Georgia Woman Civic Suffrage Association in parade in Atlanta, Georgia in 1913. Mary Latimer McLendon is driving.
The first women's suffrage group in Georgia, the Georgia Woman Suffrage Association (GWSA), was 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.
The first woman's suffrage to group to form in Georgia was the Georgia Woman Suffrage Association (GWSA), founded by a small group of women led by Helen Augusta Howard.[1] GWSA was originally made up of Howard and her relatives.[2] GWSA was formed in Columbus, Georgia, but by 1892, members from outside the city had begun to join, drawing members from the temperance movement in the state.[1] By the end of 1893, GWSA had members in five different Georgia counties.[3] On the outside of envelopes sent from GWSA, the group printed "Taxation without representation is tyranny."[4] GWSA also had the support of some men in Georgia and in 1894, the group shared the opinions of prominent men in support of women's suffrage in a pamphlet.[1] Early on, GWSA was more involved with raising awareness of the issues surrounding women's suffrage and advocating for women's right to vote.[5] Members of GWSA attended the national suffrage convention held by the National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in Washington, D.C., in 1894.[6] Howard requested that the next convention be held in Georgia.[7]
In late January 1895, for the first time, NAWSA held their annual convention outside of Washington, D.C.[8][9][10] After strong lobbying on behalf of Georgia by Howard, the NAWSA suffragists held that year's convention in Atlanta.[8][11] This convention was the first large women's right's gatherings in the South.[12] Howard and her sisters funded the convention with their own funds.[13] Georgia suffragist, Mary Latimer McLendon was one of the speakers and Susan B. Anthony was a headliner.[14][9] The convention featured both male and female speakers and had musical numbers for entertainment.[15] Susan Atkinson and her husband, Governor William Atkinson, attended the convention.[16] The convention was covered by the major newspapers and impressed several women's groups in the South.[17]
After the convention, Frances Cater Swift became the president of GWSA, holding the office for a year.[2] In 1896, McLendon took over as president.[2]
GWSA held the next state suffrage convention in November 1899.[18][19] At the convention, they decided to lobby the Georgia General Assembly on several women's and human rights issues, not just women's suffrage.[18] The lobbying of GWSA had an effect on several efforts relating to child labor, age of consent laws and more.[20] The work GWSA raised its profile and earned it the support of the State Federation of Labor.[21] Frances A. Griffin, from the GWSA, was also responsible for encouraging the support of the Federation of Labor.[22] There was no state convention in 1900.[23]
In November 1901, GWSA held the state convention at the Universalist Church of Atlanta.[24]Carrie Chapman Catt was a speaker and later she spoke to the Atlanta Woman's Club.[24] After the 1902 convention, women of Atlanta protested not being allowed to vote and earned the support of Mayor Livingston Mims.[24] Suffragists added placards to the polls that read: "Taxpaying women should be allowed to vote in this bond election."[25]
During 1903, Georgia suffragists worked to raise awareness of their cause.[25] They worked at the Woman's Department at the Inter-State Fair in Atlanta, where they could collect names of suffrage supporters and give out suffrage literature.[25] At the 1903 convention, held at the Carnegie Library in Atlanta, Kate M. Gordon spoke about women's suffrage in Louisiana.[24]
In 1905, McLendon attempted to get the Georgia chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) to adopt a suffrage plank, but she was unsuccessful.[26] However, WCTU leader, Warren Candler, was against women's suffrage.[27]
GWSA continued to hold yearly conventions.[28] However, they were unable to persuade state legislators to bring up women's suffrage in the General Assembly.[26] In 1908, Georgia suffragists wrote to encourage the delegates for both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions to support a women's suffrage plank in their respective party platforms.[25] The suffragists were successful in getting the Georgia Prohibition Party to support women's suffrage.[25]
In 1909, women of Atlanta lobbied the city government for the municipal vote for women.[28] Women in Atlanta were paying taxes on more than $13,000,000 worth of real estate and personal property.[28] Despite the efforts of women to show that they were being taxed without being represented, the City of Atlanta rejected municipal women's suffrage.[28] Again, women protested their lack of the vote on election day.[29]
Continuing efforts
Georgia Young People Suffrage Association with Margaret Koch driving.
