{"id":107342,"date":"2026-03-20T08:47:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T12:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/?p=107342"},"modified":"2026-03-20T08:47:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T12:47:42","slug":"womens-history-month-womens-suffrage-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/womens-history-month-womens-suffrage-part-1.html","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s History Month: Women\u2019s Suffrage (part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article \u2013 to help celebrate March being Women\u2019s History Month \u2013 Katie Rebecca Merkley searches old newspapers to learn more about the women\u2019s suffrage movement. Katie specializes in U.S. research for family history, enjoys writing and researching, and is developing curricula for teaching children genealogy. She has a website: krgarnergenealogy.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The right to vote was a long battle for women that was not won until 1920. In the United States, women\u2019s right to vote was guaranteed by passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, whose adoption was certified on 26 August 1920.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: official program for the Woman Suffrage Procession, Washington, D.C., on 3 March 1913. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the battlegrounds for this struggle was the newspaper. Newspapers reported on rallies and meetings to push for women\u2019s rights. They were also a place where people could publish their opinions on the matter, much like how people today use social media to post their opinions on current or controversial topics.<\/p>\n

I did a search in GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> to learn more about this important subject.<\/p>\n

One newspaper article on this matter was published back in 1773! This shows how long the battle for women\u2019s suffrage lasted. Sally Tickle wrote a letter to Mr. Holt, which was published in a New York City newspaper. In it, she claimed that men\u2019s jealousy of women\u2019s intellect is the reason they have limited women\u2019s rights, including public affairs and education.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
New York Journal (New York, New York), 21 January 1773, page 836<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sally wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat the men were always jealous of the intellectual talents of women, is very clear, from the pains which they have always taken to exclude them from a share in the administration of public affairs, to debar them from a liberal education, and on the contrary, to employ their minds on trifles. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, it is an undeniable Truth that, in the art of government, nobleness of sentiment, and the most refined exertions of the mind, there are many instances of women, who were, at least, equal, if not superior to the Men.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Then she claimed history has proven this point.<\/p>\n

Over a century later, the battle for women\u2019s rights continued, especially the right to vote. In 1885, people sent letters to the American Woman Suffrage Association. The letter novelist Louisa May Alcott wrote was published in the newspaper.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Louisa May Alcott. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this letter, Miss Alcott lamented that her health prevented her from being more active in the cause. She brought up the abolitionist movement and referred to women\u2019s suffrage as \u201cemancipation of the white slaves of America,\u201d implying that being denied the right to vote left women in a state of slavery.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, Indiana), 7 November 1885, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much was posted in Pennsylvania newspapers in 1914 about women\u2019s suffrage after the Woman Suffrage Party held a two-day conference.<\/p>\n

After quoting from the Declaration of Independence, the Woman Suffrage Party declared that the country could not achieve its stated goals while the women were in \u201cpolitical servitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), 18 March 1914, page 27<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This article reports the Woman Suffrage Party\u2019s \u201cdeclaration of principles,\u201d including this passage:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that this country will fail to attain the high standing set forth in the Declaration of Independence while women are held in political servitude, and that no government can properly perform its function or discharge its obligation to its citizens while compelling one-half of its population to bear its burden though denying them the right to share its privileges.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Woman Suffrage Party then announced that its goal was to secure the ballot for the women of the state \u201con the same terms upon which it is granted to the men.\u201d They also would not align themselves with any particular political party or organization whose objective was other than securing the right to vote for women:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pledge ourselves to the task of securing the political freedom of women, not in any spirit of self-seeking, but with a desire to secure that political and economic justice for all men and women which is only possible in a free state, where the government rests not upon the consent of a fraction of the people, however large, but upon that of the whole people.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In that same issue, the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader<\/em> published several related articles, including this one.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), 18 March 1914, page 25<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to this article, several Western states had allowed women to vote before the rest of the U.S. did. This proved to suffragists the benefits of allowing women to vote. The total number of women in those states was close to 4 million. Other states granted partial voting rights to women, such as voting on school matters or taxation.<\/p>\n

Equal suffrage states had higher voter turnout than male suffrage states. Only about 65% of men in states with only male suffrage voted. In equal suffrage states, up to 90% of the women voted. It didn\u2019t give a number on how many men voted in these states but said that it was higher.<\/p>\n

Mayors in equal suffrage states reported that many women voted and took an \u201cintellectual interest in public affairs,\u201d and that the \u201cvote of disreputable women is negligible.\u201d Furthermore, other equal suffrage states indicated that no evil had come of allowing women\u2019s suffrage.<\/p>\n

Women in these states had voted for laws to protect their interests, such as establishing maximum working hours and minimum wages for working women, equal pay for equal work, mothers having equal custody rights as fathers, married women having rights to their own incomes, and pensions for widowed mothers.<\/p>\n

On that same page of the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader<\/em> was an ad for women\u2019s suffrage, pointing out all the women\u2019s influence in the world. Women do the missionary work. Women tend to the wounded during war. Women create love at home and raise the next generation. Therefore, women are better able to make laws for women. This women\u2019s suffrage ad was posted by M. Heins, a self-proclaimed women\u2019s store with female staff that sold women\u2019s attire. They had used their regular ad space to focus on women\u2019s suffrage.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), 18 March 1914, page 25<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stay tuned for more newspaper articles about women\u2019s suffrage in Part 2 of this series.<\/p>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> suffragist parade in New York city, May 1912. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/p>\n

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