by Shannon Butler
This year (and we can all agree, it has been one heck of a year) we are called to perform our civic duty, and that is to vote! The Presidential election of 2020 may be one of the most important elections in recent history and we all need to get out there and do our part. Imagine, for a moment, that you were ready and willing to head out to vote, but you were barred from voting because you are a woman. Of course we know, this is not some imaginary tale, but in fact it is a major part of our history. For most of this country’s history, women were not allowed to vote, or really even interfere with politics. In fact, as of this year (2020) it has only been 100 years that women have been allowed to vote, and our country is much older than that!
One of the organizations that was spreading the news about women’s suffrage was The Equal Suffrage League. In the early 1900s, the ESL had several important meetings right here in Poughkeepsie to discuss the efforts made by various women and the work that was still needed to win the right to vote. The ESL was established originally by Radcliffe college graduates and quickly spread to other colleges including Vassar. The goal was to attract younger college-educated women to join the movement. Although Vassar did not like to openly engage in political issues like suffrage, some Professors, like Professor Marian Whitney of the German department, made public statements at one of the League’s earliest meetings in March of 1910,
“We are giving girls far more education than we are giving boys, as anyone can see by looking at our High Schools, and that the girls, better educated as they are, have more time to devote to politics than the poor men who are ground down by the necessity of working for their families”
Other Vassar professors and students would begin attending these meetings which took place (at least as first) at the Columbia Institute which stood on Washington . The only male representative to speak in support at the first meeting was Rev. Edward S. Ralston (seen right). He pushed against the argument made by anti-suffrage supporters that women would be negatively affected by the evils of politics. The Reverend stated,
“Women do most of our charitable work, enter the very worst places in their errands of mercy and are not contaminated. What is there so bad about politics, that women by touching it should be defiled?”
On March 16th 1912, a huge crowd gathered at Columbus Institute to hear Miss Sylvia Pankhurst speak. Pankhurst was a major part of what the papers were calling, “the window smashing brigade of London suffragettes” and she brought in a massive audience who were willing to pay the fifty cent admission fee to hear her tell her tails of being sent to prison and force fed. The suffrage movement in London had become militant and sometimes violent so it was undoubtedly very exciting for the residents of Poughkeepsie to hear her speak.
Later that year, a small group of women led by “General” Rosalie Jones, marched from New York City to Albany. They stopped in Poughkeepsie (as seen in the Poughkeepsie Journal photo to the right) on December 21st. Here they were greeted by Vassar Professor and local suffragist, Laura J. Wylie (pictured on right) who created the Equal Suffrage League chapter in Poughkeepsie. Though, it would take many more years before women could vote both in New York State and Federal elections, there were plenty of women here in Poughkeepsie who made their thoughts heard. Be sure to make your thoughts heard on Tuesday November 3rd. For more info on local voting, Go Here!
References:
Poughkeepsie Sunday Courier – 22 Dec, 1912
Poughkeepsie Daily Eagle – 18 Mar, 1912
Check out Sylvia Pankhurst’s writing on the Militant Suffrage movement in London here.
Check out more local history on the Suffrage movement here.
Images:
Image of the Reverend Edward S. Ralston who attended some of the early local suffrage meetings
Image of Poughkeepsie Journal Newsclipping mentioning the visit of Sylvia Pankhurst, Mar 1912.
Image from the Poughkeepsie Journal showing the Suffrage Army arriving in Poughkeepsie on their march from NYC to Albany, Dec 1912.
Image of New York City Suffrage parade from the Library of Congress, May 1912
Image of Professor Laura J. Wylie from “Miss Wylie of Vassar”, by Elizabeth Morris, 1934 LH-B Wylie
