Edna Fischel Gellhorn (1878 – 1970) was an American suffragist and reformer who helped found the League of Women Voters .
73-454: Gellhorn is a surname. Notable people with this surname include: Edna Fischel Gellhorn (1878–1970), American suffragist, mother of Martha Gellhorn Ernest Gellhorn (1935–2005), American academic and legal scholar Martha Gellhorn (1908–1998), American novelist, travel writer, journalist, war correspondent Peter Gellhorn (1912–2004), German conductor, composer, pianist and teacher who made
146-527: A 1915 campaign failed to win women in New York the right to vote, Catt redoubled her efforts. In 1917 the state approved suffrage. Although Catt, as a resident of New York, had obtained full suffrage, she kept working toward a federal suffrage amendment. In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress to request a declaration of war against Germany. Both the Senate and House voted to approve
219-448: A brooch consisting of a large sapphire surrounded by diamonds for her "distinguished service." National's parting gift to Catt was funded by thousands of individual contributions – including dimes, nickels and even pennies – from public subscription. Even schoolchildren contributed to the gift. In addition to the national League, women's suffrage organizations in the states also reorganized as state leagues of women voters in 1920. In 2020,
292-549: A budget of $ 5,000 and power so extensive that it became the center of women suffrage in the United States." The 1896 NAWSA Convention was notable for its debate about Elizabeth Cady Stanton 's book, The Woman's Bible , in which Stanton challenged traditional religious beliefs that women are inferior to men and should be passive. Many NAWSA members feared that the book would damage the suffrage movement by alienating its more orthodox members. Catt and Anthony, NAWSA's president at
365-639: A career in Britain See also [ edit ] Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012), HBO film about the lives of journalist Martha Gellhorn and her husband, writer Ernest Hemingway Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism , named for war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, established in 1999 by the Martha Gellhorn Trust Raymond Gellhorn, unscrupulous businessman character in the science fiction short story Sally by Isaac Asimov [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
438-561: A delegate from the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Catt told the delegates, "Sooner or later the white races must disgorge some of their spoils and give a place to the other races of the world. We stole land – whole continents; we stole it at the point of swords and guns; and we might as well understand that we must not have an acre to a man while they have an inch to a man. We must leave the door open to whatever arrangements we may make for peace in order that justice can be done to all
511-566: A delegation to the 1900 Republican Party national convention, which allowed the suffragists 10 minutes to speak. The Democrats refused to hear them at all. That year in Oregon, a second campaign for woman suffrage failed. During the winter of 1902–1903, Catt worked the New Hampshire amendment campaign in the midst of bitter cold, but lost by a vote of 14,162 to 21,788. In 1902, Catt called for an international meeting of women that would coincide with
584-484: A discussion about women's participation in the group and ultimately led to women gaining the right to speak in meetings. Catt was also a member of Pi Beta Phi , started an all girls' debate club, and advocated for women's participation in military drills. After four years at Iowa State, Catt graduated on November 10, 1880, with a Bachelor of Science degree, the only female in her graduating class. Iowa State did not name valedictorians during Catt's time there, so there
657-494: A dishwasher, in the school library, and as a teacher at rural schools during school breaks. Her freshman class consisted of 27 students, six of whom were female. Catt joined the Crescent Literary Society, a student organization aimed at advancing student learning skills and self-confidence. Although only men were allowed to speak extemporaneously in meetings, Catt demanded to be allowed to do the same thing. This started
730-454: A federal amendment. Second, women living in states where they might secure suffrage by state action would attempt to secure it. Third, suffragists in most states would advocate for presidential suffrage, and fourth, Southern states would advocate for primary suffrage. Under Catt's leadership, the movement focused on success by first working for women's suffrage in New York state. Before 1917, only western states had granted female suffrage. After
803-528: A fund that supported the Hungarian Feminist Association financially. She declined the affidavit request, noting that was she was old, had taken much responsibility on behalf of friends and associates, and the affidavit would be held against her estate after her death. The last event she helped organize was the Women's Centennial Congress in New York in 1940, a celebration of the feminist movement in
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#1732869651942876-610: A job and a place for them to live. Catt left for California after receiving a telegram that her husband was ill with typhoid fever . While she was enroute, Catt learned that her husband died in August 1886. She remained for a while in San Francisco, where she wrote freelance articles and canvassed for newspaper ads, but she returned to Iowa in 1887. She was a young 28- and 29-year-old widow when she wrote "Zenobia" (1887) and "The American Sovereign" (1888). In 1890, she married George Catt,
