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.
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- Title
- Lillian H. Olzendam to Frank G. Howland
- Date Created
- 1919-11-06
- Description
-
Olzendam asks Washington County Senator Howland if VESA can publicize the existence of his legislative committee and states that she wishes to publish the text of the Federal Amendment and excerpts from the United States Constitution because legislators don’t seem to fully understand the rights...
Show moreOlzendam asks Washington County Senator Howland if VESA can publicize the existence of his legislative committee and states that she wishes to publish the text of the Federal Amendment and excerpts from the United States Constitution because legislators don’t seem to fully understand the rights that would be granted to Vermont women upon ratification.
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- Title
- Lillian H. Olzendam to Frank G. Howland
- Date Created
- 1919-11-17
- Description
-
Olzendam asks Washington County Senator Howland if he would have a conversation with the Governor and present some facts that she has enclosed to help him “realize that a special session would be the pleasantest way out of a bad situation,” and notes that after the American Legion affair he would...
Show moreOlzendam asks Washington County Senator Howland if he would have a conversation with the Governor and present some facts that she has enclosed to help him “realize that a special session would be the pleasantest way out of a bad situation,” and notes that after the American Legion affair he would be looking for an opportunity to “set himself right with the people of the State.”
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- Title
- Lillian Herrick Olzendam to Frank G. Howland
- Date Created
- 1919-10-18
- Description
-
Olzendam updates Washington County Senator Frank Howland about the legislative signatures she has obtained in support of a special legislative session to ratify the suffrage amendment.
- Title
- Lillian Herrick Olzendam to Frank G. Howland
- Date Created
- 1919-10-18
- Description
-
Olzendam updates Washington County Senator Frank Howland about the legislative signatures she has obtained in support of a special legislative session to ratify the suffrage amendment.
- Title
- Lillian Herrick Olzendam to Frank G. Howland
- Date Created
- 1919-10-22
- Description
-
Olzendam clarifies for Washington County Senator Howland the expectations of the VESA for a special session, explaining that Howland was asked to head a legislative committee to ask the Governor for his conditions for calling a special session, that Howland stated he wanted to select his own...
Show moreOlzendam clarifies for Washington County Senator Howland the expectations of the VESA for a special session, explaining that Howland was asked to head a legislative committee to ask the Governor for his conditions for calling a special session, that Howland stated he wanted to select his own committee members, and that the Governor's main objection to a special session was understood to be the expense to the State.
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- Title
- Lillian Herrick Olzendam to Frank G. Howland
- Date Created
- 1919-09-12
- Description
-
Olzendam sends Senator Howland a list of possible candidates for the committee and states that after her conversations with legislators she feels they will get the special session. Includes enclosure.