MONTANA.[105]
Before 1900 the National American Woman Suffrage Association, under
the presidency of Miss Susan B. Anthony, helped to organize suffrage
societies in Montana and several conventions were held. In 1899 Dr.
Maria M. Dean was elected president. She was succeeded by Mrs. Clara
B. Tower, whose report to the national suffrage convention of 1903
said:
On May 1, 1902, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, National president,
Miss Gail Laughlin and Miss Laura A. Gregg, organizers, arrived
in Helena and in conjunction with the State officers planned a
campaign to include a meeting in every town of any importance.
Mrs. Catt re-organized the Helena Suffrage Club and remained two
weeks, conducting a large correspondence, addressing all the
women's organizations in the city and a mass meeting. Miss
Laughlin spent these two weeks in Butte, where she spoke to a
number of labor unions and obtained resolutions strongly
endorsing woman suffrage from the Silver Bow Trades and Labor
Assembly, a delegate body representing 10,000 men. Mrs. Catt then
went to Butte and for ten days she and Miss Laughlin delivered
addresses before the principal organizations of the city, among
which were the Woman's Club and the Trades Council. Their visit
closed with a mass meeting at which a large number of names were
secured for membership in the Equal Suffrage Club, which was
organized immediately afterward. The campaign was then placed in
charge of Miss Laughlin, who did the field work, and Miss Gregg,
who arranged the dates from the headquarters in Helena. The
speaking before labor unions was continued through the State and
not a union or delegate body of laboring men failed to endorse
woman suffrage. Miss Laughlin, by invitation, addressed the State
labor convention, representing all the labor unions, and
resolutions strongly endorsing woman suffrage and the submission
of an amendment were passed with only one dissenting voice on a
roll-call vote.
Miss Laughlin spent the summer and fall visiting every town of
importance, organizing more than thirty clubs, and securing
committees to circulate petitions where organization was
impracticable. The State convention was held in Butte in
September in preparation for work in the Legislature during
January and February, 1903, for submission to the voters of a
woman suffrage amendment to the State constitution, which had
been strongly recommended by Governor Toole in his Message. A
considerable sum was raised for press work and Miss Mary E.
O'Neill was appointed superintendent. A resolution asking the
National Association for the services of Miss Laughlin for
legislative work was adopted and she remained.[106]
The bill for full suffrage was introduced in both Houses; public
hearings were granted by the Judiciary Committee of each and the House
took a recess that its members might attend in a body. Miss Laughlin
and others spoke and the measure had strong advocates in Dr. O. M.
Lanstrum, J. M. Kennedy, John Maginness, Colonel James U. Sanders, F.
Augustus Heinze (the copper magnate), Colonel C. B. Nolan, State
Senators Whipple, Myers and Johnson. State officers and members of the
Helena Club assisted in the legislative work, which continued two
months. The vote in the House was 41 ayes, 23 noes, but two-thirds
were necessary. The resolution introduced in the Senate by H. L.
Sherlock was also defeated.
At the session of 1905 the amendment resolution was again introduced
and Mrs. Tower travelled from Boston to be present at the hearing.
Mrs. J. M. Lewis, Mrs. Walter Matheson and Miss O'Neill addressed the
committees but the vote was adverse.
For a number of years little was done except in a desultory way. The
suffrage resolution was presented at almost every session of the
Legislature but there was no intensive work for it. Some of the
political equality clubs lived on, the strongest one in Missoula with
J. Washington McCormick president and Miss Jeannette Rankin
vice-president. In 1911 Dr. J. M. Donahue had introduced the suffrage
resolution in the Legislature but no work had been done for it and
this club sent Miss Rankin to Helena to press for its passage. It
found champions in Colonel J. B. Nolan, W. W. Berry and D. G. O'Shea
and opponents in James E. McNally and Joseph Binnard. Miss Rankin
obtained permission to address the House. The Senate refused to
attend officially but adjourned and was present almost in a body.
House members brought flowers and the room resembled anything but a
legislative hall, as masses of hats hid the legislators and people
were banked in the doorways. Miss Rankin was escorted to the reading
desk by a number of old-time suffragists, Dr. Dean, Dr. Atwater, Mrs.