The membership of GWSA grew during the 1910s.[30] When Rebecca Latimer Felton joined the group in 1912, it helped bring additional publicity to the suffrage cause in Georgia.[31] Felton became a delegate to the national suffrage convention held in Philadelphia.[32]
The years 1913 and 1914 showed increased interest in women's suffrage in Georgia. The Atlanta Constitution formed a women's suffrage department in July with McLendon in charge.[33][34] Lawyer for GWSA and later other groups, Leonard Grossman, formed the Georgia Men's League for Woman Suffrage in 1913.[35] The Georgia Young People's Suffrage Association (GYPSA) was formed in 1913 with Ruth Buckholz serving as president.[32] Members of GYPSA marched in the Woman's Suffrage Procession in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 1913.[36] Suffragists also entered three cars in an "auto floral parade" in December of that year.[37] Also in 1913, the Georgia Woman Suffrage League (GWSL) was created in Atlanta with Frances Smith Whiteside as president.[38] This group did not attract women outside of Atlanta, and so the Equal Suffrage Party of Georgia (ESPG) was formed in 1914 and elected Maybelle Stephens Mitchell as its president.[39] This group grew rapidly, with 100 members at first, but growing to around 2,000 by January 1915.[39][40] Members of ESPG raised money, held parades, contests and plays.[39]
During 1914, around 275 women's suffrage meetings were held across the state in Athens, Atlanta, Bainbridge, Decatur, Macon, and Rome.[41] The Georgia WCTU softened their stance on women's suffrage that year, allowing McLendon to welcome suffragists to their convention.[42] In March 1914, a suffrage rally was held in Atlanta with famous women such as Jane Addams speaking.[43]
Representative Barry Wright introduced an equal suffrage amendment in the Georgia House on June 25, 1914.[47] On June 30, W. J. Bush introduced a women's suffrage bill to the Georgia Senate.[48] The first women's suffrage speech given in the House happened on July 6 when Whiteside spoke in front of the assembly.[47] On July 7, 1914 more women testified about women's suffrage in front of the Georgia House Constitutional Amendment Committee.[49] Both suffragists and anti-suffragists were on site to present their views and around two hundred women, mostly suffragists, were viewing from the gallery.[49][46] The suffrage measures did not pass.[50]
Suffragists hosted a large parade as part of the Harvest Festival Celebration in 1915.[37] The parade was led by Eleanor Raoul on horseback and following her, suffragists riding in Eastern Victory, a car once owned by Anna Howard Shaw.[37][51] The parade had a marching band and around two hundred marchers, all wearing yellow sashes.[52] After the marchers, came female college students wearing caps and gowns who were followed by two-hundred decorated cars.[52] Despite the size of the parade, the suffragists had almost no help controlling traffic from the Atlanta Police Department.[53] The police did help significantly with the harvest parade which was taking place at the same time.[53]
In February 1916, suffrage groups worked to attain 10,000 signatures on a petition in support of municipal women's suffrage in Atlanta, but were unsuccessful in getting the vote.[54] Raoul tried to expand the influence of ESPG by campaigning in rural areas in 1916.[55] Other suffragists, including the president of ESPG, Emily McDougald, felt that rural women were "ignorant and hopeless."[55]
Women formed a Georgia branch of the National Woman's Party (NWP) in 1917.[56] However, the group was not very popular in the state because of the militant tactics the national leaders used to fight for women's suffrage.[57]Beatrice Carleton of the Georgia NWP testified before the Georgia legislature when they were considering equal suffrage measures in July 1917.[58]Rose Ashby from GWSA also testified.[58] Anti-suffragists were also on hand to oppose women's suffrage and the bills did not pass.[59] Though women were not making progress with suffrage state-wide, the city of Waycross, Georgia did approve women to vote in municipal primary elections.[60]
During World War I, suffragists and anti-suffragists alike aided in the war effort.[61] GWSL president, Whiteside, described the work of suffragists during the war.[62] Women in Georgia made garments for soldiers and raised money for the war and the Red Cross.[63] Suffragists were involved with the Women's Council of National Defense, with McLendon acting as president.[64] The work of suffragists to aid the war effort was noticed by the press in Georgia, with the Columbus Enquirer Sun praising their efforts.[63]
