Sixth Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance
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Signe Bergman, chair for the National Association for Women's Suffrage in 1914–1917.Colorized picture of Women from the Swedish National Association for Women's Suffrage (LKPR) (with student caps) in front of IWSA's (now IAW's) banner at the suffrage conference in Stockholm in 1911. Gold and white were the primary colors of the mainstream or liberal international women's suffrage movement, and had been used by American liberal suffragists since 1867
Sixth Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance was held in June 1911 in Stockholm, Sweden. It was led by the organization's president, Carrie Chapman Catt.
The proceedings were inaugurated on Sunday, 11 June in the Gustaf Vasa Church. The welcome address was delivered at the Academy of Music by the president of the National Association for Women's Suffrage. There were 24 organized countries in attendance. One of the outcomes of the conference was the formation of an International Men's League which was joined by New York, England, Holland, Hungary, Germany and France. Ann-Margret Holmgren gave the Monday evening address. Ethel Snowden also spoke. On Tuesday evening, Selma Lagerlöf spoke, saying,
"Woman with man by her side, has created the Ideal Home; it is now time that woman should co-operate with man, and together they can create the "Ideal State"."[1]
Preparations
The committee which had been appointed to prepare for the congress and had been working for many months beforehand consisted of the Executive Committee of the central board of the National Suffrage Association and the presidents of sub-committees formed for different purposes. Signe Bergman acted as president, Axianne Thorstenson as vice-president, Anna Frisell as treasurer, Nini Kohnberger and Elise Carlson as secretaries. Axeline Virgin was at the head of the Finance Committee. The work of the Press Committee was directed by Else Kleen. Lily Laurent was at the head of the Committee on Localities. Lizinski Dyrssen headed the Committee for Festivities. Ezaline Boheman was the head of the Information Bureau. Alfhild Lamm and Eva Andén directed the work of the thirty university students who served as pages. At the head of the Travelling Committee was Dr. Martin Wester-Hallberg, who arranged the journey to Lapland.[2]
Proceedings
The Sixth Conference and Congress of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance took place in the banquet hall of the Grand Hotel, Stockholm, 12–17 June 1911. The coming of Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the Alliance, had been widely heralded. She had been received in Copenhagen with national honors by cabinet ministers and foreign legations. In Christiania, she was met with a greeting from a former Prime Minister and an official address of welcome from the Government and was received by King Haakon. In the midst of it all the woman suffrage bill came up for discussion in both Houses of the Parliament. The international president was escorted to the Lower House by a body of women that crowded the galleries. After a stormy debate the bill to enfranchise the women of Sweden received a majority vote. In the midst of the applause Catt was hurried to the Upper Chamber, the stronghold of caste and conservatism. Her presence did not save the bill from the usual defeat.[2]
The congress opened with representatives from 24 affiliated National Associations and two Committees, those of Austria and Bohemia. The government of Norway sent as its official delegate Dr. Kristine Bonnevie. The list of delegates filled seven printed pages, the United States, the Netherlands and Sweden having the full quota of twelve delegates and twelve alternates, Germany lacking only three of the latter, while Great Britain, France, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Hungary had twelve or more. Six were present from Russia; Bulgaria, Serbia, Switzerland, South Africa, Iceland and Canada had representatives. Of fraternal delegates from other organizations there was no end—about 70 men and women—among them members of five Men's Leagues for Woman Suffrage—in the United States, Great Britain, Netherlands, Hungary and Sweden. In addition to the spoken words letters and telegrams of greeting were read from societies and individuals in twelve different countries. The distinguished guests of the occasion were Dr. Selma Lagerlöf of Sweden, who had recently received the Nobel Literature Prize, and Helena Westermarck of Finland. Among prominent speakers were Mayor Carl Lindhagen and Ernest Beckman, M. P., the Rev. Knut Henning Gezelius von Schéele, Bishop of Visby, and the Rev. Dr. Samuel Fries. The ushers and pages were women students of the universities.[2]
