Suffragist of the Month

March is Women’s History Month!

Hopefully we will soon reach the day when the celebration of women’s history is not limited to one month, but is celebrated throughout the entire year, marking no difference from men’s – “People’s history” it might be called. But until then we can’t resist this opportunity to use this month to celebrate the special women […]

Suffragist of the Month - February 2020

Suffragist of the Month – February 2020

Louise deKoven Bowen, 1859 – 1953 Louise deKoven was born in Chicago, February 26, 1859 the only child of Helen Hadduck and John DeKoven. Her childhood was one of wealth and privilege; she graduated from the prestigious Dearborn Seminary in 1916, and began teaching Sunday School at St. James Episcopal Church. Although she remained a […]

Suffragist of the Month, January, 2020

Fanny Bullock Workman, 1859 – 1925 Fanny Bullock was born January 8, 1859 to Alexander Hamilton Bullock, who had served as governor of Massachusetts, and Elvira Hazard Bullock. Her childhood was one of privilege and she enjoyed a comprehensive education, both in the US and in Europe. At the age of 22 she married William […]

Suffragist of the Month- November, 2019

Suffragist of the Month- November, 2019

Rheta Childe Dorr, 1868 – 1948 Rheta Childe was born in Lincoln, Nebraska November 2, 1868. Her father Edward Childe, was a druggist and a probate judge; her mother, Lucie Mitchell a homemaker. Both parents held the conservative belief that women should cleave to traditional roles of wife and mother, a belief that Rheta chafed […]

Suffragist of the Month – September, 2019

Suffragist of the Month – September, 2019

Anne Henrietta Martin, 1875 – 1951 Anne Henrietta Martin was born September 30, 1875 in Empire City, Nevada, the daughter of William O’Hara Martin and Lousie Stadtmuller. Unlike many parents of the day, Anne’s parents believed in educating their daughters; Anne and her sisters attended Whitaker’s School for girls, and Anne graduated from the University […]

Suffragist of the Month - August 2019

Suffragist of the Month – August 2019

Inez Milholland Boissevain 1886 – 1916 “Martyr for the Cause” Inez Milholland was born August 6, 1886 to a wealthy, progressive family in Brooklyn, New York. Her family spent much of their time in London, where she attended the Kensington High School for Girls. She then attended Vassar College, graduated in 1909, and, in an […]

Suffragist of the Month - July, 2019

Suffragist of the Month – July, 2019

Gertrude Bustill Mossell – 1855 – 1948 Quite often the work of African-American suffragists went unrecognized, hidden in plain view by the work of others, but the contributions they made to the movement were no less meaningful or important. In addition to being an avid suffragist, Gertrude Bustill Mossell held the rare position of an […]

Suffragist of the Month- June, 2019

Suffragist of the Month- June, 2019

Catherine Waugh McCulloch, 1862 – 1945 Catherine Waugh was born June 4, 1862 in Ransomville, New York, the only daughter of Susan Gougher and Abraham Waugh. When she was five years old her family moved to New Milford, Illinois. Catherine was fortunate  –  her parents believed in educating both girls and boys. She graduated from […]

Suffragist of the Month - May, 2019

Suffragist of the Month – May, 2019

Julia Ward Howe, 1819 – 1910 Julia Ward Howe is probably best known for her poem, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, which was set to the music of an old folk tune, and became the semi-official song of the Union Army during the Civil War. But in addition to writing poetry, biographies and essays […]

Suffragist of the Month - February, 2019

Suffragist of the Month – February, 2019

Angelina Grimké Weld, 1805 – 1879 Angelina Grimké Weld was born in Charleston, South Carolina, February 20, 1805, the fourteenth and youngest child of the wealthy and influential Grimké family. Her father John was a well-known jurist; her mother Mary Smith managed her large family and numerous slaves with an iron fist, but by the […]

Suffragist of the Month, January 2019

Harriot Stanton Blatch, 1856 – 1940 From the moment of her birth on January 8,1856 Harriot Stanton Blatch had the mantle of the woman suffrage movement tucked firmly around her. As the daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, organizer of the 1848 Seneca Falls Woman’s Rights Conference, and head of the movement, there was small chance […]

Suffragist of the Month, November 2018

Suffragist of the Month, November 2018

In a break from my traditional celebration of an individual for Suffragist of the Month, this month we celebrate all the women who ran for office this midterm election. Some won, some lost, but all exhibited the same courage and stamina of the suffragists, and all should be celebrated. We began on November 5th with […]

Suffragist of the Month - October, 2018

Suffragist of the Month – October, 2018

Pauline Newman, 1890 – 1986 Pauline Newman was first and foremost a labor organizer whose childhood spent in the sweatshops of lower Manhattan showed her first-hand the need for working women to organize and lobby for higher wages, better working conditions and restrictions on child labor. But she was also a suffragist, who believed the […]

Suffragist of the Month - September, 2018

Suffragist of the Month – September, 2018

Sara Bard Field, 1882 – 1974 Sara Bard Field was born September 1, 1882 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to George Bard Field and Annie Jenkins; the family would eventually consist of five children. Her father was a staunch Baptist and imposed his iron will on his children; he refused to allow Sara to attend college because […]

Suffragist of the Month - August, 2018

Suffragist of the Month – August, 2018

Eunice Dana Brannan, 1854 – 1936 On November 10, 1917, forty women representing the National Woman’s Party picketed the White House gates, protesting their lack of the right to vote. Although their actions were peaceful and legal, they were arrested, and four days later taken to a rough workhouse, Occoquan Prison, in Virginia, where they […]