The Barber & Miss Sealy Part 4 - The Vote

Frank Farnham Scott (1894-1961)

Gertrude Selma Sealy (1892-1986)

maternal grandparents

 

When my grandparents got married in 1916, women couldn't vote in the presidential election that took place later that year. I have sometimes wondered if my grandmother or any of the women in the family were bothered by that fact. I realize now, some forty years after starting my genealogy journey, that I would have gained a great deal of insight into my grandparents had I known the answer to that question and others. Did they read the current news about the suffrage movement? Did they discuss suffrage? Where did family members stand on the issue?

August 18, 2020, marked the 100^th anniversary of the ratification of the historic 19^th amendment. The November 1920 presidential election was the first one in which women could cast a vote. I will probably never know if the women in my family celebrated that historic event by voting in this election but I would like to think they did.

 

This post presents some of the things my grandparents might have read about, or even experienced, in the time leading up to the culmination of what was a 70-year struggle to win suffrage for women in America.

– THE BEGINNING OF THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT –

   

Two of the most recognized women’s rights advocates in American history are Susan Brownwell Anthony (1820-1906) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902). They worked closely for over 50 years, becoming lifelong friends in the process. 

 

Anthony was born into a Quaker family with strong abolitionist beliefs. Her parents even hosted a meeting for like-minded Quakers nearly every Sunday at their Rochester, New York farm, where Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison, each an abolitionist and social reformer, sometimes joined them.

 

L-R: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony ca. 1891 (LOC), Frederick Douglass in 1862 (LOC),  William Lloyd Garrison ca. 1870 (LOC).

 

Due to that background, Anthony held strong views about the injustice of slavery. But as a 28-year-old teacher she encountered yet another injustice, this one against women. She discovered that male teachers in her school were being paid four times as much as the female teachers, so she took action and got involved with the teacher's union. Three years later, in 1851, Anthony met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and soon after was also immersed in women's rights and the suffrage movement. (NPS)

 

Stanton, an abolitionist who lived in Seneca Falls, New York, was married to an attorney who shared her views on slavery. As a married woman with children, however, she realized that men controlled almost all aspects of women's lives. If a woman was beaten by her husband, it was not grounds for divorce. If somehow a woman was granted a divorce, she would lose custody of her children and all rights to even see them. Stanton was a spirited, independent thinker who felt increasingly frustrated by the restrictions imposed on women. This led her to become one of the primary organizers of the first women's rights convention. It was held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, over forty years before my grandmother was born. (Wikipedia)

Anthony and Stanton were a formidable team, inspiring women across the country. Along with others, they organized, gave speeches and lectures, distributed pamphlets, lobbied, and above all, persisted despite harassment from onlookers that sometimes included having things thrown at them when they ere speaking. 

In January 1868, Anthony and Stanton published the first issue of The Revolution, a newspaper devoted to women's issues. Topics such as discrimination against women in the workplace, women's ability to keep the wages they earned, divorce and reproductive rights, as well as women's rights to own property were all linked to women's enfranchisement. With its confrontational tone, the newspaper was considered quite radical. Anthony and Stanton's positions were clearly stated on the paper's masthead: 

Principle, Not Policy: Justice, Not Favors.−Men, Their Rights and Nothing More: 

Women, Their Rights and Nothing Less.

 

Cropped image of the front page of The Revolution, Vol. I - No. 2, January 15, 1868. (Wikimedia Commons)

– A HUSBAND & WIFE JOIN THE MOVEMENT –

 

 

The fight for women's suffrage was also fought by more conservative leaders, such as Lucy Stone and her husband, Henry Blackwell (1825-1909), both abolitionists and women's rights activists. The couple made history at their 1855 wedding ceremony when they read their jointly authored "Marriage Protest." In it, they removed the word "obey" from the ceremony, while Henry made clear that he believed in a marriage union of total equality. Lucy even kept the name Stone, using it legally instead of Blackwell. (NPS, LOC)  

Lucy Stone, circa 1850 (LOC) and her husband, Henry Browne Blackwell, circa 1855. (LOC)

 

Just as Susan Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were doing, Stone and Blackwell worked hard to awaken people's minds to women's rights and the importance of enfranchisement. They, however, advocated for a more temperate approach to suffrage than Anthony and Stanton. In May 1869, Anthony and Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), an all-female organization that included Lucy Stone. It focused on the passage of a Constitutional amendment to cement women's right to vote, along with addressing other issues espoused in The Revolution. It was not long before a serious rift developed among NWSA members due to a difference of opinion regarding the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution.   

