Term paper on Women’s Suffrage

Women’s Suffrage

By 1896, only four states had granted women the vote; no other state would do so before 1910. Within the next decade, however, the suffrage movement greatly accelerated, culminating in the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. A change in tactics by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) helped achieve victory. Abandoning attempts to win the vote for women on a state-by-state basis, NAWSA pushed for a constitutional amendment, which Congress adopted in 1919. Significant leaders in the movement were Carrie Chapman Catt, Anna Howard Shaw, and the more radical feminist, Alice Paul.

Suggestions for Term Papers

1. Compare arguments for and against women’s suffrage during the Progressive era.

2. Analyze the contributions of one important figure in the suffrage movement.

3. What were the long-range effects of women’s suffrage on American politics?

4. What reforms other than suffrage did women in the movement seek during the Progressive era?

5. Did President Wilson support women’s suffrage only because he wanted to win their votes in the 1920 election?

Suggested Sources : See entries 13 and 77 for related items.

REFERENCE SOURCES

The Encyclopedia of Women’s History in America: Over 500 Years of Movements, Breakthroughs, Legislation, Court Cases and Notable Women . Kathryn Cullen-DuPont. New York : Facts on File, 1996. Comprehensive treatment of the women’s movement.

Jewish Women in America : An Historical Encyclopedia . Paula Hyman and Deborah Dash Moore, eds. New York : Routledge, 1997. Covers personalities, activities, and organizations regarding Jewish women’s participation in American life. A major essay examines their involvement with women’s suffrage.

Protest, Power and Change: An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action from ACT-UP to Women’s Suffrage . Roger S. Powers, ed. Hamden , CT : Garland , 1996. Comprehensive coverage of nonviolent resistance.

Reader’s Guide to Women’s Studies . Eleanor Amico, ed. Chicago : Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998. Essay and bibliography for 600 topics in women’s studies; good treatment of suffrage.

Women in Modern American Politics: A Bibliography, 1900–1995 . Elizabeth M. Cox. Washington , DC : Congressional Quarterly, 1997. Nearly 6,000 entries to writings on women in American political life from a wide variety of resources.

Women’s Rights in the United States : A Documentary History . Winston E. Langley and Vivian C. Fox, eds. Westport , CT : Greenwood , 1994. Contains 125 documents organized into five chronological periods.

GENERAL SOURCES

Adickes, Sandra. To Be Young Was Very Heaven: Women in New York before the First World War . New York : St. Martin ‘s, 1997. Well-conceived treatment of the high-energy period of Margaret Sanger and Mabel Dodge.

Frost-Knappman, Elizabeth , and Kathryn Cullen-DuPont. Women’s Rights on Trial: 101 Historic Trials from Anne Hutchinson to the Virginia Military Institute Cadets . Detroit : Gale, 1997. Includes Susan B. Anthony’s arrest for voting.

Giele, Janet Z. Two Paths to Women’s Equality: Temperance, Suffrage, and the Origins of Modern Feminism . New York : Twayne, 1995. Examines social movements of the past to reveal the present; sees moderation as an effective policy.

Lunardini, Christine A. Women’s Rights . Phoenix : Oryx, 1996. Comprehensive treatment of events and personalities integral to the women’s rights movement. Part of the Social Issues in American History series.

Schneider, Dorothy, and Carl J. Schneider. American Women in the Progressive Era, 1900–1920 . New York : Facts on File, 1993. Good historical survey of societal conditions regarding women during this period.

SPECIALIZED SOURCES

Frost, Elizabeth, and Kathryn Cullen-DuPont. Women’s Suffrage in America : An Eyewitness History . New York : Facts on File, 1992. Variety of primary source materials (diaries, letters, speeches, etc.) provided for the period 1820 to 1920.

Gordon, Ann D., et al., eds. African American Women and the Vote, 1837–1965 . Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, 1996. Collection of essays by leading scholars.

Green, Elna C. Southern Strategies: Southern Women and the Woman Suffrage Question . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. Interesting exposition of a little-explored topic.

Joannou, Maraoula, and June Purvis, eds. The Women’s Suffrage Movement: New Feminist Perspectives . New York : St. Martin ‘s, 1998. Collection of essays of recent scholarship on the suffrage movement.

Law, Cheryl. Suffrage and Power: The Women’s Movement, 1918–1928 . New York : St. Martin ‘s, 1997. Describes the transformation of the women’s movement into a viable political force.

Marshall, Susan E. Splintered Sisterhood: Gender and Class in the Campaign against Woman Suffrage . Madison : University of Wisconsin Press, 1997. Up-to-date discussion.

Scott, Anne Firor, and Andrew Mackay. One Half the People: The Fight for Woman Suffrage . Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 1982. Brief history, with documents and useful bibliographic essay.

Terborg-Penn, Rosalyn. African American Women in the Struggle for the Vote, 1850–1920 . Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 1998. Examination of the nature of the African American suffragist movement.

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Cullen-DuPont, Kathryn. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Women’s Liberty . New York : Facts on File, 1992. An excellent biographical description of Stanton ‘s career. Part of the Makers of America series.

Goldsmith, Barbara. Other Powers: The Age of Suffrage, Spiritualism, and the Scandalous Victoria Woodhull . New York : Random House, 1998. Thorough and interesting biographical sketch of one of the most remarkable women in American history.

Helmer, Diana Star. Women Suffragists . New York : Facts on File, 1998. Profiles ten suffragists, including Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, and Victoria Woodhull. Part of the American Profiles series.

James, Edward T., and Janet W. James. Notable American Women, 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary . 3 vols. Cambridge , MA : Belknap Press, 1971. Basic source with good bibliographic notes.

Linkugel, Wil A. Anna Howard Shaw: Suffrage Orator and Social Reformer . Westport , CT : Greenwood , 1991. Brief, helpful study.

Lunardini, Christine A. From Equal Suffrage to Equal Rights: Alice Paul and that National Woman’s Party, 1910–1928 . New York : New York University Press, 1986. Stimulating life of this controversial feminist.

Sher, Lynn. Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words . New York : Times Books, 1995. Biographical commentary along with excerpts from speeches, letters, diaries, and interviews.

Stuhler, Barbara. Gentle Warriors: Clara Ueland and the Minnesota Struggle for Woman Suffrage . St. Paul : Minnesota Historical Society, 1995. Interesting and readable account of an activist at the state level; excellent insight into the national suffrage movement.

Van Voris, Jacqueline. Carrie Chapman Catt: A Public Life . New York : Feminist Press (CUNY), 1987. Standard biography of Catt.

AUDIOVISUAL SOURCES

One Woman, One Vote . Santa Monica , CA : PBS Home Video, 1995. Videocassette. 60 minutes. From PBS’s The American Experience series. There is a companion volume (with the same title), published by New Sage Press, 1995, providing an excellent collection of essays on various aspects of the movement for women’s vote and women’s rights.

WORLD WIDE WEB

Library of Congress. ‘‘Votes for Women—Selections from the National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection, 1848–1921.” American Memory . July 1996. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/naw/nawshome.html An extraordinary opportunity to use primary sources. National Women’s History Project. Women Win the Vote . August 1995. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/naw/nawshome.html Excellent site commemorating the seventy-fifth anniversary of woman suffrage. Links to collective biography of seventy-five suffragists, important dates, and brief history.