Eye-Witness History

Resources

Every Good Suffragist, the Day After…

The following is a sampling of resources related to the fascinating history of suffrage. These include diverse perspectives and diversions into related topics. Consider picking one as a starting point for delving into an aspect of this history that interests you.

NWP = National Woman’s Party

  1. ONLINE OVERVIEWS
  2. ORAL HISTORIES and PRIMARY SOURCES
  3. VIDEOS
  4. FOR TEACHERS AND LESSON PLANNING
  5. NWP HISTORY SPECIFICALLY
  6. SUFFRAGE GENERALLY
  7. YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
  8. BLOGS
  9. ARTICLES, WEBSITES and MORE
  10. FAITH
  11. GENDER IDENTITY
  12. NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN
  13. AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
  14. ASIAN and ASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN
  15. DISABILITIES and WOMEN
  16. THE FIGHT FOR SUFFRAGE CONTINUES…
  17. COLORADO
  18. HAWAII
  19. ILLINOIS
  20. MARYLAND
  21. MINNESOTA
  22. NEW MEXICO
  23. NEW YORK
  24. PUERTO RICO
  25. TEXAS
  26. VIRGINIA
  27. WEST VIRGINIA

This NCWHS map shows the breadth of suffrage activity across the U.S.

ONLINE OVERVIEWS

Wonderful 10 minute overview of history and memory and the fight for women’s right to vote. National Museum of American History. https://youtu.be/Ij6d_n5xfSE?si=dG9ENhGiukdN2zQJ

“The 19th Amendment: An Explainer.” Rock The Vote, 2022. https://www.rockthevote.org/explainers/the-19th-amendment/

“She Resisted: Strategies of Suffrage.” PBS American Experience. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/interactives/she-resisted/sb/introduction/1

Constitution Center, Philadelphia PA. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-19th-amendment-women-win-the-vote-1917-1920-national-constitution-center/2gVBNFgQLYBqNw?hl=en and https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/drafting-table/item/amendment-xix

National Park Service. State by State Ratification Timeline, 1919 – 1920.                    

Library of Congress. Many articles address different aspects of the suffrage movement, based on items in their collections.

“Mapping the Movement for Students,” a 1926 map series showing the increase in female populations and suffrage over time in the US. https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/women-fight-for-the-vote/about-this-exhibition/hear-us-roar-victory-1918-and-beyond/ratification-and-beyond/mapping-the-movement-for-students/

University of Washington: Mapping National Woman’s Party Offices and Actions https://depts.washington.edu/moves/NWP_DC_map-events.shtml

Alice Paul Institute. Includes many stories and resources related to suffrage and the NWP. https://www.alicepaul.org/resources-researchers/

ORAL HISTORIES and PRIMARY SOURCES

Suffragists Oral History Project. Interviews by Amelia R. Fry. University of California, 1976. Transcripts of conversations with several surviving NWP leaders. This is one with Mabel Vernon. https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt2r29n5pb&brand=oac4&doc.view=entire_text

The Suffragists: From Tea-parties to Prison. Part of the above oral history project. Interviews by Sherna Gluck. http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt2h4n992z&doc.view=entire_text

Hoover Archives. NWP Letter describing their rational for picketing the White House and suffering arrest instead of paying fines. Written to Mrs. Herbert Hoover.  https://www.archives.gov/files/women/hoover-national-womens-party-ltr.pdf

Disability History Museum. Letter from Helen Keller to an English Suffragette, 1911. https://www.disabilitymuseum.org/dhm/lib/detail.html?id=2499&page=all

Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation. Transcript of Gage’s 1852 speech at the National Woman’s Rights Convention. Includes importance of education and greater legal rights. https://matildajoslyngage.org/f/matilda-joslyn-gage-national-womans-rights-convention-1852?blogcategory=Matilda%27s+Writings

VCU Libraries: Social Welfare History Project. Copy of a book by Maria Miller Stewart, early female and African American public speaker in the US and civil rights activist.  https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/woman-suffrage/stewart-maria-miller/

“Alice Paul Pulls the Strings,” Freda Kirchwey, The Nation, 3/2/1921, Vol. 112, p. 332. Transcribed at https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1000682436 and also available on The Nation archives. See also “The White Woman’s Burden.” Contains responses from various NWP leaders to questions on “the attempt to nullify the Nineteenth Amendment in regard to colored women.” 2/16/1921, Vol. 112, p. 257. 

