Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection

The Women’s Suffrage in Vermont Collection documents Vermonters’ efforts to obtain voting rights for women. With contributions from the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, the Leahy Library at the Vermont Historical Society, and Silver Special Collections at the University of Vermont, the collection focuses on the period from 1870 to 1920. The Women’s Suffrage in Vermont Collection include VESA annual meeting reports and correspondence, legislation, promotional materials such as broadsides and leaflets, and photographs. HISTORY In 1870, the Vermont Council of Censors proposed an amendment to the state constitution calling for full suffrage for women. A group of men formed the Vermont Woman Suffrage Association to support the amendment, which failed by a vote of 231 to 1 at the constitutional convention. Ten years later, taxpaying women did obtain the right to vote and hold office in school districts. The Vermont Woman Suffrage Association (VWSA) reorganized in 1884 and focused on achieving woman suffrage in municipal elections by introducing voting rights legislation, advocating in newspapers, and holding meetings and rallies with local and national speakers. The VWSA, which became the Vermont Equal Suffrage Association (VESA) in 1907, worked closely with the American Woman Suffrage Association, later the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Anti-suffragists formed the Vermont Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in 1912, and by 1917, when the Vermont legislature passed a law that allowed taxpaying women to vote in local elections, the organization claimed over 5,000 members. VESA continued to push for full suffrage, and came close in 1919 when the legislature passed a bill allowing women to vote in presidential elections. Governor Clement refused to sign the bill, and the House of Representatives upheld his veto. After Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919, VESA members campaigned vigorously to have the legislature consider state ratification, but Governor Clement refused to call a special session and the amendment was ratified in 1920 without Vermont’s support. With the right to vote obtained, VESA dissolved and the new Vermont League of Women Voters took on the task of educating Vermont women about civic responsibilities. FURTHER READING Clifford, Deborah P. The Drive for Women's Municipal Suffrage in Vermont 1883-1917. Vermont History 47, no. 3 (1979): 173-190. Clifford, Deborah P. An Invasion of Strong-Minded Women: The Newspapers and the Woman Suffrage Campaign in Vermont in 1870. Vermont History 43, no. 1 (1975): 1-19.

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Showing 51 - 60 of 104 Records

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Miniature of Homer B. Hitchcock to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
Homer B. Hitchcock to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
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    • Date Created: 1919-10-01
    • Description: Response of legislator from Westfield, Orleans County, who believes in equal suffrage to an extent but doesn't believe in calling a special session.
    • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
    Miniature of The Twenty-third Annual Report of The Vermont Equal Suffrage Association and Minutes of the Annual Meeting Held At Burlington, Vermont, Thursday and Friday, June Thirteenth and Fourteenth, Nineteen Hundred Seven.
    The Twenty-third Annual Report of The Vermont Equal Suffrage Association and Minutes of the Annual Meeting Held At Burlington, Vermont, Thursday and Friday, June Thirteenth and Fourteenth, Nineteen Hundred Seven.
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      • Creator: Vermont Equal Suffrage Association
      • Date Created: 1907
      • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
      Miniature of Minutes of the 17th annual meeting of the Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association held at Rochester, Vermont, June 25 and 26, 1901.
      Minutes of the 17th annual meeting of the Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association held at Rochester, Vermont, June 25 and 26, 1901.
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        • Creator: Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association
        • Date Created: 1901
        • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
        Miniature of Carrie Chapman Catt to Marion R. Horton
        Carrie Chapman Catt to Marion R. Horton
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          • Date Created: 1919-09-04
          • Description: Catt accepts the terms of renting Horton's automobile for Olzendam and Pelley's upcoming trip and offers NAWSA's support in developing a press kit to share with sympathetic newspaper editors. She asks Horton to persuade Olzendam and Pelley not to antagonize Governor Clement.
          • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
          Miniature of Vida Chace Webb to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
          Vida Chace Webb to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
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            • Date Created: 1919-09-12
            • Description: Webb responds that if her husband isn't too busy, she will accompany Olzendam.
            • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
            Miniature of Minutes of the Ninth Annual Meeting of Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association, Held in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Hardwick, Vermont, Tuesday Evening and Wednesday, June 27 and 28, 1893.
            Minutes of the Ninth Annual Meeting of Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association, Held in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Hardwick, Vermont, Tuesday Evening and Wednesday, June 27 and 28, 1893.
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              • Creator: Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association
              • Date Created: 1893
              • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
              Miniature of Lillian H. Olzendam to George E. Ladd
              Lillian H. Olzendam to George E. Ladd
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                • Date Created: 1919-12-22
                • Description: Olzendam asks the Reverend George Ladd of West Woodstock, as a supporter of suffrage, to sign a petition to the Governor to call a special legislative session for ratification and to forward the petition to other well-known men in his social and professional groups.
                • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
                Miniature of Carrie Chapman Catt to Marion Stone Pelley
                Carrie Chapman Catt to Marion Stone Pelley
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                  • Date Created: 1919-09-05
                  • Description: Catt describes the work to be done by Pelley with the preparations of Miss White, and calls for a thorough campaign to promote a special session of the Vermont Legislature.
                  • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
                  Miniature of Carrie Chapman Catt to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
                  Carrie Chapman Catt to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
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                    • Date Created: 1919-09-12
                    • Description: Catt tells the story of ratification in Oklahoma and how it compares to Vermont, suggests gathering pledges for a petition to present to the Governor, and says to speak in person only to the "difficult" legislators.
                    • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
                    Miniature of Kirk L. Ellsworth to Lillian H. Olzendam
                    Kirk L. Ellsworth to Lillian H. Olzendam
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                      • Date Created: 1919-11-24
                      • Description: Representative Ellsworth of Cambridge responds that while he is a supporter of women's suffrage he will not sign because he does not feel his action would represent the women of Cambridge, as only one woman availed herself of the right to vote provided by House Bill 1, which means that ‚Äúthe ladies of this town do not want to vote.‚Äù
                      • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection