Happy International Women's Day!

If you can vote, thank a suffragist!

I thought I'd share a quote from Eliza R. Snow. She actually was more of a traditionalist than I realized - not overall a huge women's suffrage fan, but once Utah women were granted the vote in 1870 she got on board.

She said in 1873 that "[God] has given us the right of franchise...and it is as necessary to vote as it is to pray."

Words to live by!

Heber J. Grant, the Suffragist!

One of the fun things about research is little quotes you find. Heber J. Grant, during the 1895 Utah constitutional convention deliberations, wrote his friend a letter and he said "I am as ardent a women's suffrage man as can be found." Makes me wonder what we would find if we were to read the emails of today's General Authorities!

The 35th State

Some of you may know about the final state to ratify the 19th amendment, Tennessee. There is a dramatic last minute "change of heart" story about Harry Burns, a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, which will be part of my suffrage tour. We won't have time to talk about the penultimate state, West Virginia.

At the time the 19th amendment was passed by Congress, the U.S. had 48 states, which meant that the suffrage supporters needed 36 states to ratify the amendment in order to get the 3/4ths majority required by the Constitution. Suffrage supporters organized themselves across the country and actively campaigned for special sessions to ratify the amendment before the 1920 election so that women could vote in that election. Early on, some states came easily - suffrage states like Utah and Colorado were easier than the eastern states. However, some states rejected the amendment, including many southern states. My native land, Virginia, voted down the amendment.

Suffrage was not super popular in West Virginia - just a few years earlier, in 1916, women's suffrage had lost a referendum by a 2-1 margin. In February 1920, Governor Cornwell called a special session of the West Virginia legislature to consider a tax issue. At this point, 34 states had already ratified the 19th amendment. Some interests pressured the governor to limit the scope of the session so that the legislature couldn't consider suffrage - he ignored them, and included the 19th amendment in the agenda for the special session. . The amendment passed the House, and was sent to the Senate.

In the West Virginia Senate, the vote deadlocked, 14-14. However, Senator Jesse Bloch, on vacation in California, wired a telegram to Lenna Lowe Yost, the woman leading the suffrage supporters, "Just received notice of special session. Am in favor of ratification." He immediately boarded a train, but it would take him a few days to arrive, which meant that suffrage supporters had to hold half the senate hostage so they would not adjourn.

While Bloch was traveling back from California, anti-suffrage forces tried to get the governor to reverse the resignation of Senator A.R. Montgomery, who had resigned and moved to Illinois eight months before. Senator Montgomery would have voted "no" on the amendment. The Governor refused. Bloch finally arrived after more than a week and a half of travel, and the amendment passed 15-14!

Thus West Virginia became the 35th state to ratify. This story reminds me that progress is often a "nail-biter" - even something as obvious to me as the 19th amendment is hard to get passed - it was only through the determined work of dedicated men and women (and a slow train from California to West Virginia) that I am able to vote today. So grateful!

Senator Jesse Bloch's campaign poster

Source: "Suffragists in Washington, D.C.: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote," Rebecca Boggs Roberts, pages 125-126

Through Rain and Sleet

Some of you may already be aware of the 1913 "March on Washington" by thousands of suffragists. That march took place the day before Woodrow Wilson's first inauguration. Unfortunately, not much progress on a federal amendment happened during President Wilson's first term, but the National Women's Party kept on determinedly pushing the federal government.

On inauguration day for Wilson's second term, March 4, 1917, Alice Paul and more than 1,000 suffragists marched to the White House to present President Wilson with resolutions demanding suffrage. Doris Stevens described conditions that day: "They marched in rain soaked garments, hands bare, gloves torn by the sticky varnish from the banner poles, and streams of water running down the poles into the palms of their hand."

Rain and sleet did not deter them - but all three gates to the White House were locked against the suffragists despite the elements. They marched four times all the way around the White House. A newspaper correspondent described the events thusly: "Had there been fifteen hundred women carrying banners on a fair day the sight would have been a pretty one. But to see a thousand women--young women, middle-aged women, and old women--and there were women in the line who had passed their three score years and ten--marching in the rain that almost froze as it fell...was a sight to impress even the jaded senses of one who has seen much."

