National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

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Headquarters of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in New York City Opposed to suffrage.jpg
Headquarters of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in New York City

The National Association Opposed to Women Suffrage (NAOWS) was founded in the United States by women opposed to the suffrage movement in 1911. It was the most popular anti-suffrage organization in northeastern cities. [1] NAOWS had influential local chapters in many states, including Texas and Virginia.

Contents

History

Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge, Miss Alice M. Chittenden, Mrs. Horace Brock, Mrs. E. Yarde Breese, start the anti-suffrage campaign in New Jersey in May of 1915 Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge, Miss Alice M. Chittenden, Mrs. Horace Brock, Mrs. E. Yarde Breese, start the anti-suffrage campaign in New Jersey in May of 1915.jpg
Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge, Miss Alice M. Chittenden, Mrs. Horace Brock, Mrs. E. Yarde Breese, start the anti-suffrage campaign in New Jersey in May of 1915

The National Association Opposed to Women Suffrage (NAOWS) was established by Josephine Jewell Dodge in New York City in 1911. [1] Dodge had the first meeting at her house and women came from New York and surrounding states. [2] Dodge was currently the president of the New York State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NYSAOWS). [3] Dodge resigned from NYSAOWS to take over as president of NAOWS. [4] Shortly after formation, state branches of NAOWS began to form. [5] [6] Headquarters in Washington, D.C., were opened in 1913, giving the organization a front in both New York and the U.S. Capital. [7] [8]

Like other anti-suffrage organizations, NAOWS published a newsletter as well as other publications, containing their opinions on the current political issues of the time. The newsletter of the association was called Woman's Protest (later renamed Woman Patriot in 1918). [9] Dodge also toured the country, spreading anti-suffrage views to other states. [10]

Josephine Dodge, the founding president, was replaced in 1917, [11] by Alice Hay Wadsworth, wife of U.S. Senator James W. Wadsworth, Jr. from New York. [12] Upon amendment to the New York State Constitution granting women the right to vote, the focus of the NAOWS shifted from the state level to the federal level. The organization also began to see more men join NAOWS than before. [13] The headquarters were moved solely to Washington D.C. and they merged with the Woman Patriot Publishing Company. [14] The organization disbanded in 1920 as a result of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. [15]

Delaware Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

The Delaware Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (DAOWS) was formed in 1914. [16] Mary Wilson Thompson served as the president. [17] Thompson's influence on politics was effective at preventing the initial ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in Delaware. [18]

Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

Vote Against Woman Suffrage - Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, c. 1915 Vote Against Woman Suffrage - Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, c. 1915.jpg
Vote Against Woman Suffrage - Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, c. 1915

Prominent Georgia women, Eugenia Dorothy Blount Lamar and Mildred Rutherford, formed the Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (GAOWS) in Macon, Georgia in May 1914. [19] [20] GAOWS was affiliated with the national group. [20] Both Lamar and Rutherford were involved in Confederate memorial work. [21] Rutherford's influence with the Confederate daughters of Georgia helped raise the profile of GAOWS and the group quickly grew to 2,000 members. [20] For women who supported the idea of the Lost Cause, suffragists represented a change to traditional class and gender roles in the South. [19] [21] Anti-suffragists in Georgia linked women's suffrage to the Reconstruction era. [22] They were also concerned with keeping power out of the hands of African-American women who were seeking equal rights. [23] GAOWS was also concerned with keeping political power out of the hands of poor white women. [24]

Members of GAOWS testified in front of the Georgia General Assembly against women's suffrage. [25] After Georgia rejected the Nineteenth Amendment, Lamar went to other states to campaign against the amendment's ratification. [26]

Maine Association Opposed to Suffrage for Women

The Maine Association Opposed to Suffrage for Women (MAOSW) was formed in 1913. [27] [28] By 1917, almost 2,000 members joined the group. [28]

New Jersey Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

The New Jersey Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NJAOWS) was formed on April 14, 1912. [29] Many members of NJAOWS were wealthy and involved in "patriotic, heritage organizations" like the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). [30] Anti-suffragists in New Jersey linked women's suffrage with anti-patriotism. [31] Many did not want to see traditional roles in the community change. [32] Members of NJAOWS were also worried about socialism and immigrants voting. [33]

South Dakota Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

In 1916, a South Dakota affiliate of NAOWS was created and led by Mrs. Ernest Jackson and Mrs. C. M. Hollister. [34] The group started publishing a newspaper called the South Dakota Anti-Suffragist and campaigned against upcoming suffrage referendums in the state. [34]

Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

In March 1916, the Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (TAOWS) was created as a chapter of NAOWS in Houston with Pauline Wells as the president. [35] [36] The chapter in Texas also connected the increase in African Americans voting to women's suffrage and they stoked fears of "domination by the black race in the South." [35] They also believed that women's suffrage was linked to "feminism, sex antagonism, socialism, anarchy and Mormonism." [35] Like their parent organization, TAOWS had local chapters in major Texas cities. [37] TAOWS fought against the Texas Equal Suffrage Association who were pushing for Texas women's right to vote in Texas primary elections in 1918. [35] In April 1919, headquarters were moved to Fort Worth. [38] In 1919, TAOWS successfully campaigned against a state measure for women's vote which was defeated by 25,000 votes in May. [35] However, in June 1919, Texas passed a suffrage amendment, allowing women to vote and the TAOWS stopped fighting against women's suffrage. [35]

Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage broadside, 1917 Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage broadside, 1917.png
Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage broadside, 1917

A group, the Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (VAOWS) formed in Richmond in March 1912 and affiliated with NAOWS. [39] Jane Rutherford served as the president of VAOWS. [40] Local branches in different cities formed by 1913 and the organization distributed anti-suffrage literature. [41] [42] In 1915, VAOWS helped raise money for the Belgian Relief Fund during World War I. [43] By May 1917, VAOWS had doubled in size and continued to grow through 1918. [44] [45] Around 8,000 women had signed up with the anti-suffrage cause in Richmond by 1919. [46]

Like the Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, VAOWS also suggested that race riots, the black vote and women's suffrage were connected. [46] In a sponsored editorial published in The Richmond Times-Dispatch on September 2, 1919, VAOWS exclaimed, "Race riots will increase if there is more politics between the races and if women are mixed up in politics!" [46] One anti-suffragist in Virginia said it would be harder to keep Black women from the polls than Black men saying that Black women were "exempt from fear and physical consequences." [47]

VAOWS also threatened that if women were given the vote, it would lead to socialism. [48] Linking socialism to women's suffrage brought class issues into the debate on the vote for women. [47] Virginia had already worked to disenfranchise Black voters, poor white voters, and Republicans in 1902. [49] VAOWS worked to make sure that this supremacy over the poor and over differing political ideologies was maintained. [50] VAOWS appealed to state's rights as a means to oppose federal oversight of their voting practices. [51]

Political views

Household hints pamphlet distributed by the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NAOWS). circa 1910 Household Hints.jpg
Household hints pamphlet distributed by the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NAOWS). circa 1910

One of NAOWS' publications included a pamphlet, Some Reasons Why We Oppose Votes for Women, [52] which, as the title suggests, outlines some of the reasons why they are opposed to women suffrage. They believed it was irrelevant to the success of the country, as stated in their pamphlet: [52]

Because the great advance of women in the last century— moral, intellectual and economic— has been made without the vote; which goes to prove that it is not needed for their further advancement along the same lines.

The National Association Opposed to Women Suffrage opposed women's right to vote because they said that the majority of women did not want the right to vote, [53] and because they believed that the men in their lives accurately represented the political will of women around the United States. NAOWS submitted pamphlets like these to the general public as well as directing them to government officials so that political figures would see that women opposed the then-unratified nineteenth amendment. They did this in order to counteract the rhetoric of the suffragettes of the time. According to the NAOWS and the state-based organizations that it inspired, voting would severely and negatively affect the true submissive and domestic state of the feminine. These organizations were championed by women who thought themselves the prime examples of true womanhood—quiet, dignified, and regal. They looked with disdain at the outward protests of suffragettes.

NAOWS wanted to appeal to conservative and traditional members of their community, including other women and religious figures. [54] They positioned themselves as being in opposition of "the militant suffragette" and militant or "hysterical" tactics. [55] [56] NAOWS also believed that women's involvement in politics would interfere with their "civic duties for which they are peculiarly adapted." [2] NAOWS believed that women were equal to men, but had different duties and "functions". [57]

Quotes from Some Reasons Why We Oppose Votes For Women

"We believe that political equality will deprive us of special privileges hitherto accorded to us by law." [52]

"[We oppose suffrage] Because it means simply doubling the vote, and especially the undesirable and corrupt vote of our large cities." [52]

"[We oppose suffrage] Because our present duties fill up the whole measure of our time and ability, and are such as none but ourselves can perform." [52]

