Carrie Chapman Catt: Honoring the Dream

to think that it wasn't so long ago when attitudes worsened it was such a different world in those days we were second-class citizens for years we couldn't own property we couldn't own the homes we lived in our husbands could keep my wages we couldn't easily choose careers if we did venture out of the home often it was because we had to and the boss for decades many women and men saw the and justices in 1910 for example only a handful of states allowed women the right to vote it would still be another decade before these women in Dubuque Iowa could fill out a ballot for nearly a hundred and fifty years the country that called itself the world's greatest democracy denied half its adult citizens the right to vote simply because they were women here and their pockets of women's suffrage appeared mostly in the West but for most American women suffrage would not begin until 1920 that was the year of full voting rights for women the year the 19th amendment to the US Constitution was ratified a leader of the final push for ratification was a reluctant modest yet confident woman a woman who first saw the injustice as an Iowa farm girl and who later resolved to do something about it a world suffrage leader who founded the League of Women Voters the story of the 19th Amendment's ratification begins here in this Iowa farmhouse as a seven-year-old girl Carrie Lane and her parents moved to this farmstead near Charles City the year was 1866 and America was just beginning a long recovery in the wake of the Civil War Carrie's parents Lucius and Maria Clinton Lane had decided to move from Wisconsin carry the second of three children was described as a lively independent girl who wasn't afraid to ask questions that certainly showed several years later when Carrie was 13 on Election Day an 18-7 Cary's father and his hired men were preparing to travel to town to vote the men were eager to cast their ballots for horace greeley the populist reformer who was challenging ulysses s grant for president carry noticed that her mother's routine went on as usual why Carrie asked was a mother going into town to vote for the president as well after the laughter died out it was explained to young Kari that protein was simply too important a civic duty later as an adult Carrie Chapman Catt would recall that episode as her moment of awareness that something was fundamentally wrong with the way America governed itself women's suffrage was not a new issue when thirteen-year-old Carrie Lane brought up the question in 1872 just three years before the Wyoming territorial legislature granted votes for women it was an unexpected triumph for the fledgling suffrage movement which faced ridicule from all directions pundits and cartoonists of the day were mostly unsympathetic we suppose one of them asked women were granted the vote imagine what would happen to our institutions our way of life our homes our families men would be forced to stay at home with the children while the women well they would adopt some very bad habits all because of women's suffrage Pro Selfridge forces were undeterred in 1871 Victoria Woodhull was arrested along with other activists when she and about a dozen other women tried to vote in a New York election it was a reaction to the 15th amendment to the US Constitution ratified the year before giving the franchise to newly freed black men but not one word about women the first wave of the women's suffrage movement was gaining strength at that time but the movement split into factions and progress slowed because of differences among leaders over strategies and tactics for the next 30 years from 1870 till 1904 states would adopt woman suffrage the leaders of the movements various factions were beginning to grow tired susan b anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton heads of the national Woman Suffrage Association and opposed the Fifteenth Amendment because it excluded women Lucy stone of the rival American Woman Suffrage Association on the other hand supported it these leaders throwing as they were we're finding it more and more difficult to achieve their goals the first phase of the woman's suffrage leadership was aging the next generation was preparing for battle back in Iowa Carrie Lane was eagerly preparing for college after graduating from Charles City High School she enrolled at the Iowa Agricultural College and model farm in Ames now Iowa State University in 1877 in college she organized the campus first women's military drill unit and got her first chance to put her public speaking skills to the test in a debating society on November 10th 1880 Carrie Lane graduated from the college with top honors she was the only woman in her class back at her parents home Carrie at age 21 went to work for a lawyer in Charles City and taught in rural schools for about a year in the fall of 1881 she accepted an offer to teach at the high school in nearby Mason City two years later at age 24 she became the superintendent of schools there she also began to write a column on women's issues for a Mason City newspaper her first public statements in support of women's suffrage she married the newspapers publisher Leo Chapman in 1885 in a wedding ceremony at her parents farm house near Charles City the newlyweds returned to Mason City but their stay would be brief leo Chapman's editorials denouncing a local political candidate led to a libel suit against the newspaper the Chapmans lost in court the judge was a friend of the candidates so the young couple was forced to sell the paper seeking new opportunity Leo Chapman went to San Francisco but he contracted typhoid shortly after he arrived within days he died Carrie Chapman was alone in a strange city with no money she was 27 a year after her first husband's death Carrie returned to Iowa she decided to dedicate her life to the suffrage movement over the next few years she honed her public speaking skills by presenting lectures around the state she became active