Ironically, the rudeness of President Wilson and the unforgiving weather probably earned the suffragists more sympathetic press and helped the cause. It would be several more years, and many pickets later, that all American women would gain the right to vote. I'm grateful for these staunch suffragists and their devotion to the cause!

Marching in the Rain!

Source: "Suffragists in Washington, D.C.: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote," Rebecca Boggs Roberts, pages 76-78

American Women Voted in the 18th Century!

Continuing my series on random facts about Women's suffrage.

You may know that the 19th amendment to the US Constitution was ratified in 1920. If you're really up on your history, you'll know that many states had already granted women the right to vote before that (the first state was Wyoming, which entered the Union as a state in 1890 when its women had been voting in the territory for 20 years). So, women have been American voters in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

But, I can bet that you didn't know that there were American women who voted in the 18th Century! When the New Jersey constitution was adopted in 1776, it promised voting rights to "all free inhabitants." While American laws may have had gender neutral language, not many women were aware of this language and we don't know if many of them voted.

Interestingly, Joseph Cooper, a Quaker, sponsored language to add "he or she" to the election codes of the state in 1790. I'll note here that the Quakers were one of the few egalitarian religions in the U.S. at the time - they let women vote on church matters and speak in meetings. A lot of early suffragists were Quakers, because they had public speaking experience.

In 1797, a group of women marched to the polls to vote, and nearly defeated a candidate for the legislature. It caused an uproar among newspaper journalists at the time. They portrayed the women as either ignorant or controlled by their husbands. That same man who was nearly defeated later sponsored legislation to restrict voting rights to males only, which was passed by the New Jersey legislature in 1807.

Unfortunately, it would take another 113 years after that 1807 law for all American women to be guaranteed the right to vote in America. But I think it's cool to learn about some women who voted in the early days of our country.

(Source: A History of the American Suffrage Movement, Doris Weatherford, Pages 9-11)

Happy Women's History Month!

I'm currently organizing a walking tour of Washington, D.C. related to suffrage history and Mormons. It's going to be a lot of fun! But in the course of planning this tour, I inevitably discover cool random facts that I won't have time to talk about on the tour. So, my goal is to share a few of them during the month of March, which is Women's History Month, after all! I won't promise to post every day, because inevitably that will be a lie, but I'll try to post a few times this month.

Today's interesting factoid: did you know that suffragists made full length theater movies to promote the suffrage cause? You can read about one of them, "Your Girl and Mine," here at this link: https://ladailymirror.com/2015/10/19/mary-mallory-hollywood-heights-your-girl-and-mine-promotes-womens-suffrage/

Sadly it appears that the footage has been lost, but I kind of love that suffragists were willing to use every medium to help their cause, even the movies!

Some Good Things Happened in 2018! (Didn't They?)

I have only posted six blog posts in 2018, which is probably a reflection of how much I hated politics this year. President Trump seems to suck up all the oxygen in the political atmosphere and turn it in to toxic smoke. Ugh. November's Blue Wave in the House of Representatives brought hope, but the Senate is still going to go along with Trump's agenda and the next two years will probably just be a proxy for 2020 presidential campaigns. Sigh.

A picture to sum up 2018 in a nutshell!

But, some good things did come of 2018! So, sit back and relax while we talk about something really important: Me. LOL. Here are my 18 good things from 2018.

18) Spent time at the Happiest Place on Earth (TM). I spent two weeks in January teaching a work training to college new hires for my company. Luckily, it took place in Orlando and on our partially free weekend the company gave us a "park hopper" pass to visit the Disney Parks. So, I got to ride Space Mountain and visit Epcot. It had been a long time since I visited Disney. Still need to make it to the Harry Potter park!

Me at Disney!!!!!!!!!!!

17) First trip to Nashville. I was in town for just over 24 hours for a work presentation - just enough time to try Hattie B's Hot Chicken, a Nashville staple.
16) Annual trip to see the Cherry Blossoms at the Tidal Basin in DC. This has become a yearly tradition - I usually go on a morning around sunrise to see all the blossoms without the huge crowds. It is so beautiful!