 

– A CLASH OF RACE AND GENDER –

The 14th Amendment was passed in June 1866, in part to restrict President Andrew Johnson's repeated efforts to do two things – roll back the rights of newly freed African Americans and give as much power back to the southern states as possible during the Redemption Era that followed Reconstruction after the Civil War. The amendment was ratified in July 1868, granting citizenship to everyone born in the United States, regardless of race or color. It also gave all male citizens over twenty-one years of age the right to vote. 

Recently emancipated slaves, both male and female, now had full rights and protection under the law. But one word made all the difference in who was eligible to vote – the word "male" clearly excluded women of any color from enfranchisement. This was a problem for some NWSA members since African American males were being given the right to vote before white women.

In spite of the new law, casting a ballot would not come easily for black males. Southern states circumvented the voting portion of the amendment by requiring African American males to pay a "poll tax" to qualify to vote, which most of them could not afford, or to take a literacy test that many of them could not pass. 

Intimidation and violence were also used to prevent the men from exercising their right to vote. This prompted the creation of the 15th Amendment, passed in February 1869 and ratified one year later in February 1870. The amendment specifically gave African American men the right to vote, but all women of any color were still excluded. (NPS, National Women's History Museum)

– ANTHONY AND STANTON OBJECT–

 

Anthony and Stanton were firmly opposed to the amendments, reasoning that it put black men's rights above those of educated white women – a blatantly racist stance. The two women took it even further by distancing themselves from Frederick Douglass, the man who had been their staunch ally in two common causes – the abolition of slavery and suffrage for all adult citizens. What is particularly interesting is that both women had been allies and friends with Douglass for decades. Imagine the deep sense of betrayal he must have felt when the women pushed him aside.

Lucy Stone, on the other hand, supported both the 14th and 15th Amendments, viewing them as steps forward in the struggle for women's enfranchisement – first, African American males, then women no matter their color. Consequently, she and other left the NWSA. Stone and her husband founded the American Woman Suffrage Association (ASWA) in November 1869, a mere six months after the NWSA was founded. The AWSA was committed to a single-issue strategy – winning suffrage for women on a state-by-state basis; members included both men and women, unlike the NWSA. (NPS, NPS)

In 1870, Stone and Blackwell began publishing The Woman's Journal, with Stone as editor. By 1890, Stone's daughter, Alice Blackwell, negotiated the successful merger of the NWSA and AWSA, creating the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). After Lucy Stone's death in 1893, Alice continued in her mother's footsteps, making The Woman's Journal the primary source for the suffrage movement until 1931. (Britannica) 

  

– NEW BLOOD & NEW STRATEGIES IN THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT –

 

 

Carrie Chapman Catt in 1914 (LOC)

Carrie Chapman Catt was one of the four presidents of the NAWSA. Like Lucy Stone, she was a proponent of state-level suffrage, realizing it would provide an underpinning for suffrage at the federal level. Catt served as president of the NAWSA from 1900-1904, and again from 1910-1915. Her fundraising and organizational skills helped her gain support from affluent women, giving the NAWSA the funds it needed to charge ahead. 

 

In Catt's early years as head of the organization, she created annual goals for each state, providing a coordinated plan for a major suffrage campaign that included aggressively lobbying members of Congress. (Wikipedia, PBS) Even though Catt's strategies led the suffrage movement forward, it was moving much too slowly for two other suffragists, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, who had earned their stripes in the British suffrage movement. 