Rejection, ratification and challenges
Western Union telegram to Jane Judge of Georgia from Annie G. Wright on passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, August 26, 1920
Women in Atlanta finally achieved municipal suffrage in 1919.[60] Mrs. A. G. Helmer, in charge of the Fulton County Suffrage Association, discovered that the city council of Atlanta was supportive of women's suffrage.[60] The city voted on May 3 to allow women to vote in municipal primaries on a vote of twenty-four to one.[60] Four thousand women registered to vote.[65]
On July 1, 1919, the Georgia House and Senate submitted bills to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.[66] Representative J. B. Jackson amended his own bill in the House to read "rejects" the amendment, so if the bill left the committee, it would be a rejection, not an endorsement.[66] Suffragists testified in the House, with McLendon questioning Jackson's introduction of support and then subsequent rejection of the federal equal suffrage amendment.[66]Mabel Vernon criticized the rejection the amendment and said it would look bad for the Democratic Party which had endorsed women's suffrage.[66][67] Other suffragists pointed out that it was short-sighted of Georgia to reject women's suffrage.[68] Anti-suffragist Mildred Rutherford was the only one to speak against women's suffrage.[68] By July 7, members of the House tried to table Jackson's rejection bill and the bill in Senate faced the same fate later in the month.[69] Eventually the entire House voted on the bill and Georgia rejected the federal amendment on July 24 118–29.[70][71] Georgia was the first state to reject the amendment.[72] After Georgia rejected the Nineteenth Amendment, anti-suffragist, Dolly Blount Lamar traveled to other states that had not yet ratified the amendment to lobby against its passage.[73]
After the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified and became the law of the land, Georgia still did not allow all of its women to vote.[74] McLendon and other suffragists attempted to vote in the 1920 primary election, but were not allowed.[72] Georgia had a rule that required voters to register to vote six months prior to an election.[74] Because of this rule, women were not allowed to vote in the 1920 presidential election.[74] McLendon appealed the case to the Secretary of State, Bainbridge Colby, saying her rights under the Nineteenth Amendment were violated.[75] Colby didn't help, and neither did other state officials.[75] In March 1920, the Equal Suffrage Party of Georgia dissolved and formed the Georgia League of Women Voters.[76] In 1921, the Georgia General Assembly passed a law that would allow women to vote and hold public office.[77] White women voted statewide in 1922.[51]
However, African-American and Native American women were still excluded from the vote in Georgia.[78] By 1900, because of the cumulative poll tax, only around 10 percent of Black men were able to vote.[79] Black voters had also been barred from voting in primary elections in 1900.[80]
Georgia finally ratified the Nineteenth Amendment on February 20, 1970.[81]
African-Americans and women's suffrage in Georgia
Headquarters for Colored Women Voters, Colored Women Voters League, Georgia c. 1920
Suffragists in Georgia used issues of race to advance their own cause of women's suffrage.[82]Rebecca Latimer Felton herself was an advocate of lynching even while she was an ardent suffragist for white women's right to vote.[83] Many white suffragists in Georgia believed that if they got the vote, it would help maintain white supremacy and they used this idea to promote their cause.[84] Emily C. McDougald wrote to the state legislation and said, "Everyone knows that the enfranchisement of the women of the south will enormously increase white supremacy... In Georgia there are 110,590 more white women than negro women."[85] Suffragists like Felton argued that white women needed to vote in order to protect themselves as well as white supremacy using the vote.[86] Many white suffragists in Georgia were also angry that Black men got the vote before white women could vote.[87] One suffragist, Mary Latimer McLendon, was quoted saying, "The negro men, our former slaves, have been given the right to vote and why should not we Southern women have the same right?"[87] White suffragists in Georgia called the Reconstruction era a "horrible time of 'negro rule,' excessive federal force, and white degradation," but argued that women's suffrage would not cause a repeat of history.[86] Because of all of these reasons, most of the suffrage groups in Georgia did not allow African-American women to join.[71]
