Democracy: Celebrating 100 Years of the 19th Amendment

# data[].attributes.body
Alice Paul Institute

# data[].attributes.headline
Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote

# data[].attributes.subject
Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote

# data[].attributes.body
Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal. . . . In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object.-Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Declaration of Sentiments, 1848

The campaign for women's voting rights lasted more than seven decades. Considered the largest reform movement in United States history, its participants believed that securing the vote was essential to achieving women's economic, social, and political equality. Culminating 100 years ago in the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the fight for women's suffrage was not for the fainthearted. Determined women organized, lobbied, paraded, petitioned, lectured, and picketed for years. Suffragists were ridiculed, patronized, and dismissed by opponents, yet they persisted. Some were assaulted and endured the harsh confines of prison for daring to claim rights equal to men, but they would not be denied.

The movement questioned the country's commitment to democracy, exposed the nation's longstanding class, regional, and racial divides, and challenged existing gender stereotypes. Arguments and strategies for and against women's suffrage varied over time and place. Proponents forged uneasy alliances and overcame countless controversies. Although few of the women who began the suffrage campaign before the Civil War lived long enough to witness its final victory in August 1920, their work was carried on by their daughters, granddaughters, and other women whom they had inspired, nurtured, and taught. Their collective story is one of courage, perseverance, savvy, creativity, and hope that continues to inspire women today. #ShallNotBeDenied

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Explore | Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote | Exhibitions at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal. . . . In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object.

# data[].attributes.body
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ida B. Wells-Barnett (c. 1893) by Sallie E. GarritySmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

The crusade for women’s suffrage is among the longest reform movements in American history. Between 1832 and 1920, women citizens organized for the right to vote, agitating first in their states or territories and then through petitioning for a federal amendment. Eventually, the movement culminated in the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

Earlier histories of suffrage and women’s activism tend to overlook the work of African Americans and other women of color. Leading up to the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, this exhibition seeks to tell a more complete story of the movement through portraits of women who represent different races, ages, and fields of endeavor.

Lady Lobbyist at the White House, Harper's Weekly (1866) by Unidentified ArtistSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Radical Women 1832–1869

The American suffrage movement was an outgrowth of antislavery activism. Women abolitionists had begun abandoning domestic tradition and asserting their opinions in public when they fought against slavery. Suffrage, however, did not become a central issue in the women’s movement until after the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments in 1868 and 1870, which granted citizenship to all born in the United States and enfranchised African American men, respectively.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (c. 1870) by Napoleon SaronySmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

When the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, it became the first time the federal government interfered in the state prerogative of voting eligibility. Many educated white women were appalled when they saw formerly enslaved black men obtain the right to vote before they did. Consequently, the women’s rights movement split into two groups focused solely on suffrage: the National Woman Suffrage Association, led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, opposed the Fifteenth Amendment and insisted that the gender restriction of “male” should be struck down before the racial designation of “white.” Conversely, the American Woman Suffrage Association, led by Lucy Stone, supported the enfranchisement of black men as a progressive development and continued to work to enfranchise women.

Lucy Stone (c. 1866) by Sumner Bradley HealdSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Lucy Stone helped found the American Equal Rights Association in 1866. After competing suffrage priorities split the movement in 1870, Stone became the leader of the American Woman Suffrage Association. AWSA was dedicated to achieving woman suffrage through state-level legislation, while at the same time it supported African American civil rights.

Sojourner Truth (c. 1870) by Randall StudioSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Sojourner Truth participated in the debates over which group should get suffrage first—black men or women. In 1867, the former slave declared: “If colored men get their rights, and not colored women theirs, you see the colored men will be masters over the women, and it will be just as bad as it was before.” Having experienced unequal pay due to her gender, she became concerned with women’s economic prosperity.

Harriet Tubman (c. 1868) by John G. DarbySmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Harriet Tubman advocated for women, including their right to suffrage. This biography, Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman, features a woodcut portrait as the frontispiece. With her hands on the barrel of a rifle, Tubman’s pose reflects her service during the Civil War as a spy for the Union Army. Like Sojourner Truth, she fought for women’s financial freedom. In 1899, she petitioned Congress for her military pension.

Sarah Remond (c. 1865) by Unidentified ArtistSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Sarah Parker Remond participated in the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society, the Essex County Anti-Slavery Society, and the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. All of these groups helped her understand her rights. After being forcibly ejected from her seat in a Boston theater in 1853 because she was black, Remond sued and was awarded $500 by the First District Court of Essex. In winning, she recognized the power of her words, and in 1856, she joined her brother Charles as a lecturing agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, where she thrived. Audiences revered her. Her message was distinct because she drew on her demeanor as a “lady” while recounting episodes of ghastly, forced sexual exploitation of women slaves.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1895) by Unidentified ArtistSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

The writer and suffragist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper addressed both racism and women’s oppression. She observed of her fellow suffragists: “I do not believe that giving the woman the ballot is immediately going to cure all the ills of life. I do not believe that white women are dew-drops just exhaled from the skies. I think that like men they may be divided into three classes, the good, the bad, and the indifferent.” Her statement reinforced Frederick Douglass’s argument that voting rights for black men should be prioritized because they represented “a question of life and death.”

Representative Women (1870) by L. SchamerSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Women Activists 1870–1892

During the 1871 elections, women marched to the polls in an attempt to vote. This daring new style of activism was called the “New Departure.” The plan was: go vote, get arrested, and argue your theory in court.  Roadblocks set up to counter the New Departure forced suffragists down other avenues of bold activism.  Activists traveled the lecture circuit, promoting abolition, education reform and women’s rights.  Others chose to defy society’s expectations of women by harnessing the power of the press, running for public office and public protest.

Belva Ann Lockwood (c. 1880) by Benjamin Joseph FalkSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Widowed at twenty-two years of age, Belva Ann Lockwood used her inheritance to educate herself in law. Lockwood became the first woman to campaign for the presidency (1884 and 1888). Her platform focused on women’s rights issues, particularly suffrage, temperance, and reform for divorce and marriage laws. In 1880, at the age of forty-eight, Lockwood became the first woman to appear before the Supreme Court of the United States and successfully argued for Cherokee land rights.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett (c. 1893) by Sallie E. GarritySmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

In 1884, the journalist Ida B. Wells filed a lawsuit against the Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern Railroad after being forcibly removed from the ladies’ train car because she was black. Wells won the trial in Shelby County but lost the appeal at the Tennessee Supreme Court. After this, she focused on advocating for the civil rights of African Americans—including suffrage. In 1913, at the suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., she famously refused to march in the back with the other African American women. Instead, she marched at the front of the Illinois suffrage delegation.

Victoria Claflin Woodhull (c. 1870) by Mathew B. BradySmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

The controversial, wealthy banker Victoria Woodhull announced her candidacy for President of the United States in 1870. Subsequently, she presented a memorandum to Congress requesting the right to “vote without regard to sex,” shocking many Americans. In response to Woodhull’s testimony, nineteen antisuffragists— all women—published their opposition in the Godey’s Lady’s Book, a magazine promoting traditional ideals of womanhood. A number of suffragists disapproved of Woodhull, too, and her fiery rhetoric did nothing to boost her popularity.

Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (c. 1863) by Mathew B. BradySmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Anna Elizabeth Dickinson enchanted the antebellum United States with her passion for justice. When she was just eighteen years old, Dickinson addressed the Pennsylvania Antislavery Society with a speech entitled “The Rights and Wrongs of Women.” It launched a wildly successful career on the lecture circuit. In 1864, she became the first woman to address the House of Representatives. Her lecture, “What Shall We Do with Our Daughters?” analyzed societal standards for young girls, specifically their education and required dress. Dickinson’s spellbinding lectures moved many women and men to further women’s rights.

