Votes for Women

Jennifer A. Lemak is Chief Curator of History at the New York State Museum. She is the author of Southern Life, Northern City: The History of Albany's Rapp Road Community and (with Robert Weible and Aaron Noble) An Irrepressible Conflict: The Empire State in the Civil War, both also published by SUNY Press. Ashley Hopkins-Benton is a Senior Historian and Curator at the New York State Museum and the author of Breathing Life into Stone: The Sculpture of Henry DiSpirito.

• AcknowledgmentsList of ContributorsA Special Message from Governor Andrew M.CuomoMessage from Senator Kirsten GillibrandMessage from Lieutenant Governor Kathy HochulMessage from Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa and Commissioner of Education Mary Ellen Elia IntroductionSection 1. Agitate! Agitate!, 1776–1890In Writing and In SpeechPetitioning the New York State GovernmentErnestine L. RoseReform Breeds ReformWhat Was It Like for a Woman in the Early Nineteenth Century?Elizabeth Cady StantonSeneca Falls, 1848Rochester, 1848Essay—"All Men and Women Are Created Equal": The Legacy of Seneca FallsJudith WellmanDefining citizenshipLucretia Mott and Martha Coffin WrightLadies as Merchants?1850: First National Women’s Rights Convention, Worcester, MassachusettsAmelia Bloomer and The LilyDress ReformSusan B. AnthonyLifelong Partners: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. AnthonyAddressing the New York State Legislature, 1854Matilda Joslyn GageSojourner Truth1860 Convention, New York CityAfter the Civil WarThe American Equal Rights AssociationThe Fourteenth AmendmentThe 1867 New York State Constitutional ConventionThe Fifteenth AmendmentEssay—Breaking the Law for Freedom: The Campaign of Non-Violent Civil Disobedience for the VoteSally Roesch WagnerThe Suffrage Movement Splits: NWSA and AWSAThe 1872 Election and Sixteen Rochester WomenEssay—"Bound Together by the Ties of Humanity": Sarah Jane Smith Thompson GarnetSusan GoodierPre-Suffrage Women Who Ran for PresidentHistory of Woman Suffrage The Woman’s BibleEssay—A "Monstrous Absurdity": The 1886 Suffrage Protest of the Statue of LibertyLauren C. Santangelo Section 2. Winning the Vote, 1890–1920Creation of the National American Women Suffrage AssociationThe New York State Woman Suffrage AssociationClubwomen Lead the Charge, 1890–1910Lifting as We ClimbEssay—"Give Her of the Fruit of Her Hands": Women’s Suffrage Activity on the Buffalo-Niagara FrontierShannon M. RiskElizabeth and Anne Miller: A Mother-Daughter Suffrage TeamHarriet May MillsWomen, Suffrage, and Capital Punishment: The Roxy Druse CaseWoman’s Christian Temperance Union: Ally or Enemy to Suffrage?The New York Suffrage Campaign of 1894Essay—"Just Cause to Feel Proud": Chautauqua County’s Leading Role in Grassroots Suffrage ActivismTraci LangworthyThe New Woman: Changing Women, Changing Leaders, and Changing StrategiesMadam C. J. WalkerHarriot Stanton BlatchWomen’s Political UnionCarrie Chapman CattCourting Working Women and Immigrants: Lillian Wald, Henry Street SettlementShirtwaist Workers: the Uprising of 20,000 and the Death of 146Frances PerkinsSuffrage Goes PublicAlbany’s Artist and SuffragistAlice Paul and the Federal AmendmentWomen Opposed to SuffrageGearing Up for the New York State Referendum: the Politics of Suffrage Essay—"These Model Families": Romance, Marriage, and Family in the New York Woman Suffrage MovementJessica Derleth1915 Vote: The Empire State Campaign Committee Versus the Women’s Political Union1917 voteEssay—Recognizing Rights: Men in the Woman Suffrage CampaignKaren PastorelloFight for the AmendmentThe "Winning Plan"The United States Goes to WarVoting on the AmendmentLeague of Women VotersSection 3. The Continuing Fight for Equal Rights, 1920–present Equal Rights AmendmentEssay—"An Infusion of Hope": New York Women in the Post-Suffrage Era Robert Chiles The Birth Control MovementThe Modern First Lady: Eleanor RooseveltEarly Pioneers in New York State GovernmentBetty Friedan and Pauli Murray Create an NAACP For WomenPublishing the Stories Women Want to Read"Fighting Shirley Chisholm—Unbought and Unbossed"Battling Bella AbzugThe Year of the WomanCreative Women’s CollectivePreserving Memories and Carrying Forward the MessageConclusionNotesIndex

"…Votes for Women: Celebrating New York's Suffrage Centennial provides an introduction to more than 200 years of women's history in one elegantly produced oversize paperback. Jennifer Lemak and Ashley Hopkins-Benton … should be given much credit for not only bringing the State Museum's women's history collections to light, but also for organizing significant loans for the exhibition from forty-five private and public collections from around the country." — Hudson River Valley Review"The catalog's greatest strength lies in the images it contains on a wide array of topics, from portraits and photos of suffrage leaders to memorabilia and important texts and documents. Such images would be useful in teaching, providing students with a sense of the organization required and the pageantry associated with the movement." — H-Net Reviews (H-FedHist)"The richly illustrated companion book co-edited by Lemak and Hopkins-Benton contains their master narrative along with a series of monographic essays authored by consultant scholars … the volume will be extremely useful to those teaching and studying women's history in high schools and colleges." — Antiques And The Arts Weekly"There is something intimate, inspiring, and strengthening about seeing words created by and names in the handwriting of women who fought the earlier stages of the struggle for equality and shared humanity that is so crucial today. I'm grateful for this exhibit and catalog that are just the kind of reminder we need to keep going." — Gloria Steinem"The New York State Museum has put on an extraordinary exhibit to commemorate the women's suffrage movement and the Nineteenth Amendment, and I hope it inspires a new generation of women and men to raise their voices about all the injustices in their lives." — Kirsten Gillibrand, United States Senator for New York State"Congratulations to Jennifer Lemak and Ashley Hopkins-Benton for their wonderful book, Votes for Women. The book, and the exhibition upon which it is based, are great gifts from the authors to all New Yorkers who seek to learn more about the varied and vital role women have played in history. The stories and images included in the book bring the valiant women who came before us vividly to life and challenge us to continue their fight for full equality for women." — Pam Elam, President of the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Statue Fund