Took until 1920, over 72 years later for women to earn the right to vote. During those years, organizations would form creating a national movement, yet it was women in every community who led the effort in their towns and states to demand rights. Through the work of cspans cities tour, we will introduce you to some of these women who dedicated their lives to this cause. From a Newspaper Agency to a woman for protesting on the white house lawn. You will learn how western territories and states were on the leading edge of the movement and you will hear how a letter from a mother to her son would lead to the ratification of the 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote. We begin syracuse, new york, where an author talks about one of the movements lesserknown figures. Lucretia mott is the most important female white abolitionists and one of the most important women in American History, yet she has not received the same amount of historical attention as others. She is not a household name. My biography of Lucretia Mott is titled it refers to her own activist strategy. She always said to other activists, we must agitate, whether they be abolitionists or suffragists. She advised people to confront social injustices, political injustices legal injustices and , not be afraid to be labeled a heretic or an infidel or a nonconformist. Someone who is willing to go against the tides of society for their beliefs. That is what Lucretia Mott it. Lucretia mott was a 19th century american abolitionist, womens rights activist, and quaker minister. She lived from 1793 to 1880, so she lived a very long life. She was born on the island of nantucket, but she lived most of her adult life in philadelphia, and that was the city from which she based her activism, which stretched across the United States and the atlantic as well. Lucretia mott definitely defined herself as a feminist and womens rights activist, and she traced her commitment to womens rights to her childhood really on the island of nantucket. It was a communitybased on the whaling industry, so the men in the community would often go off on 3, 4, 5 year voyages, leaving the women to manage the household, do the household finances, and a lot running businesses. For Lucretia Mott, capability was selfevident. The quakers, the society of friends was one of the first denominations to allow women to preach. She had always seem female ministers in her childhood, and she eventually became one herself in 1821. So i think that sort of capacity for religious authority informed her commitment to womens rights. She got married to her husband, james mott, in 1811. And in the early 1820s, there was nothing necessarily to indicate that she would become a great activist. You know, she eventually had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood. She taught in the Quaker School and became a quaker minister, but none of this was unusual. I think the key moment in Lucretia Motts life that turned her into an activist was in the 1820s. By 1827, the society of friends in the United States had split into two competing groups. Lucretia mott was a Hicksite Quaker named after their leader. They were one of the issues that they focused on was they believed that the leadership of the society of friends had become complacent on the issue of slavery. They had done away with their ownership of slaves long before, and they viewed that is enough to have removed themselves from direct content. But elias hicks and Lucretia Mott believed you had to sever all ties to slavery and for wealthy merchants in philadelphia, that was asking a lot because they all had economic ties to the south. You know, they all dealt in cotton and even james mott, he struggled for a while to find a profession, to find a career that would support his family, and eventually, he succeeds, but as a cotton merchant. So Lucretia Mott puts a lot of pressure on him, actually to , give up that business and eventually, he became a wool merchant by 1830. That was a radicalizing decade for her. On womenspeak issues and antislavery issues when she became a minister. That was an informative period for her. But i think in the early 1830s in philadelphia, philadelphia had the largest population of three blacks in the north. Lucretia mott would have interacted them in free produce societies, for example, and probably tried to speak in africanamerican churches and otherwise connected with them. There were a lot of race riots in philadelphia in the early 1830s. So the intensity of northern racism was very visible to her, and so, when she attended the founding meeting of the American Antislavery Society in 1833, and then, thereafter founded the philadelphia female antislavery society, she believed their goal should not only be fighting slavery but also racial prejudice. It was a twopronged approach. One of the things she did frequently, whenever she met a slaveholder, as she did when she was traveling abroad or around the United States, she would often speak in delaware, virginia and slaveholding states, kentucky, she would engage, she would try to convince that slaveholder that slavery was wrong. You know . Rather than being polite or you know, just tolerating this lady, poking them in the ribs, she seemed to have had some individual, personal success. She set this one slaveholder i send him some pamphlets when i got home and i will send him some pamphlets. I think, again, she was not afraid of confrontation and engagement, and she was going to try to persuade people that slavery was wrong no matter where she was and who they were. Lucretia mott was not interested in politics or the political process, but she did speak on multiple occasions in washington, d. C. , and