However, Black suffragists continued to fight for their right to vote in Georgia.[71] African-Americans had been generally supportive of women's suffrage from the beginning of the movement.[88] Black women used churches and groups like the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) to help organize.[87][89] While Black women were excluded from the 1895 suffrage convention, Susan B. Anthony did go to Atlanta University and speak there.[90][74]Adella Hunt Logan was one of the members of the audience.[91] Logan joined NAWSA and wrote suffrage editorials for newspapers.[71]
After World War I, lynching increased in the South.[92] An incredibly harrowing lynching took place in 1918 to a Valdosta, Georgia woman, Mary Turner.[92] Suffragist and leader in the NACW, Lucy Laney, reached out to white politicians and clubwomen to seek justice.[92] The response she received was mixed, at best, and showed Black women in the state that they were alone in many issues.[92] When Black women in Georgia asked for help with women's suffrage nationally, they were told that because their issues involved race, it was outside of the purview of the suffrage organizations.[74]
The League of Women Voters (LWV) of Georgia didn't change their bylaws until 1956.[74] Until that year, the Georgia LWV's bylaws said any "white woman" may be a member.[74] Black women and men in Georgia gained greater voting rights after the 1965 passage of the Voting Right Act.[74]
Anti-suffragists
Dolly Blount Lamar at a Macon, Georgia Confederate Reunion in 1911
The Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage was organized in Macon, Georgia in May 1914.[93]Anti-suffragists, Dolly Blount Lamar and Mildred Rutherford invoked the idea of the Lost Cause to oppose women's suffrage.[93] Lamar and Rutherford were upper-class woman who were involved with preserving the memory of the Confederacy.[94] Suffragists represented a change to the traditional gender roles and class roles of the antebellum South.[95] Anti-suffragists also called suffrage a product of Northern influence and brought up Reconstruction to scare potential supporters of women's suffrage.[96] Newspapers in Georgia also reflected this attitude about women's suffrage, with the GreensboroHerald saying that it would support women's suffrage if there were no Black women in the state.[97] Many anti-suffragists did not want Black women to ever get the option to vote because they would not be able to use the threat of violence to keep them from voting as easily as they did with Black men.[98] Anti-suffragists also did not want Black women to use the vote to for equal rights.[99]
Some anti-suffragists also believed that women voting would debase politics.[100] A preacher in Atlanta attacked women's suffrage using the Bible as a reference point.[101] He said it was against the laws of God for women to vote and called men who supported women's suffrage "feeble-minded."[101]Southern Baptists, who had strict gender roles during this time, were very opposed to women's suffrage.[102] The LaGrange Graphic worried about how women might be treated by the press if they became involved in politics.[103]
Many of the upper-class women felt that voting would upset the patriarchy and taint women's "moral superiority."[104] Lamar, especially, felt that women did not need the vote, but rather should work with the men in their lives to influence politics.[46] Women who supported the patriarchal systems already had a base of power in those systems that they did not want to lose or see diluted by competing in the same system as men.[105] The Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC) never endorsed women's suffrage because the president, Mrs. Z. I. Fitzpatrick felt they were more effective at influencing politics than individual women.[63] The women's clubs already had a base of power.[63] Fitzpatrick said, "We are the power behind the throne now, and would lose, not gain, by a change."[63]
Anti-suffragists also did not want working-class women to have more power.[106] Georgia anti-suffragists disparaged the "quality" of women who worked in factories and other jobs outside the home.[106] After World War I, anti-suffragists began to claim that women's suffrage would bring socialism, and more labor unions to the country.[107] Other anti-suffragists said the women's suffrage would bring atheism to Georgia.[108]
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.