Notable members

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's suffrage in Texas</span>

Women's suffrage in Texas was a long term fight starting in 1868 at the first Texas Constitutional Convention. In both Constitutional Conventions and subsequent legislative sessions, efforts to provide women the right to vote were introduced, only to be defeated. Early Texas suffragists such as Martha Goodwin Tunstall and Mariana Thompson Folsom worked with national suffrage groups in the 1870s and 1880s. It wasn't until 1893 and the creation of the Texas Equal Rights Association (TERA) by Rebecca Henry Hayes of Galveston that Texas had a statewide women's suffrage organization. Members of TERA lobbied politicians and political party conventions on women's suffrage. Due to an eventual lack of interest and funding, TERA was inactive by 1898. In 1903, women's suffrage organizing was revived by Annette Finnigan and her sisters. These women created the Texas Equal Suffrage Association (TESA) in Houston in 1903. TESA sponsored women's suffrage speakers and testified on women's suffrage in front of the Texas Legislature. In 1908 and 1912, speaking tours by Anna Howard Shaw helped further renew interest in women's suffrage in Texas. TESA grew in size and suffragists organized more public events, including Suffrage Day at the Texas State Fair. By 1915, more and more women in Texas were supporting women's suffrage. The Texas Federation of Women's Clubs officially supported women's suffrage in 1915. Also that year, anti-suffrage opponents started to speak out against women's suffrage and in 1916, organized the Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (TAOWS). TESA, under the political leadership of Minnie Fisher Cunningham and with the support of Governor William P. Hobby, suffragists began to make further gains in achieving their goals. In 1918, women achieved the right to vote in Texas primary elections. During the registration drive, 386,000 Texas women signed up during a 17-day period. An attempt to modify the Texas Constitution by voter referendum failed in May 1919, but in June 1919, the United States Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment. Texas became the ninth state and the first Southern state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment on June 28, 1919. This allowed white women to vote, but African American women still had trouble voting, with many turned away, depending on their communities. In 1923, Texas created white primaries, excluding all Black people from voting in the primary elections. The white primaries were overturned in 1944 and in 1964, Texas's poll tax was abolished. In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed, promising that all people in Texas had the right to vote, regardless of race or gender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of women's suffrage in Texas</span>

This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Texas. Women's suffrage was brought up in Texas at the first state constitutional convention, which began in 1868. However, there was a lack of support for the proposal at the time to enfranchise women. Women continued to fight for the right to vote in the state. In 1918, women gained the right to vote in Texas primary elections. The Texas legislature ratified the 19th amendment on June 28, 1919, becoming the ninth state and the first Southern state to ratify the amendment. While white women had secured the vote, Black women still struggled to vote in Texas. In 1944, white primaries were declared unconstitutional. Poll taxes were outlawed in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965, fully enfranchising Black women voters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's suffrage in Ohio</span>

Women's suffrage in Ohio was an ongoing fight with some small victories along the way. Women's rights issues in Ohio were put into the public eye in the early 1850s. Women inspired by the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention created newspapers and then set up their own conventions, including the 1850 Ohio Women's Rights Convention which was the first women's right's convention outside of New York and the first that was planned and run solely by women. These early efforts towards women's suffrage affected people in other states and helped energize the women's suffrage movement in Ohio. Women's rights groups formed throughout the state, with the Ohio Women's Rights Association (OWRA) founded in 1853. Other local women's suffrage groups are formed in the late 1860s. In 1894, women won the right to vote in school board elections in Ohio. The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was headquartered for a time in Warren, Ohio. Two efforts to vote on a constitutional amendment, one in 1912 and the other 1914 were unsuccessful, but drew national attention to women's suffrage. In 1916, women in East Cleveland gained the right to vote in municipal elections. A year later, women in Lakewood, Ohio and Columbus were given the right to vote in municipal elections. Also in 1917, the Reynolds Bill, which would allow women to vote in the next presidential election was passed, and then quickly repealed by a voter referendum sponsored by special-interest groups. On June 16, 1919, Ohio became the fifth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's suffrage in Rhode Island</span>

Even before women's suffrage in Rhode Island efforts took off, women were fighting for equal male suffrage during the Dorr Rebellion. Women raised money for the Dorrite cause, took political action and kept members of the rebellion in exile informed. An abolitionist, Paulina Wright Davis, chaired and attended women's rights conferences in New England and later, along with Elizabeth Buffum Chace, founded the Rhode Island Women's Suffrage Association (RIWSA) in 1868. This group petitioned the Rhode Island General Assembly for an amendment to the state constitution to provide women's suffrage. For many years, RIWSA was the major group providing women's suffrage action in Rhode Island. In 1887, a women's suffrage amendment to the state constitution came up for a voter referendum. The vote, on April 6, 1887, was decisively against women's suffrage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's suffrage in Georgia (U.S. state)</span>

