Wise and Brave: The Fight for Women s Voting Rights in Litchfield By: Jessica Jenkins, Curator of Collections, Litchfield Historical Society United States society in the nineteenth century saw many social reform movements take shape. From anti slavery to temperance, passionate people around the nation took up the causes of what many perceived as the plights of society. As the leading figures of the country, men naturally took leadership roles in these reform factions. It was in that male centered context that the woman suffrage movement developed its roots. Women who had been denied the right to participate fully in reform movements began speaking out for women s rights in society. They demanded changes in the social, moral, legal, educational, and economic status for themselves and others. Interestingly enough, their initial focus did not include gaining the right for women to vote. That came later after the close of the Civil War when Congress proposed the Fifteenth Amendment, which would extend the right to vote to black men. Women s rights activists of the time, mainly well educated white females, became distressed that black men would be given the right to vote, but not them. It was then, in the shadows of the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment, that a separate interest in gaining the franchise for women came into being. In the state of Connecticut the suffrage movement gained a foothold early on and established itself as an active pressure group at the same time that the national movement for women s voting rights took off. In 1869, the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA) became the first official organization to support woman suffrage in the state. Working under the leadership of Litchfield born Isabella Beecher Hooker, the CWSA actively promoted the advancement of women s rights in Connecticut. Throughout the last three decades of the nineteenth century, the CWSA regularly presented suffrage bills in the state General Assembly and members spoke in support of women s voting rights at legislative hearings. Through the hard work of suffragists, adult females in Connecticut gained the right to vote for school officials in 1893 and on library issues in 1909. By the turn of the twentieth century, women in Connecticut had been elected and appointed to state and local offices, served as school trustees, public librarians, police matrons, notaries public, assistant town clerks, and had been admitted to the practice of law. Despite these advances, as late as 1906 only three suffrage clubs existed in the state and the CWSA reported only fifty members. As the second decade of the twentieth century approached, the woman suffrage movement in Connecticut experienced increased activity. The old guard had stepped out of leadership, leaving those roles available to new, energetic and fresh members who had not yet
become fatigued by years of tiring work. By 1911 fourteen new suffrage leagues had been established, and by 1917 the CWSA boasted 32,000 members. As the suffrage movement grew and gained momentum, so did the opposition to the cause, and in 1910 the Connecticut Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage formed to preserve women s non political role in society. Like their pro suffrage counterparts, the antis, as they were known, used many of the same strategies. They appeared before legislative hearings, they distributed leaflets and pamphlets, and they hosted meetings. The establishment of the anti campaign set up an organized model for pro and anti debate. No longer did the organized suffrage cause exist to fight against intangible opponents, greater than life politicians, or a faceless press. Now that women and men opposing suffrage had also invested in organizing themselves into official, visible groups, a formal debate of real life suffragists against anti suffragists opened up on a much broader playing field. Understanding the suffrage movement in Connecticut does not stop at the state level. With eight counties comprised of numerous towns, villages, and boroughs of various sizes and demographics, Connecticut saw many levels of activity occur regarding women s voting rights. When one looks beyond the large, urban centers of the state they find that Connecticut was ripe with small but active local suffrage organizations. At the beginning of the twentieth century Litchfield, Connecticut existed not as a large, bustling hub of the suffrage movement, but as a typical picturesque country town. While not hot beds of the state s suffrage activities like Hartford, mid and small sized towns such as Litchfield had a very important role to play in the larger push for women s voting rights. What played out in Litchfield mirrored other towns not only in Connecticut, but also around the country. In the last half of the nineteenth century the community of Litchfield became used to seeing the topic of woman suffrage in print. Although organized pro and anti suffrage groups would not come to town until many years later, the topic of suffrage appeared regularly before the public. In large part George A. Hickox, the proprietor and editor of the local newspaper, the Litchfield Enquirer, made that transpire. Hickox, editor of the newspaper for twenty five years, was a known proponent of the women s rights movement. Although ridiculed by some for his support of woman suffrage, Hickox did not shy away from printing stories about the topic. Hickox prided himself on running an unbiased newspaper, and his articles remained as neutral as he found possible. On January 8, 1891, following the sale of the newspaper from Hickox to C.R. Duffie, an editorial statement ran in the Enquirer that read, The Enquirer will still be published as a non political paper. It will continue to advocate, as heretofore: Purity of Elections, Civil Service Reform, Woman Suffrage, Temperance. This sentiment of support didn t last long. In 1894 the Enquirer was sold to George C. Woodruff Jr., who would continue as editor well after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. Under Woodruff s editorship, the topic of a