Sanders, Mrs. Mary Long Alderson and Miss May Murphy. As
Representative Binnard was the strongest opponent he was delegated by
the members to present Miss Rankin with a corsage bouquet of violets.
He made a flowery speech and attempted to turn the meeting into a
facetious affair but when Miss Rankin spoke his purpose was defeated
and she received much applause. The bill was, however, reported out of
the committee without recommendation and neither House took any
action.
At the State Fairs of 1911 and 1912 the suffragists erected attractive
booths, giving out suffrage literature and buttons to all passers-by.
They were in charge of Ida Auerbach, Frieda Fligelman and Grace Rankin
Kinney. In 1912 a State Central Committee was formed with Miss Rankin
as temporary chairman and Miss Auerbach as temporary secretary. Later
Mrs. Grace Smith was made treasurer. The first meeting was called in
the studio of Miss Mary C. Wheeler of Helena. These women attended the
State conventions of the Republican, Democratic and Progressive
parties and succeeded in getting planks in their platforms for a
suffrage amendment to the State constitution. Then all nominees were
circularized and asked to stand by their party platforms. Miss Rankin
went over the State quietly, stopping in every county seat and
searching out women willing to work. She secured the consent of Thomas
Stout to introduce the bill at the next session.
In January, 1913, the women met in Helena and formed a permanent State
organization, electing the following officers: Chairman, Miss Rankin,
Missoula; assistant chairmen, Mrs. Louis P. Sanders, Butte; Mrs. G. M.
Gillmore, Glendive; secretary, Mrs. Harvey Coit, Big Timber;
treasurer, Mrs. Wilbur L. Smith, Helena; finance chairman, Mrs.
Wallace Perham, Glendive; press chairman, Miss Auerbach. The
organization never had any constitution or by-laws. Letters from all
over the State were written to Governor S. V. Stewart and on January
7 the women went in a body to hear his Message, in which he
recommended that Montana women should be enfranchised. With no
discussion the resolution to submit an amendment to the voters passed
the Senate by 26 ayes, two noes--J. E. Edwards and I. A. Leighton--and
was signed by the president, Lieutenant Governor W. W. McDowell, in
open session. In the House the vote was 74 ayes, two noes--Ronald
Higgins and John W. Blair. On January 25 it was signed by the
Governor.
On June 27 the second meeting of the State Central Committee was held
in Livingston, immediately following that of the State Federation of
Women's Clubs. Great progress in interest and organization was
reported from all parts of the State. The only new officers elected
were: Recording secretary, Mrs. John Willis of Glasgow; chairman of
literature, Miss Mary Agnes Cantwell of Hunters' Hot Springs. Chairmen
were appointed in each county and workers were sent into every
precinct. The third meeting of the Central Committee was held in Butte
September 22, 23, just before the State Fair, where it had a booth. It
was decided to open headquarters in Butte Feb. 1, 1914.
The fourth meeting was held in Big Timber February 14 and the fifth in
Lewiston June 6. Miss O'Neill was made assistant chairman and press
chairman; Mrs. Edith Clinch, treasurer; Miss Eloise Knowles chairman
of literature.
Headquarters were opened in Butte in January, 1914. Letters were sent
to granges, labor unions, women's clubs and other organizations asking
them to pass resolutions in favor of the amendment and aid the
campaign as far as they could. Every newspaper in the State received
each week a letter of suffrage news and items from Miss O'Neill and
occasionally some propaganda material. Letters were sent regularly to
the county chairmen and other workers giving instructions and keeping
them in touch with the campaign. Large quantities of literature were
distributed with many leaflets for special occasions. A short time
before election personal letters and a leaflet especially for farmers
were sent to 20,000 voters in the country districts. The
house-to-house canvass of the women in the towns and cities was the
most effective work done. Montana women spoke in every county and
women from outside the State in all but a few of the smaller ones.