949-473: A life-long friendship. In 1900, Catt became president of the NAWSA as Susan B. Anthony's handpicked successor. Anthony knew Catt had the skills to carry the movement forward and her election to the presidency was nearly unanimous. She served her first term as NAWSA president until 1904, when she stepped down to care for her ailing husband, George Catt, who died in 1905. In her first year as NAWSA president, she led
1022-514: A registered voter and work within the party of her choice. However, she emphasized that "as an organization," the League "shall be allied with and support no party." Catt continued that the League "must be nonpartisan and all partisan" in leading the way – ahead of the political parties – to educate for citizenship and get legislation passed." At the 1920 convention, the League's constitution with details for membership, officers, representation and budget
1095-647: A single trip around the world from departure from New York on April 1, 1911, to arrival in San Francisco on November 4, 1912, Catt spoke and/or organized women's suffrage organizations in South Africa (Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria and a Kaffir kraal in Maritzburg); up the east coast of Africa to Zanzibar, Tanzania and Port Said; Egypt; then on to Jericho, Jordan, Riyaq and Beirut, Lebanon, and to Cairo, where she departed for Ceylon; then India, starting in Agra and leaving
1168-450: A true and triumphant democracy." After endless lobbying by Catt and the NAWSA, the suffrage movement culminated in the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on August 26, 1920. The 19th Amendment enfranchised 27 million women, making it the largest single expansion of voting rights in American history. Catt retired from her national suffrage work after the 19th Amendment
1241-495: A wealthy engineer and alumnus of Iowa State University. Catt continued to lecture and wrote the speeches "Subject and Sovereign" in 1893 and "Danger to Our Government" in 1894. George Catt also encouraged her involvement in women's suffrage . As a result, she was able to spend a good part of each year on the road campaigning for suffrage, a cause she had become involved with during the late 1880s. In 1887, Catt returned to Charles City, where she had grown up, and became involved in
1314-479: A year earlier at the 1919 NAWSA meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. In her presidential address on March 24, 1919, at the NAWSA convention, Catt said: "Let us raise up a League of Women Voters – the name and form of organization to be determined by the voters themselves; a League that shall be non-partisan and non-sectarian in character and that shall be consecrated to three chief aims: In fall 1919, Catt promoted ratification of
1387-646: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Edna Fischel Gellhorn Edna Fischel Gellhorn was born on December 18, 1878, in St. Louis, Missouri . Her father taught clinical medicine as a professor at Washington University School of Medicine and helped co-found the Barnard Free Skin and Cancer Hospital. Her mother was Martha Ellis Fischel. Both parents were involved in the Ethical Culture Society of St. Louis . Influenced by her parents, Fischel
1460-526: Is no way to know her class rank. She first worked as a law clerk after graduating. She became a teacher and quickly advanced, becoming superintendent of schools in Mason City, Iowa , in 1885. She was the first female superintendent of the district. In February 1885, Catt married newspaper editor Leo Chapman. She remained with her parents on the family farm in Iowa when her husband traveled to California to find
1533-533: Is the dominant race today but things may change. The race that will be dominant through the ages will be the one that proves itself the most worthy. ... Miss Kearney is right in saying that the race problem is the problem of the whole country and not that of the South alone. The responsibility for it is partly ours but if the North shipped slaves to the South and sold them, remember that the North has sent some money since then into
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#17328696519421606-513: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote of Edna Gellhorn that she "is known as one of the foremost leaders of the movement in this country. It is in her gift of oratory, infectious enthusiasm, and great dramatic gifts, through which she is able to convert others to her convictions, that she is most effective in any cause with which she is identified, no executive or organizational abilities are not less marked". In 1968, Washington University in St. Louis created
1679-483: The International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) in 1902, which eventually incorporated sympathetic associations in 32 nations. She served as its president from 1904 until 1923. After George Catt's death in 1905, Catt spent much of the following eight years as IWSA president promoting equal-suffrage rights worldwide. After she retired from NAWSA, she continued to help women around the world to gain
1752-413: The surname Gellhorn . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gellhorn&oldid=1252807454 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