national amendment granting woman suffrage seemed to almost completely disappear from the local press for a time. Women had been encouraged by the newspaper in the mid 1890s to register to vote on school issues when they received that right, but any other mention of the topic seemed almost like a distant memory. Occasional editorials and short articles would pop up time and again in the first years of the twentieth century, being mainly negative when they did. Although things remained relatively calm for the first decade of the twentieth century, in August of 1911 things began to heat up in Litchfield County. The CWSA, who had recently undergone a shift in leadership, set out upon a month long automobile tour of the county. Scheduled to wrap up in Torrington, the tour began in Watertown at the beginning of August. During the month long excursion, members of the CWSA would visit thirty three town and villages in Litchfield County; including Litchfield on August 8. Organizers planned a meeting in support of woman suffrage in each town that featured various speakers, both male and female, from Connecticut and other areas of the country. One hundred and sixty people attended the meeting in Litchfield. Unfortunately the opinions of those in attendance were not recorded in history. Being a very Republican heavy area however, Litchfield became known as an anti stronghold. Reflecting that sentiment, an anonymous author published a poem in the Enquirer two days after the automobile tour stopped in town, titled Ode to Suffragettes. Closing the poem, the author wrote, Keep on fair suffragette. You re having lots of fun, But do not think for a moment yet You ve the antis on the run. Following the automobile tour, seven suffrage leagues formed in Litchfield County in 1911; this included an overarching county branch of the CWSA. Despite the large crowds drawn to the CWSA stop in Litchfield, the community did not form a suffrage league that year like many of its neighboring towns. Despite Litchfield s lack of participation, the formation of the various Litchfield County suffrage groups demonstrated exactly what the CWSA hoped to achieve with their automobile tour. These small satellite organizations of the CWSA not only helped to spread a larger blanket of suffrage support, but it also proved crucial to suffragists arguing in support of women s voting rights in front of the state legislature. Simply put, it made a much stronger argument before the legislature to say that a pro suffrage organization existed in every county and town in Connecticut than to say that one large organization in the capital city represented all of the support around the state. If the CWSA could establish a suffrage organization in every town, then it would be hard to argue that the majority of women did not want the right to vote. As county organizations got their feet under them the anti stronghold of Litchfield responded, and in 1913 the Anti Suffrage Association of Litchfield officially organized. In March of 1913, the Anti Suffrage Association hosted their first public meeting when Miss Lucy Price of Cleveland, Ohio, spoke in Litchfield about the anti suffrage cause at an event open to the public. Local newspapers praised the
meeting, and the Enquirer congratulated the women of Litchfield on organizing a branch of the Connecticut Anti Suffrage League in their town. The newspaper also described the large majority of women in town as anti suffrage and characterized their counterparts as anything but womanly or calculated to draw support from the sober minded. The negative sentiment expressed by the Enquirer was not shared by everyone however, and not far on the heels of the antis formal organization were members of the CWSA. Just six months after the first public appearance of the antis, the chairman of the Litchfield County branch of the CWSA Mrs. A.S.G. Taylor of Norfolk gave a talk on woman suffrage at the house of Miss Frances Hickox of Litchfield. At that meeting a local league officially formed and became known as the Litchfield Equal Franchise League. At the time of its forming, the Litchfield Equal Franchise League began with six members. Miss Frances Hickox (daughter of former Enquirer editor George Hickox) served as the first president of the group. After the first year Miss Hickox stepped down from the post, and Vice President Adelaide Deming stepped into the vacant role. Miss Deming would continue on as president for the remainder of the League s existence. Outlined in the by laws, requirements for members simply read, believing in equal suffrage for men and women. Upon joining the Litchfield Equal Franchise League and paying the yearly due of fifty cents, the women who became members could look forward to monthly meetings where the league would discuss the topic of suffrage, an annual meeting that involved electing new officers for the year, exposure to state wide suffrage events, and most importantly, comradeship with women who shared the same values and ideals. Half of each member s yearly dues went directly to the local organizations, while the other twenty five cents was paid to the CWSA. For both organizations these dues helped defray costs of meetings, bringing in speakers, printing leaflets, advertising events, and producing suffrage materials. In 1914 Adelaide Deming wrote in her yearly report about the league that, Each member of the Litchfield Equal Franchise League thought last year that she was perhaps the only one in the town in favor of that glorious cause. Once an organized group formed, those women in town who felt strongly about suffrage realized that they weren t alone in Litchfield and their sense of community allowed them to speak openly in support of women s voting rights. The first two years of the Litchfield Equal Franchise League s existence held great excitement for the league. Their first public event occurred in October of 1913 at the Town Hall in Litchfield. On that day the Equal Franchise League hosted Reverend Dr. Anna Shaw, President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, who gave a lecture to a packed audience. Bringing a speaker of this level to Litchfield was a bold move for the local suffrage group, and demonstrated their resolution to be taken seriously. The local newspaper reported a crowded Town Hall with many people in attendance that had to stand. Both the newspaper and Adelaide Deming noted that the crowd seemed enthusiastic even though many who came already had strong anti suffrage views. While both sources report a similar story in terms of whom and how many congregated, each had their own view of the outcome. The local newspaper viewed the meeting as simply an amusing event of no success while the Litchfield Equal