at one point, she was supposed to speak in congress, but because she would not agree not to talk about slavery, if that is clear, they would not let her speak. So, she spoke at a Unitarian Church and all sorts of politicians, including congressmen attended. Of course, she spoke about slavery, because that is what she was compelled to speak about. During that trip to washington, d. C. In 1843, she also met president tyler and his line about Lucretia Mott was, you know, i think i will turn mr. , you canver to you negotiate with john c. Calhoun for me. Lucretia mott first met Elizabeth Stanley in when they met, they met in sort of an unlikely place which was at the worlds Antislavery Convention in london, england in 1840. Two americans meeting in london. They had other connections, but Lucretia Mott was there as a delegate from various american antislavery societies. She was there to attend the convention. Elizabeth cady stanton was there on her honeymoon. She had just married an abolitionist named henry stanton. European tours a rather than a political journey. The two women instantly connected. Elizabeth cady stanton later described Lucretia Mott as a revelation of womanhood. She said i did not know it was possible for women to be so outspoken and independent. She really became an admirer of Lucretia Mott. Refer to cady stanton Lucretia Mott as the moving spirit of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. It was a label Lucretia Mott rejected. She said elizabeth, you should claim that for yourself. But it was the fact that Lucretia Mott was in the area that the convention was held and her presence was advertised to draw attendees. Her sister lived in auburn, new york, which was not far from seneca falls, so she would come up to this part of the country regularly. When she came up in 1848, she was engaged in a number of activities. She attended an annual quaker meeting. The genesee early meeting. She traveled to ontario, canada, to visit former slaves, american slaves who had fled to canada. She went to the seneca reservation and witnessed them writing their constitution. She is actually engaging very in all of these very interesting activities in the summer of 1848, native american rights, africanamerican rights, and womens rights. Before the Seneca Falls Convention in july, 1848, she meets up with her old friend, Elizabeth Cady stanton and other quakers in the area. They decide to hold this convention devoted to women, and the civil condition, and they advertised that Lucretia Mott will be there and she will be the principal speaker. Once a newspaper called her a caesar of th speaker of the movement. That she had somehow shed her femininity by engaging in activism. But the womens rights movement, the Antislavery Movement held her up as a paragon of womanhood. They said Lucretia Mott is an example that you can do both, be an excellent wife, mother, grandmother, and have a public life, be an activist. For her, the activism and the family life blended seamlessly because her husband was also an abolitionist and active in a lot of the same organizations she was. He attended the first Womens Rights Convention in seneca falls and shared the convention aired the convention. And her children also became involved in the philadelphia antislavery society. And other organizations for womens rights and womens suffrage in philadelphia. In many ways, her activism was a family affair. There was not a lot of conflict. Said uneral, someone silence is appropriate for a quaker funeral, but someone said, who can speak . The preacher is dead. That is how much of a void had been left by Lucretia Motts death, because she always had something to say. I think that made her in some ways too good. She has become almost what Elizabeth Cady stanton made her, almost a saint. And in actuality, she was a deeply radical person for her time and was not afraid to speak her beliefs. In 1869 in new york city, Elizabeth Cady stanton and Susan B Anthony founded the National WomensSuffrage Association for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to vote. However, much of the womens movements early progress came in the west. In oregon, dunaway, who established a prosuffrage newspaper became active in the movement after her husbands business failed. Benjamin dunaway was a good husband and father to the children. He did not have may be the level of business skills that somebody should have in managing a farm. Because of his kindness and generosity, he cosigned a loan for a friend, and the friend defaulted on that loan, and as a lost their dunaways farm. That was in the mid1860s. That, benjamin was involved in a farming accident, and he became disabled. It therefore fell to abigail to become the breadwinner for the family. She did some teaching, again, but eventually decided to move down to albany, oregon, a little town further south in the willamette valley, and she set up a milliner shop, a hat shop. Apparently, she was quite successful in that business. She even traveled to San Francisco to get supplies for her business. But an important thing happened when she interacted with the women who came into her shop. She became aware of difficulties in their lives. The head no life, no standing in the community. They could not own property. They were dependent on their husbands and their husbands goodwill to lead a good life, and she saw a lot of women suffering because of that. At one point she realized, if women could vote, they could enact change themselves and change lives to benefit all women and all people. So, she turned her attention to the Suffrage Movement. She moved her family back to portland in the 1870s. Her first effort was to start her own newspaper. That was