Suffragette
TEACHERS
This photo was taken around 1908 and illustrates a suffragette posed in a police uniform. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Ohio women were actively involved in the struggle for suffrage. They formed the Ohio Woman’s Suffrage Association in the late 1800s and participated in a number of other local, state, and national organizations. To advocate for women’s voting rights, they gave speeches, participated in marches, and passed out handbills. With the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920, women not only gained the right to vote, but they also successfully ran for office. In Ohio, a number of women entered the political arena. Amy Kaukonen became the first woman mayor of an Ohio city, Fairport Harbor, in 1921. The following year, four women entered the Ohio House of Representatives, and two were elected to the Senate.
This photo was taken around 1908 and illustrates a suffragette posed in a police uniform. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Ohio women were actively involved in the struggle for suffrage. They formed the Ohio Woman’s Suffrage Association in the late 1800s and participated in a number of other local, state, and national organizations. To advocate for women’s voting rights, they gave speeches, participated in marches, and passed out handbills. With the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920, women not only gained the right to vote, but they also successfully ran for office. In Ohio, a number of women entered the political arena. Amy Kaukonen became the first woman mayor of an Ohio city, Fairport Harbor, in 1921. The following year, four women entered the Ohio House of Representatives, and two were elected to the Senate.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-101578
This photo illustrates a suffragette posed in a police uniform.
Questions:
- What does the woman’s clothing tell you about the time period?
- Why is she dressed like a police officer?
- The woman is a suffragette. What is a suffragette? How were they important to history?