On the Sunday afternoon preceding the convention the precedent of all past ages was broken when Dr. Anna Howard Shaw preached in the ancient State Church of Gusta Vasa. Sunday evening a reception was given at the Restaurant Rosenbad to the officers, presidents of national auxiliaries and Swedish Committee of Arrangements by its chairman, Bertha Nordenson.[2]
The official report of the first executive session Monday morning said: "Miss Janet Richards, delegate from the U. S. A., with an admirable speech, presented to the Alliance from the State which had recently given full suffrage to women a gavel bearing the inscription: "To the International W. S. A. from the Washington Equal Suffrage Association." It was announced that National Suffrage Associations had been formed in Iceland and Serbia and they were gladly accepted as auxiliaries, bringing the number up to twenty-six. The municipality had contributed 3,000 crowns to the congress, which proved to be the largest ever held in Stockholm. Season tickets had been sold to 1,200 persons and other hundreds bought tickets to the various meetings. During the entire week the flags of the nations represented at the congress floated from the flagstaffs that lined the quay in front of the Grand Hotel facing the royal palace, as far as the eye could reach. All the time Mrs. Catt was in the city the American flag was run up for her as a public guest wherever she went and the Swedish colors dipped a salute.[2]
The Congress was formally opened in the afternoon of 12 June with addresses of welcome from Anna Whitlock, acting president of the National Suffrage Association of Sweden, and the Hon. Ernest Beckman, M. P., president of the National Swedish Liberal Association, and response from the Alliance was made by Chrystal Macmillan of Great Britain, proxy for Millicent Garrett Fawcett, its first vice-president. Anna Kleman, president of the Stockholm suffrage society, then presented the beautiful white satin, gold embroidered Alliance banner, which was carried by six university students in white dresses with sashes of the Swedish colors. Catt announced that the Alliance flag was now flying over the Grand Hotel where they were assembled. The banner was the gift of Lotten von Kroemer, a pioneer suffragist of Sweden, and the flag of the resident Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Tea Co., US. A suffrage song written by K.G. Ossiannilsson and the music composed by Hugo Alfvén for the occasion was sung by the Women's Choir of Gothenburg, after which an official delegate of the Government extended its greeting while the audience rose and the flags of the nations waved from the galleries. Catt received an ovation as she came to the front of the platform to make her address. It filled twenty-three pages of the printed minutes and was a complete resume of the early position of women, the vast changes that had been wrought and the great work which the Alliance was doing.[2]
At the official reception given by the National Suffrage Association of Sweden in the evening the guests were welcomed by Ann-Margret Holmgren and their appreciative responses were made by Margaret Hodge, Australia; Gabriella Danzerova, Bohemia; Mrs. Daisy Minor, Austria; Miss Helen Clay-Petersen, Denmark; Miss Annie Furuhjelm, Finland; Madam DeWitt Schlumberger, France; Dr. Anita Augspurg, Germany; Olga Ungar, Hungary; Mrs. Philip Snowden, Great Britain. These were followed by a cantata beautifully rendered by the Gothenburg choir, words and music by women.[2]
During the convention Lieutenant Colonel W. A. E. Mansfeldt of Holland made the report for its Men's League for Woman Suffrage; Dr. C. V. Drysdale for Great Britain; Jean du Breuil for France; Dr. Alexander Patai for Hungary; Frederick Nathan for the United States, and the founding of an International Men's League was announced with Mansfeldt as secretary.[2]
The reports of the work of the different branches and their discussion, bringing before the Alliance the experience and opinions of women from all parts of the world, were perhaps the most valuable feature of the conference. The most animated and vital of these discussions was the one of a political nature, divided into three parts:[2]
What political work have the women of the enfranchised countries done, what is their relation to the different parties and how do these treat them? Have they any advice to offer? led by Miss Hodge, Mrs. Louise Keilhau, Norway; Dr. Tekla Hultin, M. P., Finland.
How can woman's political influence be brought to bear most effectively on Parliaments and governments? Led by Mrs. Snowden; Mrs. Anna B. Wicksell, Sweden; Dr. Käthe Schirmacher, Germany; Miss Richards.
What should be the relation of the suffrage movement to political parties in the unenfranchised countries?