The Case for Woman Suffrage: A Bibliography. Margaret Ladd Franklin, A.B. 1913. Available on Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=q54sAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP5&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false

Newspapers: As with eyewitness accounts, newspaper articles provide useful but selective viewpoints. In the early 1900s, press releases and ads were often published in the same manner as news stories. This report of the 1921 NWP Conference, was written by a reporter attending the event:

The Evening Sun, 2/17/1921. Page 1 and 8. “Please Do Not be Respectable, is Suff’s Plea.” Gertrude Leimbach, Staff Correspondent. [Available on http://www.newspapers.com]

VIDEOS

Original archival footage of suffrage parades and activities is available from multiple sources. For instance, thru the Hearst Metrotone News Collection at the UCLA Film and Television Archive; Suffrage and the Media website; etc.

Library of Congress. Showing the 1865 Petition from over 3,700 African Americans in South Carolina asking for federal help in ensuring they had the right to vote. https://www.facebook.com/reel/646021174017197

FOR TEACHERS AND LESSON PLANNING

BOOKS

A selection of books with insights into suffrage in the US. No particular order.

NWP HISTORY SPECIFICALLY

Suffragists in Washington D.C. Rebecca Boggs Roberts. The History Press, 2017. A broad history of the origins and years of the National Woman’s Party from 1913 – 1920. Details the 1913 Suffrage Parade organized by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, then summarizes activities over the years that followed.

Jailed for Freedom. Doris Stevens, 1920. Available online at Gutenberg.org. From an NWP organizer, published immediately after ratification, heavily focused on the intense lobbying and jail time of suffragists.

The Story of the Woman’s Party. Inez Haynes Irwin, 1921. Available online at Gutenberg.org. A very detailed history of the NWP by a senior leader, this book includes strategies, work, conversations, etc. over many years and across the country. Frames the NWP as the only player in gaining suffrage and ignores racial issues. 

Images of America – Lafayette Square. Lonnie J. Hovey. Arcadia Publishing, 2014. Details what happened to the Square, from humble beginnings to grand homes to business and government offices. The NWP had two locations on the Square from 1917 to 1921.

SUFFRAGE GENERALLY

Why They Marched: The Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote. Susan Ware. Belknap Press, 2019. Very short biographies of suffragists, highlighting the diversity of the long fight. 

She Votes: How US Women Won Suffrage and What Happened Next. Bridget Quinn. Chronicle Books, 2020. Heavily illustrated, broad history of the long fight for women’s suffrage focused on a spectrum of notable leaders.

The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote. Elaine Weiss. Penguin Books, 2019. Broad overview of the suffrage movement and a detailed description of the ratification process in Tennessee in 1920. 

The Women’s Suffrage Movement. Sally Roesch Wagner, Ed. Penguin Books, 2019. And ‘intersectional anthology’ featuring the writings of a diverse spectrum of suffrage activists.

Suffrage: Women’s Long Battle for the Vote. Ellen Carol DuBois. Simon & Schuster, 2020. Comprehensive history of the women’s suffrage movement from 1848 to 1920.

Suffrage: The Epic Struggle for Women’s Right to Vote. Susan Poulson. Praeger, 2019. History of women’s suffrage beginning with the abolition movement. 

And Yet They Persisted. Johanna Neuman. John Wiley & Sons, 2020. History of women’s activism beginning in colonial days through the ratification of the 19th Amendment, with a final chapter on the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Gilded Suffragists, also by Newman, focuses on a small, elite group of New York Suffragists.

African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote. Rosalyn Terborg-Penn. Indiana University Press, 1998. History of the women who struggled against both sexism and racism to gain women the right to vote.

Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All. Martha S. Jones. Basic Books, 2020. History of African American women’s role fighting for equal rights in America.

Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement. Cathleen D. Cahill. The University of North Carolina Press, 2020. Focuses on the diverse non-White women who fought for suffrage amidst broader social struggles.

Rampant Women: Suffragists and the Right of Assembly. Linda Lumsden. University of Tennessee Press, 1997. Explores the critical First Amendment component of suffrage activities, especially the right to assembly, and how women pushed the boundaries of that right.

New Women in the Old West: From Settlers to Suffragists, an Untold American Story. Winifred Gallagher. Penguin Books, 2022.

Quoting Matilda: The Words and History of a Forgotten Suffragist [Matilda Joslyn Gage]. Susan Savion. Litfire Publishing, 2016.