Women's suffrage in Georgia received a slow start, with the first women's suffrage group, the Georgia Woman Suffrage Association (GWSA) formed in 1892 by Helen Augusta Howard. Over time, the group, which focused on "taxation without representation" grew and earned the support of both men and women. Howard convinced the National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to hold their first convention outside of Washington, D.C., in 1895. The convention, held in Atlanta, was the first large women's rights gathering in the Southern United States. GWSA continued to hold conventions and raise awareness over the next years. Suffragists in Georgia agitated for suffrage amendments, for political parties to support white women's suffrage and for municipal suffrage. In the 1910s, more organizations were formed in Georgia and the number of suffragists grew. In addition, the Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage also formed an organized anti-suffrage campaign. Suffragists participated in parades, supported bills in the legislature and helped in the war effort during World War I. In 1917 and 1919, women earned the right to vote in primary elections in Waycross, Georgia and in Atlanta respectively. In 1919, after the Nineteenth Amendment went out to the states for ratification, Georgia became the first state to reject the amendment. When the Nineteenth Amendment became the law of the land, women still had to wait to vote because of rules regarding voter registration. White Georgia women would vote statewide in 1922. Native American women and African-American women had to wait longer to vote. Black women were actively excluded from the women's suffrage movement in the state and had their own organizations. Despite their work to vote, Black women faced discrimination at the polls in many different forms. Georgia finally ratified the Nineteenth Amendment on February 20, 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of women's suffrage in Georgia (U.S. state)</span>

This is a timeline of women's suffrage in Georgia. Women's suffrage in Georgia started in earnest with the formation of the Georgia Woman Suffrage Association (GWSA) in 1892. GWSA helped bring the first large women's rights convention to the South in 1895 when the National American Woman's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) held their convention in Atlanta. GWSA was the main source of activism behind women's suffrage until 1913. In that year, several other groups formed including the Georgia Young People's Suffrage Association (GYPSA) and the Georgia Men's League for Woman Suffrage. In 1914, the Georgia Association Opposed to Women's Suffrage (GAOWS) was formed by anti-suffragists. Despite the hard work by suffragists in Georgia, the state continued to reject most efforts to pass equal suffrage. In 1917, Waycross, Georgia allowed women to vote in primary elections and in 1919 Atlanta granted the same. Georgia was the first state to reject the Nineteenth Amendment. Women in Georgia still had to wait to vote statewide after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 26, 1920. Native American and African American women had to wait even longer to vote. Georgia ratified the Nineteenth Amendment in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's suffrage in Pennsylvania</span>

Women's suffrage in Pennsylvania was an outgrowth of the abolitionist movement in the state. Early women's suffrage advocates in Pennsylvania not only wanted equal suffrage for white women, but for all African Americans. The first women's rights convention in the state was organized by Quakers and held in Chester County in 1852. Philadelphia would host the fifth National Women's Rights Convention in 1854. Later years saw suffragists forming a statewide group, the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association (PWSA), and other smaller groups throughout the state. Early efforts moved slowly, but steadily, with suffragists raising awareness and winning endorsements from labor unions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's suffrage in South Dakota</span>

Women's suffrage in South Dakota started when it was part of Dakota Territory. Prior to 1889, it had a shared women's suffrage history with North Dakota. While South Dakota was part of the territory, women earned the right to vote on school related issues. They retained this right after it became a separate state. The state constitution specified that there would be a women's suffrage amendment referendum in 1890. Despite a large campaign that included Susan B. Anthony and a state suffrage group, the South Dakota Equal Suffrage Association (SDESA), the referendum failed. The state legislature passed additional suffrage referendums over the years, but each was voted down until 1918. South Dakota was an early ratifier of the Nineteenth Amendment, which was approved during a special midnight legislative session on December 4, 1919.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's suffrage in New Jersey</span> History of suffrage in New Jersey

Suffrage in New Jersey was available to most women and African Americans immediately upon the formation of the state. The first New Jersey state constitution allowed any person who owned a certain value of property to become a voter. In 1790, the state constitution was changed to specify that voters were "he or she." Politicians seeking office deliberately courted women voters who often decided narrow elections. Due to women's influence as swing voters, they were used as scapegoats to blame for election losses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of women's suffrage in New Jersey</span>