Led by Eline Hansen, Denmark; Rosika Schwimmer, Hungary; Madame Pichon, France; Zinaida Mirovitch, Russia, there was a wide divergence of opinion but at last a resolution was unanimously adopted that "woman suffrage societies do their best work when organized in a non-partisan manner." In order to remove persistent misunderstanding a statement presented by Mrs. Catt was adopted explaining the wording of the resolution demanding "the franchise for women on the same terms as it is or may be exercised by men." It declared that the Alliance had on no occasion taken a position for or against any special form of suffrage but that the affiliated societies were left entirely free to determine for themselves which form they would demand. The Alliance did not express an opinion as to what should be the qualifications for enfranchisement, its sole object being to establish the principle that sex should not be a disqualification.[2]
Dr. Shiskin-Yavein
Eminent women speakers spoke in the Royal Opera House of Stockholm on the second evening of the convention. Catt presided and addresses were made by Miss Westermarck, Dr. Augspurg, Mrs. Snowden, Miss Schwimmer, Dr. Shaw and Sweden's Selma Lagerlöf. Another which differed from all that had gone before was the great gathering in Skansen park, where at 7 o'clock, from two platforms, noted speakers from ten countries addressed an audience of thousands. A dinner followed in the park house, Hogenloft, with music, and then in the open air, the visitors saw the national dances and processions by the young people in the costumes of the country.[2]
Although the official languages of the Alliance were French, German and English, a crowded meeting was held one evening in the People's House with the speeches in Scandinavian languages. It was opened by Mayor Lindhagen, an ardent advocate of woman suffrage. At another session the Woman Question in the Russian Parliament was considered by Dr. Shiskin-Yavein; the Suffrage Outlook in Bohemia by Miss Marie Tůmová, recent candidate for Parliament; the Future of South African Women by Nina Boyle. A special meeting was held one afternoon in the hall of the Young Women's Christian Association. Marie Stritt, Germany; Maria Verone, France, and Miss Macmillan were appointed to compile a pamphlet of information about woman suffrage in all lands to be used for propaganda work.[2]
The closing speech of the congress was made by the international president at Saltsjöbaden.[2]
The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). Its membership, which was about seven thousand at the time it was formed, eventually increased to two million, making it the largest voluntary organization in the nation. It played a pivotal role in the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which in 1920 guaranteed women's right to vote.
Carrie Chapman Catt was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt served as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association from 1900 to 1904 and 1915 to 1920. She founded the League of Women Voters in 1920 and the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in 1904, which was later named International Alliance of Women. She "led an army of voteless women in 1919 to pressure Congress to pass the constitutional amendment giving them the right to vote and convinced state legislatures to ratify it in 1920". She "was one of the best-known women in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century and was on all lists of famous American women."
Women's suffrage, or the right to vote, was established in the United States over the course of more than half a century, first in various states and localities, sometimes on a limited basis, and then nationally in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Laura Clay, co-founder and first president of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association, was a leader of the American women's suffrage movement. She was one of the most important suffragists in the South, favoring the states' rights approach to suffrage. A powerful orator, she was active in the Democratic Party and had important leadership roles in local, state and national politics. In 1920 at the Democratic National Convention, she was one of two women, alongside Cora Wilson Stewart, to be the first women to have their names placed into nomination for the presidency at the convention of a major political party.
The International Alliance of Women is an international non-governmental organization that works to promote women's rights and gender equality. It was historically the main international organization that campaigned for women's suffrage. IAW stands for an inclusive, intersectional and progressive liberal feminism on the basis of human rights and liberal democracy, and has a liberal internationalist outlook. IAW's principles state that all genders are "born equally free [and are] equally entitled to the free exercise of their individual rights and liberty," that "women's rights are human rights" and that "human rights are universal, indivisible and interrelated." In 1904 the Alliance adopted gold as its color, the color associated with the women's suffrage movement in the United States since 1867 and the oldest symbol of women's rights; through the Alliance's influence gold and white became the principal colors of the mainstream international women's suffrage movement.
The International Congress of Women was created so that groups of existing women's suffrage movements could come together with other women's groups around the world. It served as a way for women organizations across the nation to establish formal means of communication and to provide more opportunities for women to ask the big questions relating to feminism at the time. The congress has been utilized by a number of feminist and pacifist events since 1878. A few groups that participated in the early conferences were The International Council of Women, The International Alliance of Women and The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
The Open Christmas Letter was a public message for peace addressed "To the Women of Germany and Austria", signed by a group of 101 British suffragists at the end of 1914 as the first Christmas of the First World War approached. The Open Christmas Letter was written in acknowledgment of the mounting horror of modern war and as a direct response to letters written to American feminist Carrie Chapman Catt, the president of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA), by a small group of German women's rights activists. Published in January 1915 in Jus Suffragii, the journal of the IWSA, the Open Christmas Letter was answered two months later by a group of 155 prominent German and Austrian women who were pacifists. The exchange of letters between women of nations at war helped promote the aims of peace, and helped prevent the fracturing of the unity which lay in the common goal they shared, suffrage for women.
Jessie Chrystal Macmillan was a suffragist, peace activist, barrister, feminist and the first female science graduate from the University of Edinburgh as well as that institution's first female honours graduate in mathematics. She was an activist for women's right to vote, and for other women's causes. She was the second woman to plead a case before the House of Lords, and was one of the founders of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
The National Association for Women's Suffrage was a part of the general suffrage movement and the national society for women's suffrage in Sweden. It functioned as a parallel to the Sveriges allmänna rösträttsförbund which was active mainly in acquiring full suffrage for males. The LKPR was a part of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance. It was active locally from 1902 as the Föreningen för kvinnans politiska rösträtt, and nationwide as the Landsföreningen för kvinnans politiska rösträtt from 1903 until 1921.