in the Iowa woman suffrage association and in 1890 her chance to appear before a national gathering paid off she spoke to the newly merged National American Woman Suffrage Association her appearance made a lasting impression the next generation was about to begin its work and there was much work to be done Carrie Chapman's second marriage came that same year when she married George cat a friend from college in Iowa their partnership was unusual for its time mr. cat agreed to financially support his wife's work the arrangement allowed Carrie Chapman Catt to travel and speak on woman suffrage throughout the 1890s and early 1900s the woman's suffrage cause shifted from state to state campaign after campaign to enact voting rights for women met defeat at the polls and no wonder the only eligible voters were men and not surprisingly most men remained anti-suffrage what was surprising with the women who will pose something among them was Anna Loffler a fellow Iowan from Dubuque who early on opposed Carrie Chapman Catt efforts her anti-suffrage organization distributed handbills urge a opposition to the movement later the author's views would change he would join the pro suffrage Carrie Chapman Catt meanwhile continued to rise in the ranks of the National American Woman Suffrage Association she was its organizing committee chairwoman during the late 1890s and in 1900 was picked by susan b anthony to be for the next four years as Association president Kerry would visit at least half a dozen states and attend countless rallies campaigning for equal suffrage a new work was halted by tragedy in 1905 her husband died following a lengthy illness the following year her mother died in Iowa these events prompted Kat to resign the presidency of the Association and to step aside from suffrage work but only for a few months Kat began to concentrate on worldwide suffrage and for several years campaigned on four continents organizing the International women's suffrage alliance but her sights were also fixed on the United States by 1913 a dozen states had joined the fold for equal suffrage when Kat returned to the US momentum was building for a federal constitutional amendment but Congress and President Woodrow Wilson were still not interested in 1915 the association's president Anna Howard Shaw was growing tired after ten years at the helm some critics believed she was ineffective in convincing Congress to pass a federal amendment more and more pressure was growing on Shaw to step down at the 1915 convention and rally in Washington Carrie Chapman Catt once again assumed the association's presidency after a decade away from the post cat now 56 was once again at center stage all over the country the campaign shifted into high gear there was new confidence among many of the suffragists they were now saying it was not a question of whether women should have voting rights instead it was a question of when they really had to make a path for everybody else they were all dominant people I think maybe they're they're personalities where was the thing that thrilled me because they they were just out they were sure themselves they were good good models for me the suffragists perseverance paid off in 1919 when Congress finally approved the 19th amendment at last the pro suffrage forces prevailed now it was up to 36 states three-fourths of the Union to ratify the new law when all is said and done there is really just one argument in favor of women's suffrage that is that we are part of the nation we obey its laws and we our taxes and we are entitled to a part in making the laws regulate our welfare just 14 months later on august 26 1920 tennessee became number 36 woman's suffrage was now the law of the land Carrie Chapman Catt called it the happiest day of her life for all of her achievements the Iowa farm girl who became a leading world crusader for women's rights remains virtually unknown today Carrie Chapman Catt died at her New Rochelle New York home in 1947 at the age of 88 she devoted her life to equal suffrage and world peace yet sadly her name today is not often attached to her legacy but that is starting to change at her alma mater Iowa State University beautiful old botany is being restored as Carrie Chapman Catt Hall and will be the home of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for women in politics in 1991 the National 19th ammendment society a nonprofit organization purchased the Iowa farmhouse where Kari vane grew up this Victorian era farmhouse is a familiar Northern Iowa landmark when this photograph was taken in 1938 the house was still in good repair but years of neglect have taken their toll today preservation work has begun with a new foundation and the bricks are being cleaned and reset one by one but I really got interested when some years ago when they tore down two of the buildings that I thought it was pretty good design they tore them down I decided I better start thinking about saving buildings that were good for our heritage and since then I've been doing that project officials estimate it will take at least half a million dollars to restore the home and the surrounding landscape a woman's suffrage museum is planned and when its open the public will be able to honor the dream the house is very well built the guy Lane did a really contemporary methods individually but his way do a double brick hollow brick walk and all the original part and any the north and the east addition it was a stud in brick veneer with an infill of laughs the plaster all very could just by the country he was way ahead of time honoring Carrie Chapman Catt dream will become a reality but only with your help your tax-deductible contribution to the National 19th amendment society will ensure the restoration of this unique landmark nominated to the National Register of Historic Places your gift will honor the dream send your contribution to the National 19th ammendment Society box 19 Charles City Iowa five zero six one six and thank you for honoring the dream