Hardpress - The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume VI

MRS. CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT. President of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance from its founding in 1904 and of the National American Woman Suffrage Association 1900-1904 and from 1915. Standing in an automobile on the way from the railroad station in New York after the campaign for ratification of the Federal Suffrage Amendment was completed by Tennessee. (See page 652.)

In the preceding volume a full account is given of the forty years' continuous effort to secure an amendment to the Federal Constitution which would confer full suffrage on all the women of the United States possessing the qualifications required of men. Antedating the beginning of this effort by thirty years was the attempt to enfranchise women through the amendment of State constitutions. After 1869 the two movements were contemporaneous, each dependent on the other, the latter a long process but essential in some measure to the success of the former. There is no way by which the progress of the movement for woman suffrage can be so clearly seen as by a comparison of the State chapters in this volume with the State chapters in Volume IV, which closed with 1900. The former show the remarkable development of the organized work for woman suffrage, especially in the last decade, which brought the complete victory.

In Volume IV it was possible to give a rsum of the Laws specifically relating to women and one was sent with each chapter for this volume. The space occupied by the account of the work for the suffrage, however, made it necessary to omit them. It required thousands of words to record the legislation of the last twenty years relating especially to women in some of the States and the large part of it to women in the industries, which they had scarcely entered in 1900. The same is true of child labor. Every State shows a desire for protective legislation. Many States provide for mothers' pensions, a modern tendency. About half of the States now have equal guardianship laws. There is a gradual increase in those enlarging the property and business rights of married women. The "age of consent" and the age for marriage have been raised in most States where they were too low. In every State for a number of years the large organizations of women have made a determined effort to obtain better laws for women and children and Legislatures have yielded to pressure. In every State as soon as women were enfranchised there was improvement in laws relating to their welfare and that of children.

The Federal Woman Suffrage Amendment went into effect in August, 1920, and the following winter there was a greater amount of advanced legislation in the various States than had taken place in the preceding ten years collectively, and the rsum of existing laws that had been prepared for this volume was soon at least partially obsolete in many of them. A brief statement of Office Holding was incorporated but its only value was in showing that in all States this was almost exclusively limited to "electors." When the Federal Amendment was proclaimed it carried with it eligibility to the offices. In some States it included Jury service but in others it was held that for this special legislation was necessary. In all States the professions and other occupations are open to women the same as to men. In the way of Education every State University admits women, and the vast majority of institutions of learning, except some of a religious character, are co-educational. A few of the large eastern universities still bar their doors but women have all needful opportunities for the higher education. Some professional schoolslaw, medicine and especially theologyare still closed to women but enough are open to them to satisfy the demand, and the same is true of the technical schools. To meet the lack of space every chapter had to be drastically cut after it was in type.

Women now have in a general sense equality of rights, although in every State they have learned or will learn that this is not literally true and that further effort will be required, but now, as never before, they are equipped for accomplishing it. It will be a long time before they have equality of opportunity in the business and political world but for the majority this will not be needed. Women will find, however, that in the home, in club life and in all lines of religious, philanthropic, educational and civic work the possession of a vote has increased their influence and power beyond measure.

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Introduction i
Position of women in regard to laws, office holding, education, etc.

Alabama
Early work Progress of organization Conventions held, reports and speeches made, activities of the association Officers and workers Legislative action Campaigns Help of the National Association Action on ratification of the Federal Suffrage Amendment Interest taken by President Wilson, National Committees and party leaders Celebrations.
[This form is followed in all the State chapters, with names of officers, workers, friends and enemies and many incidents; also results where woman suffrage exists. The chapters are alphabetically arranged, I to XLIX.]

Great Britain
Situation as to woman suffrage at commencement of the present century Status of the Bill in Parliament in the first decade Premier Campbell-Bannerman advises "pestering" Strong hostility of Premier Asquith Beginning of "militancy" Its effect on the suffrage movement Mrs. Fawcett's opinion Constitutional societies repudiate it Labor party supports woman suffrage Treachery in Parliament The Conciliation Bill Women left out of the Franchise Reform Bill Deputation to Premier Asquith Lloyd George's attitude Speaker Lowther kills Bill Suffragists go into politics Great suffrage "pilgrimage" Outbreak of war Important war work of the suffrage societies Coalition Government Conference Committee on Electoral Reform Bill Premier Asquith supports Woman Suffrage Lloyd George becomes Premier Suffrage clause in Bill gets immense majority in House of Commons Big fight in House of Lords but goes through Royal assent given Two women elected to House of Commons Oxford University opened to women.