Women's suffrage, or the right of women to vote, was established in the United States over the course of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, first in various states and localities, then nationally in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Helen Augusta Howard was an American suffragist and philanthropist. Howard was born in Columbus, Georgia, and was one of the founding members of the Georgia Woman Suffrage Association (GWSA).
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.
The Georgia Woman Suffrage Association was the first women's suffrage organization in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was founded in 1890 by Helen Augusta Howard (1865-1934). It was affiliated with the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
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. NAOWS had influential local chapters in many states, including Texas and Virginia.
Women's suffrage efforts in Texas began 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.
The women's suffrage movement in Montana started while it was still a territory. The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was an early organizer that supported suffrage in the state, arriving in 1883. Women were given the right to vote in school board elections and on tax issues in 1887. When the state constitutional convention was held in 1889, Clara McAdow and Perry McAdow invited suffragist Henry Blackwell to speak to the delegates about equal women's suffrage. While that proposition did not pass, women retained their right to vote in school and tax elections as Montana became a state. In 1895, National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) came to Montana to organize local groups. Montana suffragists held a convention and created the Montana Woman's Suffrage Association (MWSA). Suffragists continued to organize, hold conventions and lobby the Montana Legislature for women's suffrage through the end of the nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century, Jeannette Rankin became a driving force around the women's suffrage movement in Montana. By January 1913, a women's suffrage bill had passed the Montana Legislature and went out as a referendum. Suffragists launched an all-out campaign leading up to the vote. They traveled throughout Montana giving speeches and holding rallies. They sent out thousands of letters and printed thousands of pamphlets and journals to hand out. Suffragists set up booths at the Montana State Fair and they held parades. Finally, after a somewhat contested election on November 3, 1914, the suffragists won the vote. Montana became one of eleven states with equal suffrage for most women. When the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, Montana ratified it on August 2, 1919. It wasn't until 1924 with the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act that Native American women gained the right to vote.
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.
Women's suffrage began in Illinois began in the mid-1850s. The first women's suffrage group was formed in Earlville, Illinois, by the cousin of Susan B. Anthony, Susan Hoxie Richardson. After the Civil War, former abolitionist Mary Livermore organized the Illinois Woman Suffrage Association (IWSA), which would later be renamed the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association (IESA). Frances Willard and other suffragists in the IESA worked to lobby various government entities for women's suffrage. In the 1870s, women were allowed to serve on school boards and were elected to that office. The first women to vote in Illinois were 15 women in Lombard, Illinois, led by Ellen A. Martin, who found a loophole in the law in 1891. Women were eventually allowed to vote for school offices in the 1890s. Women in Chicago and throughout Illinois fought for the right to vote based on the idea of no taxation without representation. They also continued to expand their efforts throughout the state. In 1913, women in Illinois were successful in gaining partial suffrage. They became the first women east of the Mississippi River to have the right to vote in presidential elections. Suffragists then worked to register women to vote. Both African-American and white suffragists registered women in huge numbers. In Chicago alone 200,000 women were registered to vote. After gaining partial suffrage, women in Illinois kept working towards full suffrage. The state became the first to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, passing the ratification on June 10, 1919. The League of Women Voters (LWV) was announced in Chicago on February 14, 1920.