 

In general, leaders and numerous members of the suffrage movement were well-educated, often holding degrees in several areas. Burns and Paul were no exception. In 1909, both women were abroad pursuing their educations; Paul was also doing social work. Each one gave up those endeavors to join Emmeline Pankhurst and her two daughters as they fought for woman suffrage in England. Under the tutelage of Pankhurst, Burns and Paul became well-versed in militant protest tactics. They, in fact, met in a London police station after being arrested for demonstrating. (Alice Paul, NPS)

L: Alice Paul (1885-1977) c. 1915 (LOC)  R: Lucy Burns (1879-1966) c. 1913. (LOC)

 

The women's experiences in Britain included confrontations with the police, arrests, jail sentences, and hunger strikes. The hunger strikes often resulted in the women being force-fed by having tubes inserted through their noses. It was a painful procedure, yet Paul, Burns, the Pankhursts, and many others persisted. When the two women returned to the United States, they brought with them an arsenal of protest techniques, as well as their incredible determination and fortitude.

Burns and Paul immediately got involved with the NAWSA, participating in marches and giving speeches, just as many other members of the organization did. They also experienced some of the same treatment they encountered in Britain – hostile onlookers, harassment, and being pelted with objects and rotten vegetables. However, things sometimes went to another level. 

– THE WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARADE –

Such was the case during the National Woman Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C. on March 3, 1913, the eve of newly elected President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. Burns and Paul were tasked with planning the parade. Alice Paul specifically chose March 3rd to take advantage of the huge crowds that would be in Washington for the inauguration, which also ensured that updates about the parade would be in newspapers from coast-to-coast. Suffragists from across the country, such as the Washington hikers, made use of pre-parade publicity to make headlines of their own.

A contingency of sixteen women, carrying signs naming each of the seven states they were from, left New York City on February 12, 1913, to hike 295 miles to Washington, D.C. Despite the frigid winter temperatures, they planned to complete the hike and participate in the National Woman Suffrage Parade on March 3, 1913.²⁴ (LOC)

              The Woman Suffrage Procession

The parade was an amazing spectacle that began at the Capitol Building and proceeded down Pennsylvania Avenue. More than 5,000 people from across the U.S. and seventeen countries took part in the parade, marching in groups, riding on horseback, in automobiles, or on one of twenty-four floats. There were also "nine band, four mounted brigades, and three heralds." (LOC)

Among the numerous well-known speakers were Emmeline Pankhurst, who traveled from England to participate in the parade, and Helen Keller.

 

 

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Left: Women marchers were organized by country, state, occupation, and organization. Miss Inez Milholland and Mrs. Richard Coke Burleson led the march. (LOC)

The cover of the official 20-page program for the Woman Suffrage Procession that took place in Washington, D.C. on March 3, 1913. The program included ample support from a variety of advertisers. (LOC)

Inez Milholland Boissevain preparing to lead the March 3, 1913, suffrage parade in Washington, D.C.  Harris & Ewing, photographer. Boissevain was an attorney and activist. (LOC)

Grand Marshall Mrs. Richard Coke Burleson (center, on horseback) leading the suffrage march from the Capitol on March 3, 1913. (LOC)  

 

 

 

 

Marchers with the banner "Sweden" at the Woman Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., March 3, 1913. (LOC)

 

 

 

 

Nurses marching in the Woman Suffrage Parade on March 3, 1913. (LOC)

 

 

 

The crowd of at least 250,000 people was comprised mostly of men, so while there were many supporters, not everyone in the attending crowd agreed with the message that was being broadcast. About halfway through the almost two-mile parade route, spectators started moving into the street, blocking the marchers. The situation quickly escalated from being menacing to one of physical violence as women were tripped and shoved, as described in this excerpt from "1913 Woman Suffrage Procession" by the National Park Service:

