TO SUFFRAGETTES
Among the significant social changes that occurred in the 19th century was the movement for woman suffrage that began about the middle of the century as a concerted action by a nucleus of determined women. The crusade gained strength and numbers during the second half of the century, and finally achieved success with the ratification of the Suffrage Amendment in 1920. Many women worked in this cause, and the pieces of presentation silver in the National Museum’s Woman Suffrage Collection constitute a record of the most important leaders.
Chief spokesman of the movement and its leader for many years was Elizabeth Cady Stanton of New York State. She was instrumental in calling the first Woman’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, and she served as president of the National Woman Suffrage Association from its beginning in 1869 and as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association from 1890 to 1891. She continued to be an active worker in the movement until her death in 1902, writing and editing many works on suffrage in addition to her administrative work.
On the occasion of her 80th birthday in 1895, Mrs. Stanton was presented with a silver tray[33] (8 inches wide and 11⁄2 inches deep) that is inscribed:
From the Ladies of Seneca Falls, 1848-1895.
This tray, presented at a meeting at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, bears on the back a “W” in a circle, a two-headed lion in a rectangle (probably an early mark of the Wallace Silver Company), the word “Sterling,” and the number “2048.”
Figure 18.––Cup given to Susan B. Anthony by the Colorado Equal Suffrage Association. Gift of National American Woman Suffrage Association. In Division of Political History. (Acc. 64601, cat. 26163; Smithsonian photo 45992-J.)
On the same occasion Mrs. Stanton was presented a silver loving cup[34] that is inscribed:
1815-1895 Presented to Elizabeth Cady Stanton by the New York City Woman Suffrage League, November 12, 1895. Defeated day by day but unto victory born.
The cup, 41⁄2 inches in diameter and 73⁄8 inches deep, is marked on the bottom with the Wallace “W,” similar to the mark on the tray, and “Sterling, 3798, 41⁄2 pints, 925/100 fine, Pat 1892.”
The life story of Susan B. Anthony is a record of 60 years of devotion and work for the enfranchisement of women. An organizer and director of countless suffrage activities, she was tireless in conducting campaigns for woman suffrage. She is the one individual who has become so identified with the fight for woman suffrage that, more than any other, her name has become synonymous with that term. During her lifetime she worked in almost every capacity in the organized movement. She became president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1892 and served until her 80th birthday in 1900. On that occasion the Colorado Equal Suffrage Association presented her with a miniature, three-handled loving cup that stands only 33⁄4 inches high ([fig. 18]). In one section of the cup there is engraved the word “Colorado” and the state’s coat of arms; in an adjoining section is an engraving of the state flower; and in the third section is the following inscription:
Colorado Equal Suffrage Association to Susan B. Anthony on her 80th Birthday 1900.
The cup is marked on the bottom “Sterling, 590, A. J. Stark & Co., Denver.”
She was also given a silver-plated teakettle[35] by the Political Equality Club of Rochester, New York. The stand is 31⁄2 inches high, and the teapot is 51⁄4 inches high. Engraved around the top of the teapot is:
Susan B. Anthony 1820-1893.
The stand is marked “Mfd. & Plated Reed & Barton” and “65.”
The chosen leader of the Woman Suffrage Movement after 1900 was Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, a vigorous organizer and campaigner who led the drive for the constitutional amendment that was finally ratified in 1920. Mrs. Catt founded the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in 1902 and served as its president until 1923. Her late years were devoted to the cause of international peace and disarmament.
Mrs. Catt was the prime mover in calling the first international conference on suffrage, which, in 1902, welcomed representatives from nine foreign nations––Great Britain, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Russia, Australia, and Chile. The delegates 105 were honored guests at the National Suffrage Convention then in session in Washington where they also attended two congressional hearings on suffrage and were received by President Theodore Roosevelt at the White House.[36] Mrs. Catt was given a silver tray[37] inscribed:
To Carrie Chapman Catt from the foreign delegates to the First International Suffrage Conference, Washington, D.C., Feb. 12-18, 1902.
The back of the tray is marked “Galt & Bro. Sterling, 386.” The Galt silver firm is in Washington, D.C.
The campaign for the first referendum in the state of New York on woman suffrage was considered to be the most decisive of all the state fights. New York was divided into 12 campaign districts working under Mrs. Catt. The campaign was most vigorously waged, but the referendum was defeated.[38] After the New York campaign Mrs. Catt received a silver gilt tray[39] inscribed:
Honorable Carrie Chapman Catt from Katherine Howard Notman
Eleventh Assembly District Campaign Chairman, 1915
The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
The tray is marked on the reverse “Tiffany and Co., 18154, Makers 811, Sterling Silver, 925/1000/M.”
Mrs. Catt had started the suffrage movement in the Philippine Islands when she visited there in 1912 and organized the first suffrage club in Manila. In 1937 the Philippine legislature submitted the question of votes for women to the women of the Islands themselves. The campaign committee working out of Manila sent native women campaigners throughout the Islands to be sure all races and religions were represented in the vote. Mrs. Catt raised money in this country and sent it to the campaign committee to help with the fight.[40] Over half a million Philippine women voted favorably on the question, and several months later Mrs. Catt was presented with a silver plaque, mounted on native woods, that is now in the Museum’s collection.[41] It is inscribed:
In grateful acknowledgement of the moral and financial aid given by the women of America through Carrie Chapman Catt to the women of the Philippines through the International Federation of Women’s Clubs in their struggles for their political rights culminating in ultimate victory in April, 1937.
Figure 19.––Belt given to H. W. Higham as the winner of a 6-day bicycle race at Glasgow, Scotland. Gift of Mr. H. W. Higham. In Division of Transportation. (Acc. 168449, cat. 313867; Smithsonian photo 45992-F.)