The New Woman (1892) by Edward Lamson HenrySmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

The New Woman 1893–1912

In the 1890s, the New Woman emerged as a radical social force in American society. College educated, independent, and devoted to progressive reform—including suffrage—she awakened others to gender inequality. The suffrage movement gained traction out West and through state-by-state referendums, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Washington granted women’s suffrage. Meanwhile, women of color did not have the privilege of a single-issue. Yet African American women saw themselves as responsible agitators for change. They gained a public voice through their education and banded together to address basic human rights. Other women of color, including Native Americans, did not have U.S. citizenship and lobbied intensively to obtain it.

Mary Church Terrell (1884) by H.M. PlattSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

After her childhood friend, Thomas Moss, was lynched in 1892, Mary Church Terrell devoted her life to activism. She served in various capacities within the National Association of Colored Women, becoming its first president in 1896. In that role, Terrell spoke to the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1898 about black women’s activism within their homes and communities. She described their efforts as: “lifting as we climb, onward and upward we go, struggling and striving, and hoping that the buds and blossoms of our desires will burst into glorious fruition ere long.”

Anna Julia Haywood Cooper (1884) by H.M. PlattSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Anna Julia Haywood Cooper, who was born into slavery and helped pioneer a path for educated black women when she graduated from Oberlin College in 1884. She published her first book, A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South, in 1892, wherein she voiced radical ideas of inclusion and equality.

Mary McLeod Bethune (1910 or 1911) by William Ludlow CoursenSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

While teaching at several schools in South Carolina and Florida in the 1890s, Mary McLeod Bethune became acutely aware of the dual oppression that African American girls faced. Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Training Negro Girls in 1904. The classical liberal education provided students with the tools they needed to become community leaders. Outside of the Institute, Bethune organized black voters and worked to elect officials who would address the needs of her community.

Official program - Woman suffrage procession, Washington, D.C. (1913) by Benjamin M. DaleSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Compelling Tactics 1913–1916

On March 3, 1913, thousands of American women made history as the first nonviolent political group to march on the capital en masse. Alice Paul introduced militancy to the women’s suffrage movement with compelling tactics like parades and protests. Her group split off from the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and formed what eventually was called the National Woman’s Party (NWP). Paul and her followers focused on lobbying nationally for a federal amendment. By contrast, Carrie Chapman Catt, the leader of NAWSA, pursued the strategy of state-by-state referendums. Both groups continued to exclude women of color, who in turn persevered to work within their own frameworks for universal citizenship rights.

Carrie Chapman Catt (c. 1901) by Theodore C. MarceauSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Susan B. Anthony groomed Carrie Chapman Catt to lead the suffrage movement. Catt was a brilliant organizer who, after attending her first meeting in 1890, soon became indispensable to the National American Woman Suffrage Association. After 909 campaigns conducted by three generations of women, Catt led the last charge. She organized campaigns to gain the necessary approvals from thirty-six states, including the final one in Tennessee.

Alice Paul (c. 1923) by Underwood & UnderwoodSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Alice Paul was a genius political tactician. Inspired by the British suffragettes, whose use of spectacle and the media were highly effective, she introduced tactics like parades to the American women’s suffrage movement. Paul felt that suffragists would be most effective if they pushed for a federal amendment to the Constitution.

Jeannette Pickering Rankin (c. 1917) by L. ChaseSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Deeply involved in organizing for suffrage, Jeannette Rankin helped women win the vote in Montana in 1914. Two years later, she became the first woman elected to Congress. When the suffrage amendment was proposed in 1918, she opened the first House Floor debate, asking, “How shall we explain to them the meaning of democracy if the same Congress that voted for war to make the world safe for democracy refuses to give this small measure of democracy to the women of our country?”

The Awakening (1915) by Henry MayerSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

During the early 1900s, suffragists argued that getting the right to vote was a reform measure born out of democracy, and they developed visual culture to reinforce this idea. Suffragists held up states in the West and California in particular as models for an awakening of democracy. In this illustration, an allegorical figure representing liberty holds a torch as she strides across a map of the country, symbolizing the movement’s state-by-state progress. Starting in the western states that already had granted women full suffrage, Lady Liberty advances toward the East Coast, enfranchising women as she crosses the nation.

Votes for Women (1911) by Bertha Margaret BoyéSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Many women’s organizations turned toward publicity and art to galvanize support. In 1911, the San Francisco College Equal Suffrage League held a poster contest for the best illustration supporting women’s voting rights. The winning design by Bertha Margaret Boyé depicts a female figure holding a “Votes for Women” banner at her waistline while the sun forms a halo around her head. Two rising mountains, reminiscent of the Golden Gate Strait, frame her shoulders. Boyé’s lithograph, which was reproduced through 1913, creates a symbolic parallel between California’s famous seaside hills and women’s rights.

Starting of Suffragette’s Parade Coming Up Penna. Ave. (1913) by Unidentified ArtistSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

On March 3, 1913, American women marched on the capital before a crowd of more than 500,000. The procession concluded with the tableau Liberty and Her Attendants. Dedicated to the ideals of American womanhood, the performance took place on the steps of the Treasury Building. As trumpets sounded, Columbia, the female personification of the United States, summoned allegorical figures including Liberty, Justice, Charity, Peace, Plenty, and Hope.

Lucy Burns in Jail (1917) by Harris & Ewing StudioSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Militancy in the American Suffragist Movement 1917–1919

After the success of the 1913 Suffrage Procession, Alice Paul knew more parades and protests would draw media attention.  Suffragists began protesting outside the White House in early 1917. By resisting and defying authority, these women distinguished themselves as nonviolent radicals. By targeting the White House, the suffragist picketers placed enormous pressure on President Woodrow Wilson.  At the same time, the suffrage movement continued to perpetuate discrimination, rarely allowing African American women to take part in the militant actions. The picketers, through creating a relentless public presence, eventually won American sympathy, and Wilson finally offered public support. By late June 1919, both the House of Representatives and the Senate approved the federal suffrage amendment.

Suffrage Procession (1917) by Unidentified ArtistSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

“Silent Sentinels” were the first to picket the White House, and they assembled every day from January 10, 1917, until the amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920. Their purple, cream, and gold banners were highly recognizable. For the first few months, the picketers amused President Wilson. However, after the United States entered World War I in April 1917, their presence had become embarrassing. The suffragists pointed out the hypocrisy of fighting for democracy and freedom in Europe while denying the vote to women at home. Beginning in June, District of Columbia police began arresting the suffragist picketers.

College Women Picketing in front of the White House (1917) by Unidentified ArtistSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

The National Woman’s Party (NWP) organized the picket line into themed groups for newly designated occasions, including Patriot Day, College Day, and State Day. On College Day, women wore sashes emblazoned with the name of their alma mater. To counter assumptions that they were of ill repute, they emphasized their high degree of education. Representative graduates of Bryn Mawr, Oberlin, Smith, Stanford, Swarthmore, the University of Kansas, and Washington College of Law participated, carrying banners.

Congratulations (1920) by Charles Dana GibsonSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

The Nineteenth Amendment and Its Legacy

The history of American women’s suffrage exposes deep social divisions along racial lines as well as a flawed and convoluted history of American governance. Although women of color were repeatedly ignored by white suffragists, they kept fighting for their own rights. Native American activists lobbied for decades for U.S. citizenship, which they finally received in 1924. Similarly, Puerto Rican women gained full suffrage in 1935. African Americans and other people of color could not vote unimpeded until 1965.

Even today, restrictive voter identification laws target African American and Native American citizens in specific regions. Yet as the 2016 Presidential election and the 2017 United States Senate special election in Alabama have demonstrated, the collective vote of specific blocks of women has come to wield enormous influence in American governance. Moreover, women, who had no political voice one hundred years ago, now serve in the American government in historic numbers. Today, more than 120 women are serving in the 116th Congress.