Signe Wilhelmina Ulrika Bergman was a Swedish feminist. She was the chairperson of the National Association for Women's Suffrage (LKPR) which was then called The Swedish Society for Woman Suffrage in English from 1914 to 1917 and the Swedish delegate to International Woman Suffrage Alliance from 1909 to 1920. She was the organiser of the congress of the Sixth Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in 1911 and the editor of the paper of the LKPR, Rösträtt för kvinnor.
Annie Fredrika Furuhjelm was a Finnish journalist, feminist activist, and writer. She was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1913 to 1924 and again from 1927 to 1929, representing the Swedish People's Party of Finland (SFP). She was the first enfranchised woman in Europe to serve as a delegate to the International Women Suffrage Alliance and the first elected female legislator to speak before the British Parliament.
First Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance was held in 1902 in Washington D.C. to consider the feasibility of organizing an International Woman Suffrage Association.
Second Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance was held in Berlin, Germany in June 1904. The main features of the second conference were the formation of "The International Woman Suffrage Alliance," and the adoption of the Declaration of Principles.
Fourth Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance was held from 15 - 21 June 1908, at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The Seventh Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance met in Budapest, Hungary, 15–21 June 1913. As had been the case with all the preceding International Woman Suffrage Alliance conferences, the location had been chosen to reflect the status of woman suffrage: a place where the prospects seemed favorable and liable to influence public sentiment by demonstrating that it was now a global movement. When it had been announced at the sixth congress that the next one would be held in the capital of Hungary, it was felt that the location seemed very remote, and there were concerns that Hungary did not have representative government. In fact, it proved to be one of the largest and most important conventions. Furthermore, the delegates stopped en route for mass meetings and public banquets in Berlin, Dresden, Prague and Vienna, spreading its influence ever further afield.
The Eighth Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance occurred June 6–12, 1920, in Geneva, Switzerland.
The St. Louis Equal Suffrage League was formed in 1910 in St. Louis, Missouri with the aim of "bring[ing] together men and women who are willing to consider the question of Equal Suffrage and by earnest co-operation to secure its establishment."
Eugénia Miskolczy Meller was one of the most active feminists and women's rights activists in Hungary from the turn of the century to the interwar period. One of the founding members of the Feminist Association, she served as a leader for many of the organizations committees and events, arguing for gender equality, as well as women's suffrage. A pacifist, Meller worked with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) arguing for disarmament and urging the passage of international laws codifying citizenship regulations to protect women. Though she had converted to Lutheranism, she was arrested when the Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944 and disappeared. In 1946, she was posthumously honored for her humanitarian works.
Mary Gray Peck was an American journalist, educator, suffragist, and clubwoman. She was interested in economic and industrial problems of women, and investigated labor conditions in Europe and the United States. Born in New York, she studied at Elmira College, University of Minnesota, and University of Cambridge before becoming an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Minnesota. Later, she became associated with the General Federation of Women's Clubs, College Equal Suffrage League, National American Woman Suffrage Association, Women's Trade Union League, Woman Suffrage Party, and the Modern Language Association. Peck was a delegate at the Sixth Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Stockholm, 1911.
The West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association (WVESA) was an organization formed on November 29, 1895, at a conference in Grafton, West Virginia. This conference and the subsequent annual conventions were an integral part of the National American Woman Suffrage Association's Southern Committee's work to reach into previously under-represented areas for supporting the women's suffrage movement. The WVESA relied not only on the national association but also worked together with activists from the state's chapter of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, state chapter of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, and the clubs affiliated with the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs to win the right to vote. Though they lost in a landslide the 1916 referendum to amend the state's constitution for women's suffrage, the group provided the strong push for ratifying the federal amendment in spring 1920 that led to West Virginia becoming the thirty-fourth of the thirty-six states needed. That fall, West Virginia women voted for the first time ever, and the WVESA transformed itself into the League of Women Voters of West Virginia.
References
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: E. C. Stanton, S. B. Anthony, M. J. Gage, I. H. Harper's "History of Woman Suffrage: 1900-1920" (1922)
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: E. Simmern's "Sixth Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance" (1911)
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady; Anthony, Susan B.; Gage, Matilda Joslyn; Harper, Ida Husted (1922). History of Woman Suffrage: 1900–1920 (Public domained.). Fowler & Wells.
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