The marchers found themselves trapped in a sea of hostile, jeering men who yelled 

vile insults and sexual propositions at them. They were manhandled and spat upon. The women reported that they received no assistance from nearby police officers, who looked on bemusedly or admonished the women that they wouldn't be in this predicament if they had stayed home. Although a few women fled the terrifying scene, most were determined to continue. They locked arms and faced the ambush, some through tears. When they could, they ignored taunts. Some brandished banner poles, flags, and hatpins to ward off the attack. They held their ground until the U.S. Army troops arrived about an hour later to clear the street so that the procession could continue. (NPS)

 

Woman suffrage parade, Washington, D.C., March 3, 1913. George Grantham Bain, photographer. (LOC)

 

Women's suffrage procession in Washington, D.C., March 3, 1913, crowd around a Red Cross ambulance. (LOC)

 

Three hundred suffragists were injured and 100 were hospitalized in the chaos that ensued before U.S. Army troops arrived to get the crowd under control. Meanwhile, ambulances and doctors were blocked by the crowd, impeding their ability to reach those that were hurt. Despite the disruption and turmoil, many of the parade participants were able to complete the route. In the Senate hearing that followed a few days later, it was stated that, "There would be nothing like this happen if you would stay at home." That pervasive sentiment by male spectators, police, and even members of the U.S. Senate was precisely why the women had marched.

 

– THE SILENT SENTINELS –

By 1916, while the NAWSA continued heavy lobbying among members of Congress, the National Woman's Party (NWP), guided by Alice Paul, began to employ more radical methods to keep attention focused on the issue. Among them was picketing, a tactic that had been used only by labor unions thus far. Picketing began at the White House on January 10, 1917, after an unsuccessful meeting between a large group of suffragists and President Woodrow Wilson the previous day. Paul and Burns intensified the campaign by arranging for picketers to be posted around the White House six days a week, regardless of the weather. Picketing continued in this manner for the next two-and-a-half years. (NPS)

Paul called the picketers "Silent Sentinels" because they did not speak the entire time they were on the picket line, letting their presence and the signs they carried convey the message to President Wilson and the public. Often there were special days for particular groups, such as state delegations, colleges, teachers, musicians, and artists, to name a few. President Wilson was tolerant of the picketers at first, but eventually became annoyed because he could not leave the White House by any exit without encountering them which was, of course, Alice Paul's goal. (NPS)

Pennsylvania on the Picket Line, circa 1917. One banner reads, "Mr. President how long must women wait for liberty." Harris & Ewing, photographer. (LOC)

Maryland Day picketing the White House for suffrage, circa 1917. Harris & Ewing, photographer. (LOC)

Suffrage pickets marching around the White House – March 4, 1917. Harris & Ewing, photographer. (LOC)

– THE PICKETERS ENCOUNTER VIOLENCE –

When the United States joined World War I in April 1917, many people involved in the suffrage movement thought lobbying and picketing should be suspended temporarily. Alice Paul and other leaders of the National Woman's Party felt differently. Consequently, the Silent Sentinels were soon viewed as unpatriotic and public opinion began to turn against them. Crowds became confrontational, even hostile sometimes. Lucy Burns and another NWP member, Dora Lewis, had an inflammatory banner ripped from their hands by a crowd. When picketers returned the next day and refused to hand over their banner to police, they were arrested. (NPS)

 

As the situation escalated over the next few months, well over 150 women were arrested for obstructing traffic – peaceful protest was not unlawful and, consequently, couldn't be used as a reason for arrest. The longer the conflict lasted the more severe the sentences became. What started as a few days in a local jail if the women refused to pay their fines, increased to a sentence of several months in the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia. (NPS)

 

In October 1917, police announced that picketers would be sentenced to six months in prison. Alice Paul quickly responded by leading a picket line the next day with a banner that used President Wilson's own words about joining World War I against him:      

THE TIME HAS COME TO CONQUER OR SUBMIT. 

FOR US, THERE IS BUT ONE CHOICE. 

WE HAVE MADE IT.