1825-415: The 19th Amendment – which had been passed by Congress earlier that year – by the states and explained the purpose of the League of Women Voters on a "Wake Up America" tour. Wearing her refurbished "ratification dress," Catt spoke at 14 conferences in 13 western and Midwestern states in eight weeks. Her group also met with women and visited state capitals to see governors and other important state officials. By
1898-545: The Edna Fischel Gellhorn Professorship of Public Affairs. At age 79, Gellhorn was selected as Woman of Achievement by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat . She died in St. Louis in 1970. Her papers are held in the collection of Washington University in St. Louis. Edna Fischel Gellhorn's daughter, Martha Gellhorn , was a war reporter . [2] Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (born Carrie Clinton Lane ; January 9, 1859 – March 9, 1947)
1971-600: The Federal Amendment our ultimate aim and work in the States a program of preparedness to win nation-wide suffrage by amendment of the National Constitution." According to suffragist Maud Wood Park , who was NAWSA's chief lobbyist at this time, Catt's Winning Plan had four components: First, the states where women had presidential suffrage would lobby their state legislatures to send resolutions to Congress in support of
2044-794: The Iowa Woman Suffrage Association. From 1890-92, Catt served as the Iowa association's state organizer and group's recording secretary. During her time in office, Catt began working nationally for the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and was a speaker at its 1890 convention in Washington, D.C. In 1892, Susan B. Anthony asked Catt to address Congress on the proposed woman's suffrage amendment. After working her first suffrage campaign in South Dakota in 1890, which went down in defeat, Catt
2117-567: The League of Women Voters comprises a national organization and more than 700 state and local leagues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Hong Kong. According to its website, Leagues "work year-round to register new voters, host community forums and debates, and provide voters with election information they need. We engage at the local and state levels on legislative priorities and efforts to improve our elections." Catt
2190-661: The Missouri League of Women Voters. She was elected to the League's state and national Rolls of Honor. Gellhorn co-founded and worked for the United Nations Association , the National Municipal League , and the American Association of University Women , and she was the regional director of the food rationing programs during World War I. Gellhorn supported racial equality. In 1919, she cast
2263-644: The Persecution of Jews in Germany. The group sent a letter of protest to Hitler in August 1933 signed by 9,000 non-Jewish American women. It decried acts of violence and restrictive laws against German Jews . Catt pressured the U.S. government to ease immigration laws so that Jews could more easily take refuge in America. For her efforts, she became the first woman to receive the American Hebrew Medal. In 1938, Catt
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2336-512: The South to help undo part of the wrong that it did to you and to them. Let us try to get nearer together and to understand each other's ideas on the race question and solve it together." Catt was reelected as NAWSA president in 1915, following Shaw's presidency. Under her leadership, Catt increased the size and influence of the organization. In 1916, at the NAWSA convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey , she unveiled her "Winning Plan", to "make
2409-498: The United States' entry into World War I. Catt made the controversial decision to support the war effort, which shifted the public's perception in favor of the suffragists, who were now perceived as patriotic. The suffrage movement received the support of President Wilson in January 1918. On January 10, 1918, the House voted on the suffrage amendment, which passed by one more vote needed for
2482-402: The United States. Catt's views on race and immigration evolved over her long life. Early in her career, she espoused nativist sentiments. According to Jacqueline Van Voris, Catt began her public life in the 1880s with three speeches, "Zenobia", "America for Americans", and "The American Sovereign". The latter two echoed anti-immigrant sentiments popular at the time. In the 1890s, when she
2555-496: The Women's Peace Party, with Addams elected as chairman and Catt as honorary chairman. On February 25, 1917, by a vote of 63 to 18, NAWSA – with Catt as its president – offered the women's services to the government of the United States "in the event they should be needed, and in so far as we are authorized, we pledge the loyal support of our more than two million members." NAWSA made clear that its work for suffrage would continue since it
2628-427: The annual convention of NAWSA. Seven of the eight countries with women's suffrage sent delegates. Representatives from Chile, Hungary, Russia, Turkey and Switzerland also attended. Vida Goldstein of Australia, Florence Fenwick Miller of England, and Catt together wrote a Declaration of Principles that all the delegates signed that included this statement: "That men and women are born equally free and independent members of
2701-618: The case of Anthony, for permitting a letter she had written to be read before an all-black audience in New York City. Southern delegates made speeches calling for only white women to have the vote. Catt's reply: "We are all of us apt to be arrogant on the score of our Anglo-Saxon blood but we must remember that ages ago the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons were regarded as so low and embruted that the Romans refused to have them for slaves. The Anglo-Saxon
