[ Linda McShannock ] Should women
have the vote? That question
was hotly debated for a century
and a half as women learned to
organize and raise awareness
of the issue of equality.
I’m Linda McShannock, collections
curator at the Minnesota Historical
Society. Today we will examine the
subject of women’s suffrage.
In 1848 a small group of women
including Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and Lucretia Mott organized the
first women’s rights convention in
Seneca Falls, New York. Suffrage
became one issue in their platform
of women’s rights. Susan B.
Anthony joined the national
movement in 1852.
In the 1850s Minnesota’s early
suffrage supporters, including
Harriet Bishop, St. Paul’s first public
school teacher, voiced their opinions
on women’s roles in the home and
in public. St. Cloud’s outspoken
newspaper publisher Jane Grey
Swisshelm wrote, “a woman ought
to meddle in politics.”
Not everyone agreed. In the time
of separate spheres when a
woman’s place was in the home
and men’s roles were limited to
business affairs, a majority of the
population believed that giving
the vote to women would mean
the end of family harmony.
Women and men who supported
votes for women countered
with their own views.
Ethel Edgerton Hurd was the
forceful leader of the largest
suffrage organization in Minnesota,
the Political Equality Club of
Minneapolis. Influential members
included Clara Ueland who was
the organization’s final president
and who expanded the visibility
of suffrage organizations
through her leadership.
In the early 20th century the
movement was infused with
enthusiasm. By 1919, some
30,000 Minnesota women had
taken a stand for suffrage.
Support for the movement to grant
“women the right of full citizenship”
expanded with the formation of the
Scandinavian Woman Suffrage
Association and the Worker’s Equal
Suffrage League. African American
activist, Nellie Griswold Francis,
founded St. Paul ‘s Everywoman
Suffrage Club. Early leaders were
joined by a younger generation
who were willing to create public
spectacles to win support. They
held mass meetings, handed
out countless leaflets, sponsored
parades, plays, l before the public.
Women were encouraged to “Show
Your Colors!” by wearing bright
yellow ribbons, the suffrage color.
Just as pink is recognizable today
as the color for breast cancer
awareness, yellow was adopted
as the color associated with
theSuffrage movement. In 1914
the Minnesota suffragists planted
yellow flower gardens to keep
the movement alive during
the summer doldrums.
The Society’s collection includes the
archives of several local suffrage
organizations, the banners carried
in their marches and a drawerful
of buttons, badges and ribbons
worn by their delegates.
Minnesota became the 15th state
to ratify the nineteenth amendment,
which prohibits each state and the
federal government from denying
any citizen the right to vote based
on that citizen's sex.
On August 26, 1920, the 19th
Amendment to the US constitution
became the law of the land.
Because of the passage of this
amendment, men and women have
equal status as voters in all public
elections. Exercise those rights
and make your voice heard.