Franchise League viewed the event as a definite success. They did not intend on converting the entire town by hosting the meeting; they simply wanted to make it known that suffrage supporters resided in Litchfield, and focused on planting the idea of woman suffrage in the minds of those who attended. Deming wrote that the meeting did not convert all who attended to the cause, but at least now each one is carrying around a dangerous suffrage germ which will develop unexpectedly. By 1914 the number of members belonging to the Litchfield Equal Franchise League had grown from six at its inception to twenty five. That year the women of Litchfield participated in what would end up being one of the largest and most important suffrage events in Connecticut. On May 2, 1914, the CWSA organized a suffrage parade in Hartford to coordinate with nationwide demonstrations. These events would culminate in a large parade in Washington, D.C. a week later when politicians arrived in the nation s capital for President Wilson s inauguration. The parade in Hartford drew not only thousands of participants from the various suffrage organizations around the state, but it also drew thousands of spectators who would remember the event long after it happened. Prior to the parade, Adelaide Deming noted, We hope that several of our members at least may join in the Suffrage March in Hartford on May 2 to show that some of us in Litchfield are both wise and brave. As it turned out five women from Litchfield took part in the event. Adelaide Deming likely marched on foot with the other presidents of the various suffrage organizations, and would have been responsible for carrying the Litchfield Equal Franchise League banner. The other four women rode in the automobile portion of the parade made up of seventeen automobiles representing Litchfield County. Decorated in laurel and pine, the vehicles were donned with the suffrage colors of green, purple, and white. After 1914, the Litchfield Equal Franchise League saw their activity begin to slow. With World War I under way the national movement lost momentum as war efforts took the lead position in the press. Despite this, the suffragists of Litchfield continued to support a cause that the majority of the community did not. They were not a group of radicals planning hunger strikes, picketing, or threatening arrest. They were a group of women committed to seeing females gain the right to vote, and they took mainstream steps to see that happen. Despite the constant opposition against them they continued on with the work of their organization. They remained committed to holding monthly meetings that they always publicized and made open to the public; even encouraging anti suffragists as well as suffrage
supporters to attend their annual meetings. Their tactics did not hinge on being exclusionary, but instead focused on persistently supporting the larger cause on a local level. That perseverance became very critical in overcoming the constant obstacle of a membership comprised largely of part time residents. Because many of the League s members were not at their Litchfield homes year round, waves of activity occurred in the summer months when those constituents were in town to participate in suffrage activities. During the winter months the group s main goal continued to focus on continuing monthly meetings for those members still in town. These winter months, because they provided less of a public interface for suffrage support, became crucial in providing full time residents with a support network of like minded women. Throughout the remainder of the second decade of the twentieth century, the suffragists in Litchfield remained dedicated to their cause and did not back down from their support of woman suffrage despite the fact that the majority of their fellow townspeople disagreed with them. The parttime residents who had permanent homes in larger cities would visit state and national headquarters and send suffrage literature back to their friends in Litchfield. The Litchfield Equal Franchise League attended gatherings of the Litchfield County suffrage groups and continued to play an active role in supporting the CWSA. As an organization they also took out a subscription to the Woman Journal for the local library in an effort to make it available to all residents free of charge, and made recommendations of suffrage related literature to the library s purchasing committee. Although not a radical group, the Litchfield Equal Franchise League chugged on with their cause even though their membership numbers seemed low compared to large urban centers. They had intellectual debate with the antis in town, and despite the times when the local newspaper painted a picture of the antis and the suffragists at each other s throats, these respectable women supported their viewpoints with dignity. Despite their differing viewpoints, the women knew each other and were active members in other local organizations together. While they may not have agreed, they certainly were willing to listen to each other s arguments and revered the effort that the other group put into their cause. The battle and debate that occurred in Litchfield over woman suffrage represents what happened in mid and small size communities around Connecticut for several years. The women of the Litchfield Equal Franchise League really typified Connecticut s suffragists in their unwillingness to give up until they succeeded. As a group of strong pro women s rights leader in an anti stronghold they demonstrated their perseverance in their ability to remain strong throughout the long battle for the right to vote. No matter how tough it seemed or how little it looked like they were succeeding, these women stuck to their convictions and continued to support the CWSA and the national organizations until the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920 and they received the right to vote.