2774-460: The constitutional amendment giving them the right to vote and convinced state legislatures to ratify it in 1920". She "was one of the best-known women in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century and was on all lists of famous American women." Carrie Clinton Lane was born on January 9, 1859, in Ripon, Wisconsin , the daughter of Maria Louisa ( née Clinton) and Lucius Lane. When Catt
2847-565: The continent in Rangoon, Myanmar (Burma). From there, it was on to Java, Sumatra, Jakarta, Indonesia, the island of Sulawesi and the Philippines. One of the last countries on Catt's travels was China, where she visited Hong Kong, Shanghai, Peking, Nanking, and Hankow. She then traveled to Korea, Japan, Hawaii, and across the Pacific back to San Francisco. Due to the outbreak of World War I, 1913 would be
2920-409: The convention to "express the joy of the present" and "ask what political parties wanted of women and they of the parties." In an inspirational speech to the 700 members present, Catt outlined the plan and purpose of the League. She emphasized that its objective was not to seek power in organization, but to "foster education in citizenship and to support legislation." Every woman was encouraged to become
2993-492: The deciding vote in a vote held by the St. Louis League of Women Voters that would allow African-American women to serve on the board. Just two years later, Gellhorn, along with the rest of the League, left the Advisory Board, a collective of St. Louis women's organizations, because the organization would not allow African-American women. In 1923, she helped found John Burroughs School in suburban Ladue, Missouri. In 1923,
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3066-511: The exclusion of women from politics and the public sphere as a cause, even though they believed in equality for women. The organization believed that it was their job as women to end wars because women were seen as morally courageous, in contrast to their male counterparts who were viewed as physically courageous. The NCCCW held its first conference in Washington, D.C., in January 1925, with 450 delegates in attendance. Eleanor Roosevelt attended as
3139-653: The human race; equally endowed with talents and intelligence, and equally entitled to the free exercise of their individual rights and liberty." This formed the beginning of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, an organization that exists today as the International Alliance for Women . During the national NAWSA convention held in New Orleans in 1903, Catt and Anthony were attacked by the press for allowing black membership in NAWSA and, in
3212-676: The issue. One more state loss and the amendment would be defeated. The final battle took place in the state of Tennessee. Catt was there to lead the campaign through the hot summer months in Nashville in 1920. She wrote to the Woman Citizen , "Never in the history of politics has there been such a force for evil, such a nefarious lobby as labored to block the advance of suffrage in Nashville, Tenn. ... They appropriated our telegrams, tapped our telephones, listened outside our windows and transoms. They attacked our private and public lives." The vote count
3285-522: The last meeting of the IWSA for some years. Three days after the armistice ending the war in 1918, Catt planned to resume the meetings of the IWSA. The 1920 meeting took place in Geneva and more than 400 women met, including delegates from Germany, France, Japan, China, India and the United States. The board asked women of the enfranchised countries to help further the vote in countries without the vote. The United States
3358-455: The measure down: in Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina, Delaware, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana and Mississippi. Since the late 19th century, they had passed state amendments that effectively disfranchised African American males. They had no interest in expanding the franchise. The governors of Connecticut and Vermont refused to call their legislatures into session to vote on
3431-558: The peace movement. Because she did not want to join any existing organization, Catt and representatives of nine national women's organizations founded their own organization, the National Committee on the Cause and Cure of War (NCCCW). The group first met in spring 1924 and chose Catt to be its leader. The group divided the causes of war into four categories: psychological, economic, political, and social and contributory. They did not include
3504-412: The place and then settled down to THINK." Catt led the battle for ratification of the 19th Amendment, which required the approval of 36 state legislatures (3/4 of the then 48 states.) She urged friends of the amendment not to allow it to come to a vote in their state unless they were sure it would pass. However, opponents introduced the bill into their state legislatures. One by one, Southern states voted
3577-539: The presidency of the IWSA in 1923, she continued to attend its meetings in various parts of the world. Catt founded the League of Women Voters on February 14, 1920 – six months before the ratification of the 19th Amendment – during the annual convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Chicago, Illinois. However, she had outlined the purpose and goals of such an organization
