Women Too?

Telegram Opposing Women's Suffrage¹

Clip from the Boston Herald explaining that the women of Massachusetts do not want suffrage.²

The opener to my exhibit will begin with something that I determined to be one of the most interesting to me. Originally, I wanted to place the blame on misogynistic men carrying out their beliefs that women were underserving of the right to vote for the reasoning behind why there was so much opposition to the 19^th Amendment. However, to my surprise, one of the first things I stumbled across after searching through the web was a telegram written by women urging others to keep the 19^th Amendment out of the Constitution. Unaware of their official affiliation, one can assume their views would align with those of many anti-suffragist groups. This shows the polarization on this issue that I feel most don’t understand. It proves that giving women the right to vote wasn’t a man versus woman issue, men and women alike aligned on both sides of the issue. With women disagreeing with the cause, it made it even more difficult to rally enough support to get the amendment passed through Congress.

This telegram was written in 1916, just as women were inching closer toward the ratification of the 19^th Amendment. The telegram is from three women, Mrs. C. T. Jaffray, Mrs. W. S. Dwinnell, and Mrs. C. M. Hanson, urging a senator to vote against women’s suffrage once the bill reaches the Senate.  Thus, proving that the road to ratification was an extensive and arduous struggle with many obstacles, but the drive from the women that believed in their rights as American citizens was the ultimate cause behind why women gained the respect they deserved.