WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IN DUBUQUE

Image courtesy: Iowa Pathways

WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IN DUBUQUE. Iowa's first constitutions restricted the right to vote to white males. Most Iowans, like people elsewhere at the time, believed that the womens' role was in running the household and caring for children; men held jobs and represented the family in public affairs. Although a women’s suffrage convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, called for expanding political rights for women, but the issue did not gain much attention in Iowa until immediately after the CIVIL WAR. As debate focused on the status of freed black former slaves, some women and men began to argue that women also also be allowed to vote. (1)

The first woman suffrage association was formed in Dubuque in 1869. (2) In February, 1869 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were star attractions at a woman-suffrage convention in Galena. As reported by the Dubuque Times nine Dubuque residents attended including "four estimable and wide awake ladies." (3)

Finding no one in in Des Moines willing to sponsor a woman-suffrage convention, the Dubuque women announced a meeting in the home of Henrietta Wilson of Dubuque on April 17th. This "call" for a meeting was signed by Wilson, Henrietta WILSON, Mary Newbury ADAMS, Laura G. ROBINSON, LUCY C. GRAVES, Rowena Guthrie LARGE, and Edna Snell. With the exception of the last person who was a high school teacher, each of the women were wives of important Dubuque businessmen. (4)

The fervor of those in attendance was noted in an editorial in the Dubuque Times

      We may ridicule the insignificant numbers who champion the
      new theory. Yet they are far more numerous than were the
      radical agitators twenty years ago, and equally energetic.
      Nor is it unreasonable to suppose that they have a great
      body of silent adherents whose sensitive natures restrain
      them from bearing the heat and burden of the conflict.  (5)

The April 17th meeting led to the organization of the Northern Iowa Woman Suffrage Association, the first such organization organized in Dubuque and the first in Iowa. The name was chosen in hopes that the idea would soon spread through the state. An organization of this type without the leadership of men was considered radical. A visitor from Illinois reported to the Chicago Tribune that "the masculine element in Dubuque was in a flutter on account of these goings on." (6)

The Association carried on a hectic schedule of activity. Edna Snell delivered a speech in Delaware County on women's rights. A lecture by Phoebe Couzins, the first woman in the United States admitted to a law school, was sponsored by the Association on July 16, 1869. The call for committees of correspondence with women in other communities successfully resulted in letter writing for Mary Adams. (7)

Mrs. Adams attended the September 9-10, 1869, woman suffrage convention in Chicago and reported that there was little opposition in Iowa to their efforts, but that efforts to secure the vote should be done quietly. She reported finding Iowa women largely in-different to the issue of voting rights. (8)

Organizing efforts outside Dubuque were slow to progress. Women in Monticello organized an association in early October, 1869. The only other group to organize in Iowa in 1869 was one in Algona. (9)

In 1870, Mary Spencer became the first woman appointed unanimously to a position within the Iowa legislature. Suffragists everywhere saw the appointment as a major victory. The same year, the Iowa legislature approved a resolution to amend the constitution, allowing women to vote. Progressives in Iowa believed the vote for women would soon be realized. (10) Although the bill was defeated in 1872, a core group suffragettes remained alive in Iowa until the passage of the 19th amendment. (11) During this time Annie Savery, a Des Moines resident and suffragist, spoke for women’s intellectual independence. Even fellow suffragists rejected extremist ideal. Moderates saw her as someone who would scare supporters away from the cause. (12)

Anti-sufferage postcards. Image courtesy: Smithsonian.com Online: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-anti-suffragette-postcards-warned-against-giving-women-vote-180959828/

Anti-sufferage postcards. Image courtesy: Smithsonian.com Online: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-anti-suffragette-postcards-warned-against-giving-women-vote-180959828/

Looking for allies, woman's suffrage joined with the temperance movement in 1874. Taking the form of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, suffragettes saw getting the vote as the only way to control alcoholism. (13) In public debate, the issue often became linked to the sale and manufacture of alcohol. Women were seen as allies of those wishing to prohibit or greatly limit such sales, and therefore, prohibitionists were usually advocates of granting the vote to women. When a prominent women’s suffrage leader in New York, Victoria Woodhull, however, spoke out for greater sexual freedom, the suffrage movement became accused of advocating for “free love.” (14)

The history of women's suffrage in Iowa from 1894 to 1919 was one of gradual but steady progress. In 1894 women in Iowa were granted partial suffrage. They were given the right to vote on bond issues and tax increases for schools and municipalities. While another positive step, it was far from the suffragettes' goal. In 1908 the city of Des Moines threatened even this advance when it denied women the vote in these cases. Mary Jane Whitely's successful suit of the city established an important precedent. (15)

In 1916, the state legislature submitted to Iowa voters (still all men) a constitutional amendment to remove the word “male” as a requirement to vote. Areas where pro-alcohol sentiments were strong opposed it as did liquor manufacturers. The Catholic Church, which pointed to biblical passages citing the man as head of the family, also opposed it. Some churches like the Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists were often very strong in their support of granting women the vote. (16) Counties along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers where these two groups were strong racked up huge majorities to narrowly defeat the measure. (17)

On April 19th, 1919, the women of Iowa were finally granted the right to vote in presidential elections. Three months later on July 2nd, 1919 Iowa ratified the 19th amendment in full, making them the tenth state to do so. Over a year later Tennessee ratified the 19th amendment on August 18th, 1920. With their acceptance of the new amendment, every eligible woman in the United states was granted the vote. (18)

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Source:

1. "Women's Suffrage," Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, Online: https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/womens-suffrage

2. "The Fight for Women's Suffrage," Iowa Pathways, Online: http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/mypath/fight-womens-suffrage

3. Noun, Louise, Strong-Minded Women: The Emergence of the Woman-Suffrage Movement in IowaAmes: Iowa State University Press, 1969, p. 112

4. Ibid., p. 113

5. Ibid. p. 118

6. Ibid. p. 116

7. Ibid. p. 118

8. Ibid. p. 119

9. Ibid. 120

10. "Women's Suffrage in Iowa," https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=3c04988656ba4a71a186a32503233f42

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. "Women's Suffrage,"

15. "Women's Suffrage in Iowa".....

16. "Women's Suffrage" Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs...

17. "Women's Suffrage,"

18. "Women's Suffrage in Iowa"...