3650-453: The races on all the continents." In 1932, Catt resigned as chair of the NCCCW, but kept attending meetings, making speeches and supporting the cause of peace. However, she recognized that another war would soon engulf the world. By 1941, when it was clear that the United States would soon enter the war, the NCCCW fell apart. Five of the member organizations had withdrawn and the biennial conference
3723-415: The required 2/3 majority. The following day, Catt wrote all of the state suffrage association presidents asking them to begin work at once to win the votes of the U.S. Senators. The vote in the Senate was finally taken on October 1, 1918, and the proposed amendment lost by two votes. On November 11, 1918, the armistice ending World War I was declared. During a second vote in the Senate on February 10, 1919,
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#17328696519423796-690: The right to have equal guardianship with husbands of their children and the right to vote. The following year, Catt traveled to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru and Panama. She concluded, "I never did a piece of work which has so interested and stimulated my desires to help as this." While visiting Peru in March 1923, Catt founded the National Council of Women in Action, which lobbied for women's suffrage in Peru until they succeeded in 1956. Although Catt retired from
3869-475: The right to vote. The IWSA remains in existence today, now as the International Alliance of Women , with 31 full members and 24 associate members. Catt first had the idea of an international woman suffrage organization in 1900; by 1902 she decided to begin with an exploratory meeting of women from as many countries as possible. The first meeting of the IWSA was held in Berlin, Germany, with 33 delegates present. Catt
3942-567: The time of NAWSA's "victory convention," which met February 12–18, 1920, in Chicago, 31 of the required 36 states had ratified the 19th Amendment. The 1920 convention marked the completion of NAWSA's work, except for a small board to make final disposition of records and assets, and the beginning of the League of Women Voters. During the 1920 convention, Catt honored pioneers of the movement – including past NAWSA presidents Anna Howard Shaw and Susan B. Anthony – for their "ever buoyant hope" and "unswerving courage and determination." She also wanted
4015-474: The time, met with Stanton prior to its publication to voice their concerns, but Stanton was unmoved. Catt and another future NAWSA president, Anna Howard Shaw , supported a resolution stating that "NAWSA has no official connection with the so-called Woman's Bible ." During the 1898 national convention of the NAWSA, one of the most outstanding speakers was African American activist Mary Church Terrell . She and Catt first became acquainted at that time and formed
4088-464: The women's suffrage amendment lost by one vote. However, during the 1918 election, suffrage supporters were elected to Congress through targeted efforts by leaders in the movement. The suffrage question came up again before the House on May 21, 1919, and this time it passed by a vote of 304 ayes and 89 nays. The amendment then moved to the Senate, where it passed the needed 2/3 majority by two votes on June 4. Mary Garrett Hay wrote that "CCC danced all over
4161-541: Was "the protective of all other rights." On April 2, 1917, President Wilson went before Congress to request a declaration of war. The position paper from NAWSA with Catt as its president led to her ejection from the Woman's Peace Party as well as hard feelings between her and its small cohort of pacifists. After the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, granting women in the United States the right to vote, Catt returned to
4234-503: Was a charter member of the Provisional Council Against Anti-Semitism, to protest acts of anti-Semitism in the United States in light of the persecution of Jews in Germany. Women's advocates abroad were aware of her reputation – in 1938 she was asked to sign an affidavit in support of leading Hungarian feminists Eugénia Meller and Sarolta Steinberger 's request to emigrate to the U.S. Catt had donated money to
4307-553: Was active in NAWSA but before becoming president, Catt made public speeches that referred to the "ignorant foreign vote," and pointed to Native American men's lack of knowledge of representative government. Later, Catt noted that the votes of illiterate men in the South were "purchasable". In the same speeches, Catt blamed, variously, political corruption, a lack of education, or the tragic vestiges of slavery for these groups' shortcomings as voters. Her solutions were education and reform, not disenfranchisement. Even as she decried
4380-464: Was active in anti-war causes during the 1920s and 1930s. Upon the outbreak of World War I in 1915, a group of women pacifists in the United States began talking about the need to form an organization to help bring the conflict to an end. On January 10, 1915, more than 3,000 women attended a meeting at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., called by Catt and fellow suffragist Jane Addams . They formed
4453-638: Was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution , which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt served as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association from 1900 to 1904 and 1915 to 1920. She founded the League of Women Voters in 1920 and the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in 1904, which was later named International Alliance of Women . She "led an army of voteless women in 1919 to pressure Congress to pass
