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 […]
America’s First Woman Voter- Deborah Dunch Moody
As we approach another election day we might do well to remember a strong-willed and brave immigrant who was the first woman known to vote in the New World – Deborah Dunch Moody. Deborah was born around 1586 in Wiltshire, England to a wealthy and influential family. Her father was a member of Parliament; her grandfather […]
Celebrating Constitution Day & Citizenship Day!
Today, as we celebrate Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, I was privileged to join with fellow members of the League of Women Voters at Sagamore Hill, home of Theodore Roosevelt, a National Historic Site, to witness the swearing in of forty-six new citizens, originally from twenty-seven different countries. After they were sworn in the League […]
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 […]
Happy Women’s Equality Day, August 26th!
Today, August 26th, we celebrate Women’s Equality Day, the day the 19th Amendment granting all women in the United States the right to vote was finally made part of the US Constitution. The designation of August 26th as Women’s Equality Day was proposed in 1971 by Bella Abzug, representative from the 19th Congressional District in Manhattan. After seventy-two years […]
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 […]
Happy Birthday, Inez Milholland!
Today, August 6, marks the 132nd birthday of the courageous suffragist, Inez Milholland Boisssevain, 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, where […]
The Woman’s Hour
The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote By Elaine Weiss I just finished this enthralling book which tells in detail of the last six weeks of the journey to ratification of the 19th Amendment, set in the thirty-sixth state to consider it, Tennessee. (If it did not pass in Tennessee it would […]
A National Collaboration for Women’s History
The Long Island Woman Suffrage Association has joined the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, an organization which “supports and promotes the preservation and interpretation of sites and locales that bear witness to women’s participation in American life. The Collaborative makes women’s contributions to history visible, so that all women’s experiences and potential are fully […]
Suffragist of the Month – July, 2018
Gertrude Foster Brown, 1867 – 1956 “It is one thing for women to win the vote, and a totally different one for them to know how to use that vote so it will count to the greatest good of the state. The keynote for woman’s long struggle for the ballot has been her ardent desire […]
Mother and Son Suffrage Heroes Honored
On June 9, 2018 a statue honoring woman suffrage hero Harry Burn and his mother, Febb, was unveiled in Knoxville, Tennessee, thus honoring two heroes who fought the final battle for ratification of the 19th Amendment. Twenty-four year old Harry Burn was a freshman in the Tennessee legislature in August of 1920. The 19th Amendment […]
Suffragist of the Month – June, 2018
Addie Waites Hunton, 1866 – 1943 Addie Hunton was born June 11, 1866* to a prominent black family in Norfolk, Virginia. Her father was a successful businessman; her mother was active in the African Methodist-Episcopal Church. When her mother died Addie was sent to Boston to be raised by an aunt. There she received a […]
New York Heritage Digital Suffrage Collection Available for Viewing
New York Heritage, together with seven members in the New York State Library Network, including the Long Island Library Resources Council, has developed a collaborative project illustrating the history of the woman suffrage movement that is now available for viewing. They have amassed and digitized a fascinating collection of photographs, posters, pamphlets, postcards, letters and […]
One Hundred Years Ago Today, May 16, 1918
When the United States entered World War I in April, 1917 suffrage leaders were faced with a momentous decision – should they put aside their suffrage work to aid in the war effort, or continue with their work and run the risk of being declared unpatriotic. They had faced such a dilemma during the Civil […]
Suffragist of the Month – May, 2018
Jennie Bradley Roessing, 1881 – 1963 Jennie Bradley was born May 11, 1881 to a modest family in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Little is known of her early life; she married and later divorced Frank M. Roessing, a civil engineer. In 1904 she began working for the woman suffrage movement, organized the Allegheny County Equal Rights Association, […]
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