called the new northwest. This was the vehicle she used to communicate about her suffrage efforts. And the whole family, many members of her family were involved in producing this newspaper. One of her sons was a printer. It was kind of like a family enterprise. She communicated through the new northwest. That was important part of for developing skill in becoming a suffrage leader in the northwest. She also communicated with National Suffrage leaders. In 1871, she coordinated a visit by Susan B Anthony out to the west and traveled with her on a speaking tour in california. In very short order, i think it is very remarkable, in very short order, she all of a sudden had significant standing and presence in the Suffrage Movement. Harvey scott was her brother. He traveled with the family on the oregon trail. Apparently, he had been abusive to his siblings, and there are accounts of him beating up the sisters. He kind of continued that tradition. When the family came to oregon, eventually he became an editor oregonian, thend largest newspaper in oregon and one of the largest in the pacific northwest. And he was an antisuffragist. So, he wrote editorials against suffrage. So, in a way, he continued to as theyon abigail, even were adults. In the 1900 campaign, i believe suffrage wouldve passed had it not been for harvey scotts editorials in the portland oregonian. Ofyou tabulate the number votes cast, primarily in multnomah county, it was really what blocked the passage of suffrage that year. Here is a letter abigail is writing to her son clyde this is the 1900 campaign and they are waiting for the returns to come in, and she says my dear clyde, last night, after anxious waiting for returns, during which the oregonian and your mad uncle have subjected the women of oregon to every form of with the four counties we depend on. She says, i was quite sick until i got the returns. Despite the abuse of the oregonian, now i will set the coward up she was referring to her brother, harvey. Change came about in a way that measures could be presented to the citizenry for voting. Initially, when dunaway started out on her campaign work, she used what she called the still quietly getwas to in good with the men who had been elected to the oregon legislature. She would curry their favor and she did it quietly because she did not want to stir the opposition. That resulted in the measure for womens suffrage to be presented on the ballot. Time, it was defeated. In oregon, suffrage was presented six times, more than any other state. During thelly, progressive movement, a particular person wanted to change that process. He advocated for a referendum system that all the states now use. Its called the oregon system. That way, people could gain support for measures by getting enough signatures, and then it would be presented to the voters. By the time suffrage was passed in oregon, dunaways technique was not effective because it was not necessary. Eventually, there were many other women who came forward to carry on the campaign, one woman in particular spearheaded the effort. It was largely through their effort and the use of more modern campaign techniques, like mass mailings, storefront campaign shops, marching in parades, more radical techniques like that really pushed it over and managed to pass suffrage in 1912 in oregon. When suffrage was passed in 1912, duniway you know, she was often bedridden during the 1912 campaign when suffrage passed. She wasnt effective, but she had been working for suffrage for 42 years by that time. She had devoted her life to this cause. And people feted her. She was celebrated when suffrage finally passed. Which was really great. A lot of people sent congratulatory telegrams to her. Here are some examples. Ms. Abigail scott dunaway, congratulations on the triumph of justice. This one from medford. The medford equal Justice Association offers you congratulations. Your many days of effort for the cause of women may be crowned with success. This was sent before the vote. This was in october and the vote was in november. We sincerely congratulate the women of oregon upon their new citizenship. This wonderful victory must help us to success in the future, from the cleveland womens suffrage party. And congratulations to our dearest trailblazer who has made its dawning possible. The congratulations poured in. Its just so wonderful that she lived long enough to see suffrage passed in oregon, and she voted. She was able to vote in multnomah county, which was pretty special. We have in the collection a keptbook that duniway during her years as a suffrage leader. It has some photographs in it. It includes some lectures. It also includes things like some correspondence and newspaper clippings that she kept. This is also a really great resource for any researcher who wants to study the topic of the history of suffrage in oregon or about duniways life. In her pursuit for suffrage in oregon, Abigail Scott duniway would travel throughout the northwest to meet with fellow suffragists. One of her stops was in the home of daniel and Elizabeth Bigelow in washington. They would work to bring suffrage to washington in 1910. We are at the bigelow house on the east side of olympia, one of the citys oldest homes. In 1860. Ilt it was built by daniel and Elizabeth White bigelow. Both came over the oregon trail in the early 1850s. When Daniel Bigelow arrived in olympia, he set up his law practice and was evidently a great orator as well. In july ofed upon 1852. He is credited with spurring the development of a separate territory of washington from oregon. Washington became a separate territory from oregon in 1853, and Daniel Bigelow was elected to the first legislative session