The Sky is Now Her Limit (1920) by Elmer Andrews BushnellSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Upon the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, illustrator Elmer Andrews Bushnell represented the opportunities now open to enfranchised women. A young working class woman suddenly has access to a future she never had before. She looks up from the base of a ladder that ascends toward the sky. The bottom rungs, labeled “Slavery” and “House Drudgery,” are the subject’s first hurdles. The next rungs are labeled with careers typical for women in the early twentieth century. At the top, the last step delineates what, for many American women, symbolizes the pinnacle of political equality: “Presidency.”

Susette LaFlesche Tibbles (c. 1879) by Jose Maria MoraSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

In 1877, Susette La Flesche Tibbles witnessed the forced removal of the Ponca from Nebraska and the imprisonment of Ponca Chief Standing Bear, and others, who attempted to return to their homeland. Bilingual and bicultural, Tibbles served as an expert witness in the ensuing trial and also worked as an interpreter in other court cases that Native peoples brought against the federal government. Like other people of color, Native women did not have the privilege of a single issue focus. As activists, they lobbied strenuously to improve conditions on reservations and for U.S. citizenship.

Zitkala-Sa (1898 (printed 1901)) by Joseph T. KeileySmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Zitkala-Sa was a pioneer for Indian rights activists who had graduated from mission and government schools, where children were forbidden from speaking their indigenous native languages. Working together, these intellectual activists used their formal educations and flawless English to fight U.S. federal Indian policy and demand social justice. The Society of American Indians, founded in 1907, was the first national all-Indian organization to advocate for Indian rights. As one of its leaders, Zitkala-Sa fought for Native American citizenship rights. Zitkala-Sa later founded one of the most important Native rights organizations, The National Council of American Indians.

Fannie Lou Hamer (1966) by Charmian ReadingSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

The Nineteenth Amendment granted white American women the right to vote, but it did not remove racist Jim Crow laws that sought to obstruct African American civil rights. In 1962, Fannie Lou Hamer and seventeen other aspiring Black voters went to the courthouse in Indianola, Mississippi, to register. When Hamer’s white employer and landlord learned of her action, he threatened to fire her and evict her if she did not retract her registration. She refused to do so, and she and her family were put out of their home.

In 1964, Hamer founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and gained national attention for her eloquent, televised testimony before the credentials committee of the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Her speech galvanized President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

His District (1916) by Nina E. AllenderSmithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery invited The Pudding, whose online publication uses visual essays to explain ideas debated in culture, to consider how the political voice of American women has changed since the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Drawing from research conducted by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, The Pudding analyzed nearly one hundred documents from the platforms of political parties. The study spans 1840 through 2016, includes all parties that have received electoral votes.

Votes for Women

Credits: All media

The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

Stories from Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

# data[].attributes.body
National Women's History Museum

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Elizabeth Cady Stanton--one of the Seneca Falls convention leaders--reminisced, "We were but a handful..." recalling the supporters of woman suffrage at the convention, where the right to vote was their most radical demand. Between this first convention advocating the rights of women and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing women's right to vote in 1920 lay a long and arduous journey. Victory was never assured until the final moments. In the intervening years, the drive for women's voting rights encompassed the lives of several generations of women. Suffrage supporters survived a series of dramatic transformations in their movement that included: fifty years of educating the public to establish the legitimacy of woman suffrage; approximately twenty years of direct lobbying as well as dramatic militant action to press their claim to the vote; the division of each generation into moderate and radical camps; and the creation of a distinct female political culture and imagery to promote "votes for women."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Elizabeth Cady Stanton--one of the Seneca Falls convention leaders--reminisced, "We were but a handful..." recalling the supporters of woman suffrage at the convention, where the right to vote was their most radical demand. Between this first convention advocating the rights of women and the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteeing women's right to vote in 1920 lay a long and arduous journey.