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#17328696519424526-434: Was approved. According to Van Voris, "Catt insisted she did not want to lead the new work, that was for younger and fresher women. ‘For thirty years and a little more, I have worked with you in the first lap of this struggle toward women's emancipation,' she said." Maud Wood Parks was elected president of the League of Women Voters with Catt accepting the title of "honorary chairman." Convention delegates also surprised Catt with
4599-608: Was asked to coordinate the suffrage campaign in Colorado. She arrived in Denver in early September 1893 and worked until Election Day. Catt traveled more than a thousand miles throughout the Rockies during the next two months and visited 29 of Colorado's 63 counties. Colorado passed women's suffrage in November 1893, becoming the second state to give women the right to vote and the first where suffrage
4672-562: Was cancelled for lack of funds. In spring 1943, the NCCCW was dissolved. It was succeeded by the Women's Action Committee for Victory and Lasting Peace, which was dedicated to giving support to the idea of the United Nations. According to Jacqueline Van Voris, Catt missed only one NCCCW meeting in its entire existence. In 1933, in response to Adolf Hitler 's rise to power, Catt organized the Protest Committee of Non-Jewish Women Against
4745-687: Was elected president. African American suffragist Mary Church Terrell was one of the delegates from the United States and addressed the meeting in three languages. Each international meeting was held in a different city, membership grew, and successes in women's rights were reported and discussed. The international meeting held in Budapest in 1913 was the largest in the history of the organization, with 500 delegates attending. The world's press had 230 representatives and 2,800 visitors came to listen and learn. Following her first term as president of NAWSA, Catt engaged in international suffrage work from 1906 to 1913. On
4818-465: Was involved in the community and dedicated her time to civic work. She attended the Mary Institute and Bryn Mawr College . She served as student president at each school. Upon graduating from Bryn Mawr in 1900, Fischel was elected lifetime president of her class. Gellhorn was an officer in both the St. Louis and Missouri State Equal Suffrage Leagues from 1910 until the Nineteenth Amendment
4891-562: Was passed in 1919. In 1916, she participated in a women's rights protest dubbed "The Golden Lane" at the Democratic Party 's national convention, held that year in St. Louis. Some 7,000 women carrying yellow parasols and wearing yellow sashes lined both sides of the road leading to the St. Louis Coliseum . In the front row were two little girls, Mary Taussig and Martha Gellhorn (Gellhorn's daughter), representing future voters. A black-cloth-draped tableau of "states with no votes for women"
4964-465: Was placed in front of the St. Louis Art Museum . In 1920, Gellhorn became one of the founders of the National League of Women Voters . She declined Carrie Chapman Catt 's invitation to become the organization's president, but served instead as vice-president, as a member of its board of directors, and as president of the St. Louis League for three terms. She also served as the first president of
5037-476: Was ratified in 1920. Before she retired, she established the League of Women Voters on February 14, 1920, at the NAWSA national convention in Chicago to encourage women to use their right to vote. In 1923, with Nettie Rogers Shuler , she published Woman Suffrage and Politics: The Inner Story of the Suffrage Movement . Catt was also a leader of the international women's suffrage movement. She helped to found
5110-486: Was seven years old, her family moved to rural Charles City, Iowa . As a child, Catt was interested in science and wanted to become a doctor. After graduating from high school in 1877, she enrolled at Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University ) in Ames, Iowa . Catt's father was initially reluctant to allow her to attend college, but he relented, contributing only a part of the costs. To pay her expenses, Catt worked as
5183-516: Was so close that each side believed it could easily be defeated. The proposed amendment easily passed the Tennessee Senate, but then moved to the House where – after many delays and many days of debate – it passed by one vote. At her welcome home reception in New York City, Catt said: "Now that we have the vote let us remember we are no longer petitioners. We are not wards of the nation, but free and equal citizens. Let us do our part to keep it
5256-619: Was to organize efforts in Jamaica, Cuba and South America, which was the only continent where no women had the vote. A member of the League of Woman Voters suggested that a Pan-American conference be held in 1922. After three days of round-table discussions, Catt had organized the Pan-American Association for the Advancement of Women (National Liga para la Emancipacion de la Mujer). Its objectives included educational opportunities for women,
5329-452: Was won by popular vote. By the 1895 national convention of the NAWSA, Catt was proposing major changes in the structure of the organization. "The great need of the hour is organization. Suffrage is today the strongest reform there is in this country, but it is represented by the weakest organization", the Woman's Journal reported. "Catt organized and then headed a new Organization Committee with
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