Cherry Blossoms at Tidal Basin

15) Got my culture on! Attempted to paint a watercolor at a Relief Society event. Don't be too impressed - they had us trace the picture in wax, which made it easy to fill in. Also made a centerpiece celebrating 10 years of the Best Book Club Ever!

#ITried

Book Club Centerpiece, featuring books we've read over 10 years

14) Attended a live taping of my favorite podcast, The West Wing Weekly. This was so fun - they even had Bradley Whitford, an actor who plays one of my favorite characters, as a guest. #nerd
13) Tried new cooking skills. Made orange curd for the first time (as filling for a friend's requested birthday cake), baked chocolate baguettes for Cookbook Club, made chicken pot pie for a Pi Day celebration, and made Pastitsio (Greek Lasagna) for Father's Day. Also baked over 300 mini cupcakes for my brother and sister-in-law's wedding reception (first and last time I will ever do that!).

331 mini cupcakes, with six different flavors!

12) Visited the Frick Collection in NYC for the first time - it's a classy little museum, and we saw an exhibit of paintings of the twelve tribes of Israel by Zubaran.

Central Atrium at the Frick

11) Tried to appreciate nature more - visited a little rainwater pond near my house that I hadn't been to before and tried to capture the beauty.

Love the reflection of the clouds in the water!

10) Visited the Adams Memorial in Rock Creek Cemetery, which features a cast iron statute by Augustus Saint Gaudens commonly known as "Grief." It was a favorite place of Eleanor Roosevelt when she was first lady, and since I have been slowly reading her biography I wanted to visit. While I've lived in the DC area for a long time, I still love finding out about random and interesting places to see here.

"Grief"

9) Rediscovered the joys of ocean swimming. A trip to North Carolina for a co-worker's wedding provided an opportunity to swim in the ocean, something I enjoy but haven't done in years.

8) Participated in the "March for Our Lives" against gun violence and the "Families Belong Together" rally to protest separation of immigrant children from their parents. While both marches didn't really accomplish much in terms of concrete action, it was still great to see so many people committing to causes I strongly support.

#FamiliesBelongTogether

#MarchForOurLives

7) Visited Portland for the first time to see my friend Jenny. So many things to love about this city, not least of which is Powell's Rare Book room and Voodoo doughnuts. Also made it out to Cannon Beach on the coast, which is magical. Oregon generally is green and beautiful - loved exploring near Multnomah Falls and the Japanese Gardens and Rose Garden in Portland.

Cannon Beach, Oregon

6) Went to my second Diner En Blanc. Though the venue wasn't ideal, it was still fun to see everyone and see all the great costumes.

Dinner En Blanc, Nats Stadium

5) Temple Tourism. Due to the closure of the DC temple for renovations, I visited some temples in other places as I traveled. Specifically, I did temple sessions at temples in Orlando, Philadelphia, Seattle, Birmingham, and Newport Beach. So glad that there are so many temples around the country that I can visit and feel the spirit there.

Seattle

Birmingham, AL at night

Newport Beach, CA

Philadelphia, PA

Orlando, FL

4) Road trip to Alabama and Mississippi. I had intended to do a separate and complete post on how amazing this trip was, but never got around to it. Suffice it to say, you should really visit the civil rights sites in Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama.

MLK's church in Montgomery, AL

3) Activity Days and Primary. I joined a family ward this year, and have enjoyed helping with Activity Days (weeknight activities for girls 8-11) and teaching a Primary class for the 10-12 year old girls. It's been fun to be around kids on a regular basis. They're fun and funny and unpredictably lovely.
2) Went to my brother's wedding in Newport Beach, California at the end of November. It was phenomenal to all be together as a family - first time in 2-3 years all my siblings and parents had all been in the same place at the same time. Plus, my brother and new sister-in-law were so happy and full of joy.
1) I got a dog! I've been wanting to do this for a while and am so glad that I finally did. She is cute and cuddly and wags her tail when I come home, which makes me feel happy. Unconditional love is where it's at, my friends.

I hope you each ring out 2018 with friends, family, fun, and food. Here's wishing you the best in 2019!