In the spring Mr. and Mrs. James Lees Laidlaw of New York City stopped
off en route to California and spoke in a number of places. The women
were charmed with her beauty and style and some men who had considered
the movement as only carried on by women were surprised that a man of
Mr. Laidlaw's standing should be at the head of a National Men's
Suffrage League. He organized a Montana branch of it with Wellington
D. Rankin (now Attorney General) as president.
Miss Rankin in her report to the national suffrage convention of
November 12-17, expressed the highest appreciation of the women who
came into Montana, either sent by the National Association or at their
own expense, and campaigned for weeks under the instructions of the
State board. They were headed by Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, the national
president, and included Miss Katharine Devereux Blake, Miss Ida Craft
and Miss Rosalie Jones of New York; Mrs. Antoinette Funk, Miss Jane
Thompson, Miss Gratia Erickson and Miss Florence Lord of Chicago; Mrs.
Root of Los Angeles. During May and June Mrs. Cotterill of Seattle,
and during July and August Miss Margaret Hinchey of Boston, gave their
time to labor unions. A number of large demonstrations were held in
various cities. Campaigning in a State of such distances and
geographical formation presented great difficulties.
A precinct organization was perfected wherever possible but to the
far-off places word was simply sent to the women to work to get votes
for the amendment and they did so with splendid results. The usual
program of party campaigning in rural districts was adopted of holding
a rally followed by a dance. Miss Rankin, Miss Fligelman, Miss Grace
Hellmick, Mrs. Maggie Smith Hathaway, Miss O'Neill, Dr. Dean, Mrs.
Topping and many other volunteer speakers went into every little
mining camp and settlement that could be reached. They spoke from the
steps of the store and the audience, composed entirely of men, would
listen in respectful silence, applaud a little at the close, too shy
to ask questions, but on election day every vote was for suffrage. Old
prospectors back in the mountains when approached and asked for their
votes would say: "Do you ladies really want to vote? Well, if you do,
we'll sure help all we can." Many old-timers said: "What would our
State have been without the women? You bet you can count on us." The
campaigners spoke in moving picture theaters, from wagons and
automobiles and wherever they could obtain an audience however small.
There were no rebuffs but some of the Southerners would say that it
would be a bad thing for the South. All these outlying districts that
could be reached gave a favorable majority. The money for the campaign
was raised in many ways, by donations, food sales, dances,
collections, the sale of suffrage papers on the street, etc. The loss
of the funds collected for the campaign through the closing of the
State bank was a heavy blow and it could not have succeeded without
the help of the National Association and friends in outside States.
The campaign cost about $9,000, of which over half was contributed by
the association and other States.
To the women specifically mentioned the names of the following
especially active in the campaign should be added: Miss Mary Stewart,
Mrs. W. I. Higgins, Mrs. J. F. Kilduff, Mrs. Tyler Thompson, Jean
Bishop, Mrs. Wm. Roza, Mrs. J. W. Scott, Mrs. John Duff, Mrs. Bertha
Rosenberg, Mrs. Mary Tocher, Mrs. J. M. Darroch, Mrs. W. E. Cummings,
Mrs. Stevens, Mrs. A. E. Richardson, Mrs. Frank D. O'Neill, Mrs. J. B.
Ellis, Mrs. M. E. Hughes, Mrs. Delia Peets, Mrs. C. P. Irish, Mrs. J.
R. E. Sievers, Mrs. A. P. Rooney, Mrs. Sarah M. Souders, Mrs.
Sherrill, Mrs. Nathan Lloyd, Mrs. Burt Addams Tower, Mrs. Mary Meigs
Atwater, Mrs. Helen Fitzgerald Sanders, Mrs. Charles N. Skillman, Mrs.
Charles S. Haire, Mrs. J. M. Lewis, Mrs. H. W. Child, Miss Susan
Higgins. Among the men the best friends besides those already
mentioned were Miles Romney, Joseph H. Griffin, Lewis J. Duncan, W. W.
McDowell, Lieutenant Governor, and the two U. S. Senators, Thomas J.
Walsh and Henry L. Myers.
At the beginning of the campaign a travelling organizer of the
National Anti-Suffrage Association came to Butte, and, saying that she
acted officially, had an interview with the editors of the _National
Forum_, the organ of the liquor interests. She told them their open
opposition was helping the amendment, urged them to carry it on in
secret and said she would return later and lay before them a plan of
campaign. Afterwards when the Butte papers exposed this scheme the
_National Forum_ described the interview. Before the election the
National Anti-Suffrage Association sent its executive secretary, Miss
Minnie Bronson, and Mrs. J. D. Oliphant of New Jersey to campaign
against the amendment. They succeeded in forming only one society in
the State and that was at Butte, with a branch in the little town of
Chinook. The officers were Mrs. John Noyes, president; Mrs. Theodore
Symons, secretary; Mrs. W. J. Chrystie, press chairman; Mrs. David
Nixon, active worker; Mrs. Oliphant challenged Miss Rankin to a
debate, which was held in the old auditorium in Helena. At the
meeting, which had been packed by the liquor interests, Mrs. Oliphant
was noisily applauded and the confusion was appalling.
Although the speakers travelled to remote districts up to the night
before election in November, the instructions from headquarters were
to have loose ends gathered up by the opening of the State Fair
September 25, at Helena. Headquarters were maintained a week at the
fair and in the city and each day _The Suffrage Daily_ was issued. The
editors were Mrs. L. O. Edmunds, Miss O'Neill, Mrs. M. E. McKay and
Miss Belle Fligelman, all newspaper women. The most picturesque and
educative feature of the whole campaign and the greatest awakener was
the enormous suffrage parade which took place one evening during the
week. Thousands of men and women from all parts of the State marched,
Dr. Anna Howard Shaw was at the head, and next, carrying banners, came
Dr. Dean, the past president, and Miss Rankin, the present State
chairman. A huge American flag was carried by women representing
States having full suffrage; a yellow one for the States now having
campaigns; a large gray banner for the partial suffrage States and a
black banner for the non-suffrage States. Each county and city in the
State had its banner. The Men's League marched and there were as many
men as women in the parade.
During the entire campaign the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, one
of the strongest organizations in the State, conducted a vigorous
fight for the amendment, sending its speakers to every locality. For
many years it had worked for woman suffrage.
At the election Nov. 3, 1914, the amendment received 41,302 ayes;
37,588 noes, a majority of 3,714, and women were enfranchised on equal
terms with men.
The various suffrage societies merged into Good Government Clubs with
the avowed purpose of obtaining political action on many needed
measures. The next year they secured mother's pension and equal
guardianship laws, and others equally important in following years.
The Executive Committee continued in existence and directed the work.
At its meeting in 1916 it was decided to conduct an intensive campaign
for prohibition in 1917; to elect a woman to Congress and a woman
State Superintendent of Schools. Prohibition was carried; Miss
Jeannette Rankin was elected the first Congresswoman in the United
States and Miss May Trumper was elected Superintendent of Schools.
That year an eight-hour-day for women was secured. This record was
continued. Mrs. Maggie Smith Hathaway and Mrs. Emma A. Ingalls have
served two terms each as State Representatives. All the county
superintendents of schools are women.
After the Federal Amendment was submitted by Congress the societies
met on June 22, 1919, and formed a State branch of the National League
of Women Voters with Mrs. Edwin L. Norris chairman.
RATIFICATION. Governor Samuel V. Stewart called a special session of
the Legislature to meet in August, 1920, and the Federal Suffrage
Amendment was ratified on the 2nd by unanimous vote in the House and
by 38 to one in the Senate--Claude F. Morris of Havre, Hill county.
The resolution was introduced in the House by Mrs. Ingalls.
FOOTNOTES:
[105] The History is indebted for this chapter to Mrs. Lucile Dyas
Topping, formerly Lewis and Clark county superintendent of schools and
prominent in the work of the campaign of 1914, when Montana women
obtained the suffrage.
[106] In the intensive work that followed, Mrs. Tower was assisted by
Dr. Dean, Mrs. Ellen Maria Dean, Mrs. James U. Sanders, Mrs. T. J.
Walsh, Mrs. Bessie Hughes Smith, Mrs. Martha Dunkel, Mrs. Ella Knowles
Haskell, Mrs. Adelaide Staves Reeder, Dr. Bertha Mackal McCleman, Mrs.
C. B. Nolan, Mrs. Donald Bradford, Madame F. Rowena Medini, Miss
Sarepta Sanders, Dr. Mary B. Atwater, Mrs. H. L. Sherlock, Mrs. Hughes
and Miss Mary C. Wheeler.