Early women's suffrage work in Alabama started in the 1860s. Priscilla Holmes Drake was the driving force behind suffrage work until the 1890s. Several suffrage groups were formed, including a state suffrage group, the Alabama Woman Suffrage Organization (AWSO). The Alabama Constitution had a convention in 1901 and suffragists spoke and lobbied for women's rights provisions. However, the final constitution continued to exclude women. Women's suffrage efforts were mainly dormant until the 1910s when new suffrage groups were formed. Suffragists in Alabama worked to get a state amendment ratified and when this failed, got behind the push for a federal amendment. Alabama did not ratify the Nineteenth Amendment until 1953. For many years, both white women and African American women were disenfranchised by poll taxes. Black women had other barriers to voting including literacy tests and intimidation. Black women would not be able to fully access their right to vote until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Women's suffrage began in Delaware 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.
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.
While women's suffrage had an early start in Maine, dating back to the 1850s, it was a long, slow road to equal suffrage. Early suffragists brought speakers Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone to the state in the mid-1850s. Ann F. Jarvis Greely and other women in Ellsworth, Maine, created a women's rights lecture series in 1857. The first women's suffrage petition to the Maine Legislature was also sent that year. Working-class women began marching for women's suffrage in the 1860s. The Snow sisters created the first Maine women's suffrage organization, the Equal Rights Association of Rockland, in 1868. In the 1870s, a state suffrage organization, the Maine Women's Suffrage Association (MWSA), was formed. Many petitions for women's suffrage were sent to the state legislature. MWSA and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) of Maine worked closely together on suffrage issues. By the late 1880s the state legislature was considering several women's suffrage bills. While women's suffrage did not pass, during the 1890s many women's rights laws were secured. During the 1900s, suffragists in Maine continued to campaign and lecture on women's suffrage. Several suffrage organizations including a Maine chapter of the College Equal Suffrage League and the Men's Equal Rights League were formed in the 1910s. Florence Brooks Whitehouse started the Maine chapter of the National Woman's Party (NWP) in 1915. Suffragists and other clubwomen worked together on a large campaign for a 1917 voter referendum on women's suffrage. Despite the efforts of women around the state, women's suffrage failed. Going into the next few years, a women's suffrage referendum on voting in presidential elections was placed on the September 13, 1920 ballot. But before that vote, Maine ratified the Nineteenth Amendment on November 5, 1920. It was the nineteenth state to ratify. A few weeks after ratification, MWSA dissolved and formed the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Maine. White women first voted in Maine on September 13, 1920. Native Americans in Maine had to wait longer to vote. In 1924, they became citizens of the United States. However, Maine would not allow individuals living on Indian reservations to vote. It was not until the passage of a 1954 equal rights referendum that Native Americans gained the right to vote in Maine. In 1955 Lucy Nicolar Poolaw (Penobscot) was the first Native American living on a reservation in Maine to cast a vote.
Women's suffrage had early champions among men in Arkansas. Miles Ledford Langley of Arkadelphia, Arkansas proposed a women's suffrage clause during the 1868 Arkansas Constitutional Convention. Educator, James Mitchell wanted to see a world where his daughters had equal rights. The first woman's suffrage group in Arkansas was organized by Lizzie Dorman Fyler in 1881. A second women's suffrage organization was formed by Clara McDiarmid in 1888. McDiarmid was very influential on women's suffrage work in the last few decades of the nineteenth century. When she died in 1899, suffrage work slowed down, but did not all-together end. Both Bernie Babcock and Jean Vernor Jennings continued to work behind the scenes. In the 1910s, women's suffrage work began to increase again. socialist women, like Freda Hogan were very involved in women's suffrage causes. Other social activists, like Minnie Rutherford Fuller became involved in the Political Equality League (PEL) founded in 1911 by Jennings. Another statewide suffrage group, also known as the Arkansas Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was organized in 1914. AWSA decided to work towards helping women vote in the important primary elections in the state. The first woman to address the Arkansas General Assembly was suffragist Florence Brown Cotnam who spoke in favor of a women's suffrage amendment on February 5, 1915. While that amendment was not completely successful, Cotnam was able to persuade the Arkansas governor to hold a special legislative session in 1917. That year Arkansas women won the right to vote in primary elections. In May 1918, between 40,000 and 50,000 white women voted in the primaries. African American voters were restricted from voting in primaries in the state. Further efforts to amend the state constitution took place in 1918, but were also unsuccessful. When the Nineteenth Amendment passed the United States Congress, Arkansas held another special legislative session in July 1919. The amendment was ratified on July 28 and Arkansas became the twelfth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