Minnie Fisher Cunningham: A Suffragist’s Life in Politics. Judith McArthur and Harold Smith. Oxford University Press, 2005. A Suffragist who pursued a long and inspiring political career.

Creating the New Woman: The Rise of Southern Women’s Progressive Culture in Texas, 1893 – 1918. Judith McArthur. University of Illinois Press, 1998.

Wartime Dissent in America: A History and Anthology. Robert Mann. Palgrave MacMillan, 2010.

YOUNG ADULT BOOKS

Historical Novel: A Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic. Yi Shun Lai. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Release Date, February 2024. Suffrage and an ice-bound ship: engage young adults who like adventure!

Women Win the Vote! 19 for the 19th Amendment. Nancy B. Kennedy. Norton Young Readers, 2020. Short biographies highlighting the diverse personalities and stories of women fighting for suffrage. The author’s website includes a list of locations related to suffrage. https://www.nancybkennedy.com/visit-a-suffrage-site/

Ask a Suffragist: Stories and Wisdom from America’s First Feminists. April Young Bennett. Brown Blackwell Books, 2019. Uses extensive and interesting quotes from a diverse collection of Suffrage leaders to trace the overall history. Ask a Suffragist: Activists Who Built a Movement is coming out in 2024, focused on the 1870s – 1880s.

The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World. Lucinda Robb and Rebecca Boggs Roberts. Candlewick Publishing, 2020. Summarizes lessons learned from the history of the suffrage movement.

Suffragists and Those Who Opposed Them. Amanda Vink. PowerKids Press, 2019. [Grade 4 – 6 adult]

Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles. Mara Rockliff and Hadley Hooper (Illustrator). Candlewick, 2016.

OTHER SUFFRAGE RESOURCES

BLOGS

Website and blog, which appears to have ended new posts c. 2021, providing short biographies of a great diversity of women from America’s past. https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/

Stories related to women’s history from the Library of Congress Blogs. Includes known and little-known women and events. https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/category/womens-history/

Interesting blog about women in history who rarely gotten their due. https://amazingwomeninhistory.com/

From the New-York Historical Society’s Center for Women’s History, posts about a broad range of women in different socio-economic roles and time periods. https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs?category=Women%20at%20the%20Center

For some more stories about women in the labor force, the US Dept of Labor has these stories: https://blog.dol.gov/tag/womens-history-month

Of interest if seeking references for primary sources and further readings is the NWHM Crusade for the Vote section. https://www.crusadeforthevote.org/bibliographies

ARTICLES, WEBSITES and MORE

JSTOR, an excellent online research tool.

      “When Patriots Protest: The Anti-Suffrage Discursive Transformation of 1917.” Kristy Maddux. Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2004. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41939924

      “The Evolving Suffrage Militancy of Mary Nolan.” Judith Poucher.  The Florida Historical Quarterly. Vol 95, 2016. [Nolan was the oldest NWP suffragist to be arrested and jailed.] https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol95/iss2/5/

National Museum of American History. www.americanhistory.si.edu. Has articles and stories about objects in their collections and how they relate to the larger suffrage history.

DC Newspaper Resources: https://theancestorhunt.com/blog/district-of-columbia-online-historical-newspapers-summary/

“The Many ‘Official’ Colors of the Suffrage Movement.” Sara Gordon, Center for Women’s History. 2020. New York Historical Society Museum & Library.  https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/the-many-official-colors-of-the-suffrage-movement

National Park Service. Articles about the 19th Amendment include:

  “Flexing Feminine Muscles: Strategies and Conflicts in the Suffrage Movement.” Susan Gooier. https://www.nps.gov/articles/flexing-feminine-muscles-strategies-and-conflicts.htm

  “Suffrage in Spanish: Hispanic Women and the Fight for the 19th Amendment in New Mexico.” Cathleen Cahill. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/suffrage-in-spanish-hispanic-women-and-the-fight-for-the-19th-amendment-in-new-mexico.htm

Turning Point Suffrage Memorial, Lorton VA and online. https://suffragistmemorial.org/suffragists-in-virginia/

Alexander Street, Women and Social Movements. Includes biographical sketches of many suffragists. For instance, Mary DuBrow of the NWP. https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1008342638

Philadelphia Area Archives, Suffrage Material: https://findingaids.library.upenn.edu/?search_field=all_fields&q=suffrage

Syracuse.com News site. Crusade for the Vote Series, including “Suffrage Banner Brings State GOP Convention to a Halt in 1918.” Jonathan Croyle, 2020; updated 2023.