 

President Wilson

Alice Paul carries a banner quoting President Wilson as she leaves NWP headquarters with other picketers. Harris & Ewing, photographer. (LOC)

Once jailed, the women were often met with ridicule and physical abuse. To make people outside the facility aware of their situation, the women broke out windows in their cells. On the inside, they went on hunger strikes. Both were tactics Burns and Paul had learned from the Pankhurst in England. The hunger strikes led the picketers to be held down and force-fed by authorities, as described by Lucy Burns in a day-by-day log she wrote in a sort of shorthand on small scraps of paper; the log was subsequently smuggled out of the workhouse. 

 

Dr. Gannon told me I must be fed. Was stretched on bed, two doctors, matron, 

four colored prisoners present, Whittaker in hall. I was held down by five people at 

legs, arms, and head. I refused to open mouth. Gannon pushed tube up left nostril. I turned and twisted my head all I could, but he managed to push it up. It hurts nose 

and throat very much and makes nose bleed freely. Tube drawn out covered with 

blood. Operation leaves one very sick. Food dumped directly in stomach feels like a 

ball of lead. (Internet Archive)

 

 

Women imprisoned for suffrage activism laying on straw pallets on a jail floor, Washington, D.C., circa 1917. Harris & Ewing, photographer. (LOC)

Cells were squalid and food was worm-ridden. The women demanded to be treated as political prisoners whose living conditions were significantly better, but prison officials refused their requests. 

 

 

 Left: Miss Lucy Burns in Occoquan Workhouse, Washington. 1917. Harris & Ewing, photographer. (LOC)

 

Burns kept a diary while imprisoned at Occoquan in which she describes the women being beaten and thrown around by prison guards. She also describes having her hands shackled to the top of a cell, forcing her to stand all night during the "Night of Terror" on November 14, 1917. Other women who were arrested with her that night endured abuse, as well. Burns spent more time in prison than any other suffragist. (Boundary Stones)

 

 

On November 6, 1917, New York adopted full woman suffrage, the fifteenth state to do so. This development, along with lobbying efforts by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and the annoyance of the  National Woman's Party (NWP) pickets and arrests moved President Wilson to exhibit a more positive attitude toward woman suffrage. In mid-November, President Wilson learned of the women's horrific treatment at the Occoquan Workhouse. He ordered the release of all the suffragists in late November 1917. In early December, the NWP held a ceremony where each of the 168 suffragists who had been imprisoned were presented with a "Jailed for Freedom" pin. (National Archives, Richmond Public Library)

 

 – VICTORY AT LAST –

In a speech to Congress on September 30, 1918, Wilson finally gave his support to a Constitutional amendment for woman suffrage, citing women's contributions to the war effort. His shift in attitude changed everything. Eight months later picketing finally ended when Congress passed the 19th Amendment on June 4, 1919 – it was the same amendment written by Susan B. Anthony in 1818, over four decades before. It reads, 

"The rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." (U.S. Const. amend. XIX)

The passage of the amendment was not the end of the battle, however. It still had to be ratified by three-fourths of the states. On August 8, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to do so. The 19th Amendment became part of the Constitution and the law of the land.

 

Alice Paul, national chairman of the Woman's Party, unfurls the ratification banner at suffrage headquarters in Washington, D.C. Every time a state ratified the 19th Amendment, a star was sewn onto the banner until there were thirty-six. Harris & Ewing, photographer. (LOC)

 

The women who fought for suffrage were true warriors. Often making extreme personal sacrifices on behalf of their contemporaries and future generations of women, they worked with an unwavering sense of purpose. The result of their efforts was that over twenty-five million women were finally eligible to lawfully cast a ballot in any local, state, or federal election across the country.

[Excerpt from Lucy Stone’s last public speech, “The Progress of Fifty Years,” given to the 

Congress of Women in May 1893 at the World’s Fair in Chicago.]

 

 

Alice Paul's "Jailed for Freedom" pin. (NPS)

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Bradish-Scott Family History - August 2021