This is a timeline of women's suffrage in New Jersey. Women and African Americans had the right to vote in New Jersey until the state constitution was changed in 1807, disenfranchising all but white men. Any early suffrage protest was taken by Lucy Stone in 1857 who refused to pay her property taxes because she could not vote. Additional attempts to make women more equal under the law took place in the 1880s and 1890s. There were also several court cases that challenged women's right to vote in the state. Eventually, a voter referendum on a state constitutional suffrage amendment took place in 1915, however the measure was voted down. Activists continued to fight both in the state and to protest in Washington, D.C. as Silent Sentinels. By February 10, 1920, New Jersey ratified the Nineteenth Amendment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's suffrage in Iowa</span>

Women's suffrage in Iowa efforts began early in Iowa's history. During the territory's Constitutional Convention, discussions on both African American and women's suffrage took place. Early on, women's rights were discussed in the state by women such as Amelia Bloomer and petitions for suffrage were sent to the Iowa state legislature. While African American men earned the right to vote in 1868, women from all backgrounds had to continue to agitate for enfranchisement. One of the first suffrage groups was formed in Dubuque in 1869. Not long after, a state suffrage convention was held in Mount Pleasant in 1870. Iowa suffragists focused on organizing and lobbying the state legislature. In 1894, women gained the right to vote on municipal bond and tax issues and also in school elections. These rights were immediately utilized by women who turned out in good numbers to vote on these issues. By the 1910s, the state legislature finally passed in successive sessions a women's suffrage amendment to the state constitution. This resulted in a voter referendum to be held on the issue on June 5, 1916. The campaign included anti-suffrage agitation from liquor interests who claimed that women's suffrage would cause higher taxes. The amendment was defeated, though a subsequent investigation turned up a large amount of fraud. However, the election could not be invalidated and women had to wait to vote. On July 2, 1919, Iowa became the tenth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.

References

Citations

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  14. ↑ Goodier 2013, p. 13.
  15. ↑ Marshall, Susan E. (2010). Splintered Sisterhood Gender and Class in the Campaign Against Woman Suffrage. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN   9780299154639. OCLC   934667338.
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  33. ↑ Dodyk 1997, p. 353.
  34. 1 2 Easton 1983, p. 216.
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  40. ↑ "Suffragists and Antis in Session". The Times Dispatch. 15 November 1912. Retrieved 2018-05-13– via Newspapers.com.
  41. ↑ "Miss Davis the Head". The Times Dispatch. 2 August 1913. Retrieved 2018-05-13– via Newspapers.com.
  42. ↑ "Opposed to Votes for Women". The Washington Post. 4 January 1914. Retrieved 2018-05-13– via Newspapers.com.
  43. ↑ "Fund Goes to Belgians". The Times Dispatch. 15 January 1915. Retrieved 2018-05-13– via Newspapers.com.
  44. ↑ "Many Join Antisuffragists". The Times Dispatch. 24 May 1917. Retrieved 2018-05-13– via Newspapers.com.
  45. ↑ "Antisuffragists Gain in Total Membership". The Times Dispatch. 5 May 1918. Retrieved 2018-05-13– via Newspapers.com.
  46. 1 2 3 "Shall the State Surrender to the Anthony Amendment?". The Times Dispatch. Retrieved 2018-05-13– via Newspapers.com.
  47. 1 2 Graham 1993, p. 236.
  48. ↑ "Editorial: Virginia was one of the states most opposed to women's suffrage". Roanoke Times. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
  49. ↑ Graham 1993, p. 233.
  50. ↑ Graham 1993, p. 233-234.
  51. ↑ Graham 1993, p. 234.
  52. 1 2 3 4 5 "Suffrage Collection, 1851-2009 (bulk 1880s-1920s) Finding Aid". Five College Archives & Manuscript Collections. Archived from the original on 2017-01-29. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
  53. ↑ "Marjorie Benton Cooke, for Votes for Women and Grace Duffield Goodwin, Opposed, the Winners". The Sun. 13 October 1912. Retrieved 2018-05-10– via Newspapers.com.
  54. ↑ "Household Hints". Gender Issues and Sexuality: Essential Primary Sources. Thomson Gale. 2006.
  55. ↑ "Women Opposed to Suffrage Elect Officers". Newspapers.com. 29 December 1911. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
  56. ↑ "Mrs. Dodge Answers 'Militant' Speech". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 19 March 1912. Retrieved 2018-05-10– via Newspapers.com.
  57. ↑ "Vote Fight Grows". Evening Star. 23 February 1913. Retrieved 2018-05-11– via Newspapers.com.
  58. 1 2 "Kate Douglas Wiggin". Aberdeen Herald. 15 January 1911. Retrieved 2018-05-10– via Newspapers.com.

Sources

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