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539626580. “Voters in a Foreign Land: Alien Suffrage and Citizenship in the United States,1704-1926” (2009). Kennedy-Shaffer, Alan. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-115t-9130

FAITH

Jewish Women’s Archive: The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. “Suffrage in the United States.” Melissa Klapper, 2021. https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/suffrage-in-the-united-states

“Faith Played a Complex Role in the Battle for Women’s Right to Vote.” Elizabeth Eisenstadt Evans. National Catholic Reporter online, 2019. https://www.ncronline.org/news/faith-played-complex-role-battle-womens-right-vote

“A Muslim American Reflects on the 19th Amendment.” Prof. Abed Awad, 2020.   https://www.islamicity.org/53092/a-muslim-american-reflects-on-the-100th-anniversary-of-the-19th-amendment-to-the-u-s-constitution/

GENDER IDENTITY

“When Lesbians Led the Women’s Suffrage Movement.” Prof. Anya Jabour. The Conversation [independent news site with academic and research based journalism], 2020.  https://theconversation.com/when-lesbians-led-the-womens-suffrage-movement-129867

“The Very Queer History of the Suffrage Movement.” Wendy Rouse. Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, 2020. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-very-queer-history-of-the-suffrage-movement.htm

NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN

“What Women’s Suffrage Owes to Indigenous Culture.” Bridget Quinn. Yes! Magazine. Article published 2020. https://www.yesmagazine.org/democracy/2020/08/19/womens-suffrage-indigenous-culture

“How Native American Women Inspired the Women’s Rights Movement.” Sally Roesch Wagner. National Park Services, On Their Shoulders articles. Originally from Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, 2020.

AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMEN

“’For the Future Benefit of My Whole Race’: How Black Women Fought for the Vote Before and After 19th Amendment.” Cathy Rainone and Noreen O’Donnell. Chicago, 2020. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/for-the-future-benefit-of-my-whole-race-how-black-women-fought-for-the-vote-before-and-after-19th-amendment/2323520/

Richmond Public Library. “Block the Vote: The Deliberate Suppression of the Black Vote” https://rvalibrary.org/block-the-vote/

ASIAN and ASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN

“Six Influential AAPI [Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders] Women in Suffrage History.” https://www.alicepaul.org/six-influential-aapi-women-in-suffrage-history/.

Barnard Archives and Special Collections. “Kang Tung Pih, Class of 1909.” Part of alumnae profiles. Katie Portant and Donald Glassman. 2008. https://barnardarchives.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/kang-tung-pih-class-of-1909/

DISABILITIES and WOMEN

Timeline and Identification of Many Women Activists: http://whitneylewjames.com/disability-activism/

“Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History.” Dr. Douglas Baynton. VCU Libraries: Social Welfare History Project, 2014.  https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/woman-suffrage/disability-justification-inequality-american-history/

“Left Out of the Vote.” Melissa De Witte interviewing Prof. Rabia Belt, Stanford University. Stanford News, 2020. https://news.stanford.edu/2020/08/12/left-out-of-the-vote/

THE FIGHT FOR SUFFRAGE CONTINUES…

“After Suffrage: The Unfinished Business of Feminist Legal Advocacy.” Serena Mayeri. The Yale Law Journal, 2020. https://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/after-suffrage-the-unfinished-business-of-feminist-legal-advocacy

“100 Years and Counting: The Fight for Women’s Suffrage Continues.” Kristen Lee, Ihaab Syed, Lelia Rafei. ACLU News, 2020. https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/100-years-and-counting-the-fight-for-womens-suffrage-continues

“Shelby County Decision: A Decade Long Erosion.” Southern Poverty Law Center, 2023. https://www.splcenter.org/shelby-county-decision-report

And the fight for people to understand the full American history must also continue. See “Here’s the Civil War History They Don’t Want You to Know,” Howell Raines, author of Silent Cavalry: How Union Soldiers from Alabama Helped Sherman Burn Atlanta – and Then Got Written Out of History. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/20/howell-raines-alabama-civil-war-history/

While the topic is different, the process described makes clear why going beyond the collective ‘memory’ of history is so essential.

