Carrie Chapman Catt

Suffragist of the Month – January

Carrie Chapman Catt Today marks the birthday of one of the great leaders of the suffrage movement, Carrie Chapman Catt. Born January 9, 1859, Catt was devoted to the suffrage cause, and spent most of her life working towards the goal of political equality for all. Catt was not a contemporary of the founders of […]

Suffragists of the Month - December

Suffragists of the Month – December

Harriet Burton Laidlaw, December 16 Harriet Burton Laidlaw of Sands Point, Long Island, was married to banker James Lees Laidlaw, and could have enjoyed a carefree life of luxury and ease. She chose instead to work for suffrage, travelling across the Island and around the region, making speeches and organizing demonstrations and parades.(Photo at left […]

Suffragist of the Month - Dorothy Day, November 8

Suffragist of the Month – Dorothy Day, November 8

When one mentions Dorothy Day, one thinks automatically of the Catholic Worker Movement, the religious organization that she founded to help alleviate poverty and injustice. But few people know that Dorothy Day was also a committed suffragist who endured torture and mistreatment at the hands of the jailors in Occoquan Prison in Virginia after being […]

Suffragist of the Month - October

Suffragist of the Month – October

Helen Deming Sherman Pratt, Birthday, October 21 If you live in Glen Cove or its surrounding towns it is hard not to know about the Pratt family; Charles Pratt was a partner in Standard Oil with John D. Rockefeller, and settled in Glen Cove with his wife and eight children where he built a complex […]

Theodore Roosevelt Changes His Mind About Suffrage

September 8th marked the 96th anniversary of the historic day that Theodore Roosevelt invited suffrage leaders to his home at Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay to reiterate his whole-hearted support for the woman suffrage movement. New York women had lost their bid for the vote in 1915, and were gearing up to work for passage […]

1909 Gala Suffrage Gathering at Newport Rhode Island

1909 Gala Suffrage Gathering at Newport Rhode Island

August 23 marks the 104th anniversary of the gala open-house held at Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island, home of prominent and wealthy suffragist, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont. (photo below). It was one of the first open-air meetings promoting suffrage to be held in the staid, conservative community. The New York Times reported that the featured speaker […]

Happy Birthday Inez Milholland Boissevain

Happy Birthday Inez Milholland Boissevain

  Today, August 6 marks the 132nd birthday of the courageous suffragist, Inez Milholland Bosssevain, whose early death while campaigning for suffrage  resulted in her being hailed as a “martyr” for the cause. Inez was born August 6, 1886 to a wealthy, progressive family in Brooklyn, New York. Her family spent much of their time in London, […]

Elisabeth Freeman

Elisabeth Freeman

 Elisabeth Freeman was born in England and raised in the United States. She returned to England as an adult to join the work of British suffrage leader Emmeline Pankhurst,  and while she disapproved of the British suffragettes’ more militant tactics, she admired their fighting spirit.  She spent much time on Long Island, working with close […]

The Suffrage Movement on the East End of Long Island

Some of the most devoted suffragists were located on the East End of Long Island, both on the north and south forks, and much of the work of these remarkable women has been documented by Arlene Hinkemeyer of East Hampton.  Arlene has been gathering information and facts about the East End suffragists for some time, […]

Happy 100th Birthday to the Suffrage Wagon!

Happy 100th Birthday to the Suffrage Wagon!

Today, July 1, 2013, is the hundredth birthday of the famous Suffrage Wagon, the Spirit of 1776,  that carried Edna and Serena Kearns and other suffragists all over Long Island. By proclamation of the Governor, July 1 was named Suffrage Wagon Day in New York. For all the wonderful details, log onto the Suffrage Wagon News […]