Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States

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Roberta J. Dunbar, women's club leader and activist of Rhode Island, has an entry in the Online Biographical Dictionary; "most suffrage histories would not include someone like Dunbar." Roberta J Dunbar EDIT crop and dramatic warm filter.jpg
Roberta J. Dunbar, women's club leader and activist of Rhode Island, has an entry in the Online Biographical Dictionary; "most suffrage histories would not include someone like Dunbar."

The Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States is a free-access resource of approximately 3,700 biographies of people associated with the campaign for a woman's right to vote in public elections in the United States. Published by the journal Women and Social Movements, hosted by Alexander Street, and edited by Thomas Dublin and Kathryn Kish Sklar, the biographies were created by volunteers. [3]

The corpus focuses on suffragists from three main groups:

Suggested by historian Jill Zahniser and modeled, in part, on the work of Elizabeth Crawford on British suffragists, [5] the project was started in 2015 with an eye toward completion by the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. [6] The listings were drawn from a database of women arrested at a White House protest, African-American women who had published writing on the topic of suffrage, names unearthed through original research during the course of the first biographical investigations, and 2,700 names drawn from volume six of The History of Woman Suffrage (1922). [5] The original goal circa 2017 [6] of approximately 3,200 biographies was exceeded by 500 as of 2023. [3]

Publication began in 2017 [5] and was largely complete as of December 2022, with further supplements published roughly every six months. [7] There are 72 (originally 99) outstanding names—dubbed the Impossibles—from the histories of women's suffrage in the United States that the researchers have not been able to conclusively identify. [8]

As one Rhode Island historian and project state coordinator put it, "Dublin and Sklar designed the project as a work of social history, meaning that the entries would focus on the ordinary, and usually unknown, members of the movement, instead of celebrated leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, or Alice Paul." [2] Volunteer contributors have included professors, teachers, school administrators, librarians, community members, local historians, high school students, undergrads, graduate students, and genealogists. [2] [5] [8] Faculty at Rosemont in Pennsylvania included creation of biographies for the Dictionary as coursework: "Students in historical research methods were each assigned two suffragists with an option to take on a third biography. Honors students in the history of gender were assigned three biographies. One student participated in both courses and thus completed six biographies. Graduate student Katherine Pettine not only edited the biographies but completed six of her own." [9] A high school class in Massachusetts, and faculty and undergraduate students from Rhode Island College were among the contributors of biographies for suffragists from the Ocean State. [2] A University of Delaware academic and students "found additional black women suffragists in Wilmington" and those names and biographies were added to the database. [5]

Comparison of the biographies of the three main groups of suffragists found that the NWP-affiliated activists were generally younger and newer to political work. Black activists were generally also involved in broader "racial uplift" projects and most had long histories of involvement with the black women's club movement. New York-based NAWSA members, overwhelmingly white, had an average of 16 years of political or community involvement. [5]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution</span> 1920 amendment mandating womens suffrage

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States and its states from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recognizing the right of women to vote. The amendment was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women's suffrage in the United States, at both the state and national levels, and was part of the worldwide movement towards women's suffrage and part of the wider women's rights movement. The first women's suffrage amendment was introduced in Congress in 1878. However, a suffrage amendment did not pass the House of Representatives until May 21, 1919, which was quickly followed by the Senate, on June 4, 1919. It was then submitted to the states for ratification, achieving the requisite 36 ratifications to secure adoption, and thereby go into effect, on August 18, 1920. The Nineteenth Amendment's adoption was certified on August 26, 1920.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Paul</span> American suffragist, feminist, and activist (1885–1977)

Alice Stokes Paul was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the foremost leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote. Paul initiated, and along with Lucy Burns and others, strategized events such as the Woman Suffrage Procession and the Silent Sentinels, which were part of the successful campaign that resulted in the amendment's passage in August 1920.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Woman's Party</span> American political party (1916–2021)

The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NWP advocated for other issues including the Equal Rights Amendment. The most prominent leader of the National Woman's Party was Alice Paul, and its most notable event was the 1917–1919 Silent Sentinels vigil outside the gates of the White House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Burns</span> American suffragist (1879–1966)

Lucy Burns was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate. She was a passionate activist in the United States and the United Kingdom, who joined the militant suffragettes. Burns was a close friend of Alice Paul, and together they ultimately formed the National Woman's Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silent Sentinels</span> Group of American women suffragists

The Silent Sentinels, also known as the Sentinels of Liberty, were a group of over 2,000 women in favor of women's suffrage organized by Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party, who nonviolently protested in front of the White House during Woodrow Wilson's presidency starting on January 10, 1917. Nearly 500 were arrested, and 168 served jail time. They were the first group to picket the White House. Later, they also protested in Lafayette Square, not stopping until June 4, 1919 when the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed both by the House of Representatives and the Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulina Wright Davis</span> American activist and educator (1813–1876)

Paulina Wright Davis was an American abolitionist, suffragist, and educator. She was one of the founders of the New England Woman Suffrage Association.