SUFFRAGISTS BY STATE

** Most states have resources through libraries or colleges that provide historical information and materials on that specific state’s suffrage history.  These are a selection to show some of the wonderful resources available. **

COLORADO

Women Suffrage Centennial, Southern Colorado. Central resource for women’s suffrage especially in Southern Colorado. https://womensuffragecentennialsoutherncolorado.org/about-us/research/about-us-research-pueblos-black-suffragists/

HAWAII

Hawai’i Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commemoration. Site contains biographies and history of suffrage in Hawai’i.  https://wscc.historichawaii.org/history/

Smithsonian Magazine. “How the 19th Amendment Complicated the Status and Role of Women in Hawai’i.” Nora McGreevy. 2020. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-19th-amendment-complicated-status-and-role-women-hawaii-180975551/  Listen to the Smithsonian Sidedoor audio “Votes for Hawaiians” for more on the history of women’s suffrage in Hawai’i. https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_69_065e2479-d78a-4142-8286-e44cfae36368&uf=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.si.edu%2FSmithsonianSidedoor

ILLINOIS

Suffrage 2020 Illinois website. Biographies and other articles about suffrage. Includes: “The Two-Fold Struggle: African American Republican Women’s Clubs.” Ve’Amber Miller, 2019. [At the time, Republicans were the progressive party.] https://suffrage2020illinois.org/2020/04/05/the-two-fold-struggle-african-american-republican-womens-clubs/

MARYLAND

https://www.mdhumanities.org/2021/01/the-complicated-history-of-suffrage-in-maryland/

https://mdwomensheritagecenter.org/resources-organizations/

MINNESOTA

Minnesota Historical Society website. Votes for Women, history and biographies related to MN Suffrage. https://mnhs.gitlab.io/archive/votesforwomen/mnhsd7-mnhsorg.pantheonsite.io/votesforwomen.html

NEW MEXICO

Ms. Magazine Online. “Suffrage in Spanish: Hispanic Women and the Fight for the 19th Amendment in New Mexico.” Cathleen Cahill. 2020. https://msmagazine.com/2020/07/26/suffrage-in-spanish-hispanic-women-and-the-fight-for-the-19th-amendment-in-new-mexico/

NEW YORK

New York Heritage, Digital Collections. Recognizing Women’s Right to Vote in New York State. Includes Items related to “Overt Racism after 1890.” https://nyheritage.org/index.php/exhibits/recognizing-womens-right-vote-new-york-state/overt-racism-after-1890 and the “Colored Woman’s Equal Suffrage League of Brooklyn.” https://nyheritage.org/index.php/exhibits/recognizing-womens-right-vote-new-york-state/colored-womans-equal-suffrage-league-brooklyn

New York Times, Overlooked No More Series. “Leonora O’Reilly, Suffragist Who Fought for Working Women.” Susan Ware, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/obituaries/leonora-oreilly-overlooked.html

“Making Women’s History” in Southwestern New York State website. Bibliographies of suffragists includes Edith “Angel” Ainge of the NWP. https://womenmakehistory.net/biographies/edith-m-ainge/

“Roses and Votes: Immigrant Jewish Women and the New York Woman Suffrage Movement, 1894-1917,” Katelyn Johnson, History in the Making: Vol. 8 , Article 10.

PUERTO RICO

“In Puerto Rico, Women Won the Vote in a Bittersweet Game of Colonial Politics.” Rosa Cartagena, Smithsonian Magazine Online, 2020. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/puerto-rico-women-won-vote-bittersweet-game-colonial-politics-180976181/

TEXAS

“Women’s Suffrage in the Texas Panhandle,” Marty Kuhlman, Panhandle-Plains Historical Review, XCI 2020.

VIRGINIA

Library of Virginia: Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Includes several suffragists, such as Maud Powell Jamison. https://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.asp?b=Jamison_Maud

Library of Virginia: The UncommonWealth. Includes articles related to people and objects connected to Virginia, such as those who served on the picket lines for suffrage. https://uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com/blog/2020/07/22/shoulder-to-shoulder-on-the-picket-line-virginia-women-fight-for-voting-rights/

Virginia Suffragists. Renee Sklarew. Boomer Magazine, July 2020. Short bios. https://www.boomermagazine.com/virginia-suffragists-battled-for-the-ballot-box/

WEST VIRGINIA

WV Archives. “Fighting the Long Fight: West Virginia Women and the Right to Vote.” Includes description of the dramatic vote for suffrage in West Virginia legislature, excerpted from NWP’s Mary Dubrow story in The Suffragist, April 1920. https://archive.wvculture.org/history/exhibitsonline/suffrage/suffragefourteentofourteen1920.html