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.

Show less

Details

Title: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
Creator: Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association (cre)et al, Vermont Equal Suffrage Association (cre)et al
Subject
Description: 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 Silver Special Collections at the University of Vermont, the collection focuses on the period from 1870 to 1920. 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.THE COLLECTION The Women’s Suffrage in Vermont Collection include VESA annual meeting reports and correspondence, legislation, promotional materials such as broadsides and leaflets, and photographs. FURTHER READINGS 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.
Publisher
Contributor
Date: 1882-1916
Type
Format
Identifier: uvmcdi:suffrage, local: suffrage
Source
Language: eng
Relation
Coverage
Rights

Sort

Title
Date

Search

(61 - 80 of 104)

Pages

Title: Lillian Herrick Olzendam to Marion Stone Pelley
Date Created: 1919-10-19
Description: Olzendam updates Pelley on her plans to come to St. Johnsbury, requesting a car so she can visit legislators in outlying towns, and tells Pelley that Dr. Horton would like to discover who was the author of a recent editorial in the Burlington Free Press.

Title: Lillian Herrick Olzendam to Vermont Legislators
Date Created: 1919-10_01
Description: Copy of circular letter sent to legislators, with instructions for printing, present status of ratification nationwide, and "Woodstock Suffrage Study Club" letterhead on the back.

Title: Lillian Herrick Olzendam to William H. Dyer
Date Created: 1919-10-19
Description: Olzendam asks Representative Dyer of Salisbury for his signature in support of ratification, tells him she believes he thinks "the Constitution of Vermont supercedes that of the United States of America," and explains the national importance of Vermont's position.

Title: Lisa M. Wilkinson to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
Date Created: 1919-09-08
Description: Wilkinson warns that there will be an upcoming meeting of the board and states that while she likes the idea of a suffrage conference with a national speaker, she can't commit to working on a conference due to family commitments. She discusses Greely, Hale, and Spargo as potential speakers.

Title: Marion R. Horton to Annette W. Parmalee
Date Created: 1919-09-08
Description: Horton offers Parmelee the position of State Historian for the Vermont Equal Suffrage Association.

Title: Marion R. Horton to Annette W. Parmelee
Date Created: 1919-09-12
Description: Horton responds that she was unaware of Parmelee's appointment because she feels isolated from other officers and Vermonters, declares that the next VESA president should be a "real Vermonter," and praises Parmelee on her conference paper.

Title: Marshall E. Calkins to Lillian H. Olzendam
Date Created: 1919-10-25
Description: Representative Calkins of Westmore responds that he is not in favor of a special session without recompence for the legislators, and feels that "when the women pay a poll tax and take the freeman oath then they should have equal rights with man." [Written on back of blank petition form sent...
Show moreRepresentative Calkins of Westmore responds that he is not in favor of a special session without recompence for the legislators, and feels that "when the women pay a poll tax and take the freeman oath then they should have equal rights with man." [Written on back of blank petition form sent originally from Olzendam]
Show less

Title: Marshall E. Calkins to Lillian H. Olzendam
Date Created: 1919-10-25
Description: Senator Varnum of Jeffersonville replies that he does not care to sign the petition to the Governor.

Title: Melvin G. Morse to Annette W. Parmelee
Date Created: 1919-12-10
Description: Morse, librarian of the Legislative Reference Bureau, sends Parmelee copies of women-related legislation introduced in 1919, and states "there were no bills introduced in 1900 except the ones which I sent you with the other list."