One of the premier collections on the World Wide Web for the teaching of U.S. history, Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600 to 2000, includes 110 document projects with almost 4,350 documents and more than 153,000 pages of additional full-text sources relating to U.S. women's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's suffrage in states of the United States</span> Womens right to vote in individual states of the United States

Women's suffrage was established in the United States on a full or partial basis by various towns, counties, states and territories during the latter decades of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century. As women received the right to vote in some places, they began running for public office and gaining positions as school board members, county clerks, state legislators, judges, and, in the case of Jeannette Rankin, as a member of Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Locke Park</span> American suffragist (1861–1961)

Alice Elizabeth Locke Park was an American suffragist and a longtime defender of women's rights. She served as associate director of the Susan B. Anthony Memorial Committee of California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison Special</span> 1919 train tour organized by suffragists

The "Prison Special" was a train tour organized by suffragists who, as members of the Silent Sentinels and other demonstrations, had been jailed for picketing the White House in support of passage of the federal women's suffrage amendment. In February 1919, 26 members of the National Woman's Party boarded a chartered train they dubbed the "Democracy Limited" in Washington, D.C. They visited cities across the country where they spoke to large crowds about their experiences as political prisoners at Occoquan Workhouse, and were typically dressed in their prison uniforms. The tour, which concluded in March 1919, helped create support for the ratification effort that ended with the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment on August 26, 1920.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's suffrage in California</span> 19th century political struggle

Women's suffrage in California refers to the political struggle for voting rights for women in the state of California. The movement began in the 19th century and was successful with the passage of Proposition 4 on October 10, 1911. Many of the women and men involved in this movement remained politically active in the national suffrage movement with organizations such as the National American Women's Suffrage Association and the National Woman's Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annis Bertha Ford Eastman</span> American Congregational minister (1852–1910)

Annis Bertha Ford Eastman (1852–1910) was an American Congregational minister, and one of the first women in the United States to be ordained. She ministered at several churches in New York State, including Park Church in Elmira. She was a popular speaker, as well. In 1893, she spoke at the Congress of Women, held at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. She presented at the National Council of Women of the United States in 1895.

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

Women's suffrage in Delaware began in the late 1860s, with efforts from suffragist, Mary Ann Sorden Stuart, and an 1869 women's rights convention held in Wilmington, Delaware. Stuart, along with prominent national suffragists lobbied the Delaware General Assembly to amend the state constitution in favor of women's suffrage. Several suffrage groups were formed early on, but the Delaware Equal Suffrage Association (DESA) formed in 1896, would become one of the major state suffrage clubs. Suffragists held conventions, continued to lobby the government and grow their movement. In 1913, a chapter of the Congressional Union (CU), which would later be known at the National Woman's Party (NWP), was set up by Mabel Vernon in Delaware. NWP advocated more militant tactics to agitate for women's suffrage. These included picketing and setting watchfires. The Silent Sentinels protested in Washington, D.C., and were arrested for "blocking traffic." Sixteen women from Delaware, including Annie Arniel and Florence Bayard Hilles, were among those who were arrested. During World War I, both African-American and white suffragists in Delaware aided the war effort. During the ratification process for the Nineteenth Amendment, Delaware was in the position to become the final state needed to complete ratification. A huge effort went into persuading the General Assembly to support the amendment. Suffragists and anti-suffragists alike campaigned in Dover, Delaware for their cause. However, Delaware did not ratify the Nineteenth Amendment until March 6, 1923, well after it was already part of the United States Constitution.

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

Women's suffrage in Florida had two distinct phases. The first women's suffrage effort in Florida was led by Ella C. Chamberlain in the early 1890s. Chamberlain began writing a women's suffrage news column, started a mixed-gender women's suffrage group and organized conventions in Florida.

<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">Alice B. Curtis</span> American writer, teacher, activist (1874–1956)

Alice Bertha Curtis was an American suffragist active with the National American Woman's Suffrage Association, a college professor, author of two fictionalized childhood memoirs, Children of the Prairie (1938) and Winter on the Prairie (1945), and the writer of the short story "Wings of Mercy" that was adapted for the 1937 RKO movie The Man Who Found Himself.

References

  1. ↑ Valletta, Michelle M. (2018), Dublin, Thomas; Sklar, Kathryn Kish (eds.), "Biographical Sketch of Roberta J. Dunbar", Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States, Alexandria, Virginia: Alexander Street Press, vol. Part II: Black Women Suffragists, archived from the original on 2023-02-22, retrieved 2023-02-22
  2. 1 2 3 4 Miller, Elisa (2020-11-30). "Uncovering the Lives of Ordinary Rhode Island Suffragists". Newport History. 93 (282). ISSN   0028-8918 . Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  3. 1 2 "Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States". Alexander Street Documents. Archived from the original on 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  4. ↑ Dublin, Thomas (October 2020). "A Crowdsourcing Approach to Revitalizing Scholarship on Black Women Suffragists". The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era . 19 (4): 575–590. doi:10.1017/S1537781420000328. ISSN   1537-7814. S2CID   225168274 . Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dublin, Thomas (2017). "Crowdsourcing as a Tool for Studying the Woman Suffrage Movement". New York History. 98 (3/4): 465–474. ISSN   0146-437X. JSTOR   26905072 . Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  6. 1 2 "Call for Volunteers to Research and Write Biographical Sketches of Women Suffrage Activists". Western Association of Women Historians. 2017-09-03. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  7. ↑ Fauxsmith, Jennifer. "Research Guides: Women's Suffrage: Research Tips". guides.library.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-02-22. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  8. 1 2 "Impossibles | Alexander Street Documents". documents.alexanderstreet.com. Archived from the original on 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  9. ↑ Moravec, Michelle; Pettine, Katherine; Smalley, Hope (2020). "Stunts and Sensationalism: The Pennsylvania Progressive Era Campaign for Women's Suffrage". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 87 (4): 631–656. doi:10.5325/pennhistory.87.4.0631. ISSN   2153-2109. S2CID   226583598.
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