Attempts to secure women's suffrage in Wisconsin began before the Civil War. In 1846, the first state constitutional convention delegates for Wisconsin discussed women's suffrage and the final document eventually included a number of progressive measures. This constitution was rejected and a more conservative document was eventually adopted. Wisconsin newspapers supported women's suffrage and Mathilde Franziska Anneke published the German language women's rights newspaper, Die Deutsche Frauen-Zeitung, in Milwaukee in 1852. Before the war, many women's rights petitions were circulated and there was tentative work in forming suffrage organizations. After the Civil War, the first women's suffrage conference held in Wisconsin took place in October 1867 in Janesville. That year, a women's suffrage amendment passed in the state legislature and waited to pass the second year. However, in 1868 the bill did not pass again. The Wisconsin Woman Suffrage Association (WWSA) was reformed in 1869 and by the next year, there were several chapters arranged throughout Wisconsin. In 1884, suffragists won a brief victory when the state legislature passed a law to allow women to vote in elections on school-related issues. On the first voting day for women in 1887, the state Attorney General made it more difficult for women to vote and confusion about the law led to court challenges. Eventually, it was decided that without separate ballots, women could not be allowed to vote. Women would not vote again in Wisconsin until 1902 after separate school-related ballots were created. In the 1900s, state suffragists organized and continued to petition the Wisconsin legislature on women's suffrage. By 1911, two women's suffrage groups operated in the state: WWSA and the Political Equality League (PEL). A voter referendum went to the public in 1912. Both WWSA and PEL campaigned hard for women's equal suffrage rights. Despite the work put in by the suffragists, the measure failed to pass. PEL and WWSA merged again in 1913 and women continued their education work and lobbying. By 1915, the National Woman's Party also had chapters in Wisconsin and several prominent suffragists joined their ranks. The National Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was also very present in Wisconsin suffrage efforts. Carrie Chapman Catt worked hard to keep Wisconsin suffragists on the path of supporting a federal woman's suffrage amendment. When the Nineteenth Amendment went out to the states for ratification, Wisconsin an hour behind Illinois on June 10, 1919. However, Wisconsin was the first to turn in the ratification paperwork to the State Department.
Mary Latimer McLendon was an activist in the prohibition and women's suffrage movements in the U.S. state of Georgia.
Women's suffrage began in North Dakota when it was still part of the Dakota Territory. During this time activists worked for women's suffrage, and in 1879, women gained the right to vote at school meetings. This was formalized in 1883 when the legislature passed a law where women would use separate ballots for their votes on school-related issues. When North Dakota was writing its state constitution, efforts were made to include equal suffrage for women, but women were only able to retain their right to vote for school issues. An abortive effort to provide equal suffrage happened in 1893, when the state legislature passed equal suffrage for women. However, the bill was "lost," never signed and eventually expunged from the record. Suffragists continued to hold conventions, raise awareness, and form organizations. The arrival of Sylvia Pankhurst in February 1912 stimulated the creation of more groups, including the statewide Votes for Women League. In 1914, there was a voter referendum on women's suffrage, but it did not pass. In 1917, limited suffrage bills for municipal and presidential suffrage were signed into law. On December 1, 1919, North Dakota became the twentieth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
Suffrage was available to most women and African Americans in New Jersey 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. This was so the Democratic-Republican Party had an advantage in the presidential election of 1808.
↑ K.M.M. (March 1895). "Visit From Susan B. Anthony". The Bulletin of Atlanta University. No.63. pp.3–4. Retrieved 16 October 2020– via HBCU Library Alliance.
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