Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
Collection Overview
The Women’s Suffrage in Vermont Collection documents Vermonters’ efforts to obtain voting rights for women. With contributions from the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, the Leahy Library at the Vermont Historical Society, and...
Show moreThe Women’s Suffrage in Vermont Collection documents Vermonters’ efforts to obtain voting rights for women. With contributions from the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, the Leahy Library at the Vermont Historical Society, and Silver Special Collections at the University of Vermont, the collection focuses on the period from 1870 to 1920.
The Women’s Suffrage in Vermont Collection include VESA annual meeting reports and correspondence, legislation, promotional materials such as broadsides and leaflets, and photographs.
HISTORY
In 1870, the Vermont Council of Censors proposed an amendment to the state constitution calling for full suffrage for women. A group of men formed the Vermont Woman Suffrage Association to support the amendment, which failed by a vote of 231 to 1 at the constitutional convention. Ten years later, taxpaying women did obtain the right to vote and hold office in school districts. The Vermont Woman Suffrage Association (VWSA) reorganized in 1884 and focused on achieving woman suffrage in municipal elections by introducing voting rights legislation, advocating in newspapers, and holding meetings and rallies with local and national speakers. The VWSA, which became the Vermont Equal Suffrage Association (VESA) in 1907, worked closely with the American Woman Suffrage Association, later the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Anti-suffragists formed the Vermont Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in 1912, and by 1917, when the Vermont legislature passed a law that allowed taxpaying women to vote in local elections, the organization claimed over 5,000 members.
VESA continued to push for full suffrage, and came close in 1919 when the legislature passed a bill allowing women to vote in presidential elections. Governor Clement refused to sign the bill, and the House of Representatives upheld his veto. After Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919, VESA members campaigned vigorously to have the legislature consider state ratification, but Governor Clement refused to call a special session and the amendment was ratified in 1920 without Vermont’s support. With the right to vote obtained, VESA dissolved and the new Vermont League of Women Voters took on the task of educating Vermont women about civic responsibilities.
FURTHER READING
Clifford, Deborah P. The Drive for Women's Municipal Suffrage in Vermont 1883-1917. Vermont History 47, no. 3 (1979): 173-190.
Clifford, Deborah P. An Invastion of Strong-Minded Women: The Newspapers and the Woman Suffrage Campaign in Vermont in 1870. Vermont History 43, no. 1 (1975): 1-19.
Show less
- Title
- Carrie Chapman Catt to Lillian Herrick Olzendam and Marion Stone Pelley
- Date Created
- 1919-09-12
- Description
-
Catt provides a status update on ratification progress nationally and stresses the importance of Vermont being the thirty-sixth state to ratify.
- Title
- Carrie Chapman Catt to Marion Stone Pelley
- Date Created
- 1919-09-05
- Description
-
Catt describes the work to be done by Pelley with the preparations of Miss White, and calls for a thorough campaign to promote a special session of the Vermont Legislature.
- Title
- Lillian H. Olzendam to Marion Stone Pelley
- Date Created
- 1919-11-06
- Description
-
Olzendam tells Pelley she doesn’t believe that the state’s lawmakers fully understand the Federal suffrage amendment, discusses her difficulties with obtaining legislators’ signatures in support of a special session, and expresses concern at pushing too much for Washington County Senator Howland...
Show moreOlzendam tells Pelley she doesn’t believe that the state’s lawmakers fully understand the Federal suffrage amendment, discusses her difficulties with obtaining legislators’ signatures in support of a special session, and expresses concern at pushing too much for Washington County Senator Howland’s help.
Show less
- Title
- Lillian Herrick Olzendam to Marion Stone Pelley
- Date Created
- 1919-10-19
- Description
-
Olzendam updates Pelley on her plans to come to St. Johnsbury, requesting a car so she can visit legislators in outlying towns, and tells Pelley that Dr. Horton would like to discover who was the author of a recent editorial in the Burlington Free Press.