Progressivism: Perspectives in Print

I knew exactly what the hour had in store for me when I walked into Mrs. Lawson's classroom on Thursday, February 11th at 11:35. Model UN was long gone, as was Mrs. Lawson herself. After roll was called by the substitute, it was time to sit in quiet and research.

On the NewsBank website to which I was directed by the instructions, the InfoWeb newspaper archive, I clicked on "American Historical Newspapers, 1690-2000." I presumed that a whole lot of history went down in those 310 years.

Under the heading "Social & Cultural Issues" in the category "World War I and the Aftermath 1914-1922", I clicked on "19th Amendment- Women Win the Right to Vote". I needed to choose this topic to explore. I have always felt guilty that I do not know enough about the this part of history. I do not know enough about the important progressions of women in society. Guilt partly drove my choice, but also, I was curious. An element of my I-Search involves feminism, and the subject has been on my mind a lot, lately. This topic goes well with our unit's focus of Progressivism, because the 19th Amendment was a result and a cause of the progression of women in society.

First, I saw a summary page of the topic. I needed this. Most of my understanding of the specifics of the movement revolved around an image in my head of girls with picket signs in a parade that I saw in my fourth grade history book.

It probably looked a lot like this.








The amendment is the physical, written document that gives women in America the right to vote. It was passed in 1919 and made the law after being ratified on August 26, 1920. Women suffrage advocates started pushing for this right in the mid-1800s, decades before, so many passed away before their goal was achieved. I did not really understand this beforehand. There was picketing, like in my picture. People also had been speaking, writing, lobbying, and practicing civil disobedience. I did not realize how early this struggle began. A couple ladies did not look up suddenly from their crocheting and decide it was a decent idea to be able to vote in 1918.

Many Americans did not accept the amendment with excitement, either. Many feared it would be detrimental to American culture (boo hoo). They felt women were supposed to take responsibility of all the home and family life. I was more familiar with this concept because of historical fiction books and television. In addition, many people thought the women's suffrage supporters were psychologically unsound because of their beliefs and public actions (what other explanation could there be?); therefore, they felt, women should not be given the power to cast votes and determine the county's path (heavens, no!). I was able to relate this to a class discussion we had a few days before. This mindset lasted after women were given the right to vote. Some states refused to ratify the 19th Amendment for many years; for example, Mississippi, the last, ratified it in 1984. Women could vote, in Mississippi, of course, before then. The state just did not officially approve for a while.

After reading the summary, I searched for primary source documents. Under the heading "The Suffrage Debate" to the left, I chose the link to newspaper that read "President Roosevelt Not Enthusiastic for Women's Suffrage; Fails to See What the Right to Vote Means" (Source A) from February 10, 1907. I learned about a common mindset during the time by learning about the president's thoughts on the matter. According to the article from some February 9th many years ago, the president was interviewed by a Lady Cook of England, who used to be American. He was asked by her to support the women's suffrage movement. Cook referred to Roosevelt as "charming" and said it made sense why he was so popular in the United States. She went on to report that he had an "admiration" for women and referred to them as "the power behind the throne". Lady Cook asked the president, in the interview, why women could not progress in society as other groups, like African Americans, had. Roosevelt, apparently, did not want to put effort into the women's suffrage movement since letting women vote would not do them "much good" in their advancement. Maybe it really made sense to him that letting women have input on American politics, like men did, would not bring them closer to equality. Maybe. Either way, it is indicative at how much the American mindset had to have progressed. A president as famous as Roosevelt, with as much "popularity" as Roosevelt, did not support women's suffrage. Much change occurred for the 19th Amendment to have been made law. Many brave women had to have fought for the future that is now.

I also read "Suffrage Becomes a Law: Ratification of the 19th Amendment is Proclaimed" (Source B) to the left, under "Ratification of the 19th Amendment". This paper from September 1, 1920 was a bit more difficult to make out. A heading reads: "Secretary Colby Signed Document at His Home and Later a Crowd of Women at State Department Cheered Announcement". Indeed, according to the article, women gathered at the state department in excitement, cheering Colby, when they were told the amendment was functioning. They had waited for this news the night before with no result. Several of the names of these women were mentioned: an Alice Paul, chair of the National Woman's Party, an Anne Calvert Neely, and more. These women were some of the people that were the most impassioned about suffrage. This article describes them as eagerly awaiting the news.

It reminds me of people waiting all night in a line in front of the Apple Store to get the latest iPhone.





They probably seemed that crazy in the time period, like the summary I read stated. They let themselves seem crazy to the rest of society, and as a result, I can vote. (Well, not until 2020, but, eventually, I can.)

I looked at one other paper. Under "Ratification of the 19th Amendment", I clicked "The First Woman to Vote in the United States of America" (Source C) from September 11, 1920. The lucky lady's face takes up almost the whole page. She wore a huge smile and had a crinkled nose, so it was more of a grin. She looked triumphant. The caption below reads that her name was Margaret Newburgh from Minnesota. On August 27, 1920 at 6 A.M., she showed up to vote on a proposition concerning a municipal bond during a special election.



I am triumphant for her. I am glad I immersed myself in this topic, at least a bit further than I had been before.

The 19th Amendment relates to Progressivism as a movement pretty explicitly. I defined the progressive movement in another blog post as the focus during the late 19th-century and early 20th century on the improvement of the United States through social, economic, and political change. Women's suffrage was one of the most iconic and important social movements of this era, and the 19th Amendment was its culmination.