Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection

The Women’s Suffrage in Vermont Collection documents Vermonters’ efforts to obtain voting rights for women. With contributions from the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration, the Leahy Library at the Vermont Historical Society, and Silver Special Collections at the University of Vermont, the collection focuses on the period from 1870 to 1920. The Women’s Suffrage in Vermont Collection include VESA annual meeting reports and correspondence, legislation, promotional materials such as broadsides and leaflets, and photographs. HISTORY In 1870, the Vermont Council of Censors proposed an amendment to the state constitution calling for full suffrage for women. A group of men formed the Vermont Woman Suffrage Association to support the amendment, which failed by a vote of 231 to 1 at the constitutional convention. Ten years later, taxpaying women did obtain the right to vote and hold office in school districts. The Vermont Woman Suffrage Association (VWSA) reorganized in 1884 and focused on achieving woman suffrage in municipal elections by introducing voting rights legislation, advocating in newspapers, and holding meetings and rallies with local and national speakers. The VWSA, which became the Vermont Equal Suffrage Association (VESA) in 1907, worked closely with the American Woman Suffrage Association, later the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Anti-suffragists formed the Vermont Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage in 1912, and by 1917, when the Vermont legislature passed a law that allowed taxpaying women to vote in local elections, the organization claimed over 5,000 members. VESA continued to push for full suffrage, and came close in 1919 when the legislature passed a bill allowing women to vote in presidential elections. Governor Clement refused to sign the bill, and the House of Representatives upheld his veto. After Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919, VESA members campaigned vigorously to have the legislature consider state ratification, but Governor Clement refused to call a special session and the amendment was ratified in 1920 without Vermont’s support. With the right to vote obtained, VESA dissolved and the new Vermont League of Women Voters took on the task of educating Vermont women about civic responsibilities. FURTHER READING Clifford, Deborah P. The Drive for Women's Municipal Suffrage in Vermont 1883-1917. Vermont History 47, no. 3 (1979): 173-190. Clifford, Deborah P. An Invasion of Strong-Minded Women: The Newspapers and the Woman Suffrage Campaign in Vermont in 1870. Vermont History 43, no. 1 (1975): 1-19.

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Showing 31 - 40 of 104 Records

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Miniature of Lillian H. Olzendam to Frank L. Fish
Lillian H. Olzendam to Frank L. Fish
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    • Date Created: 1919-12-22
    • Description: Olzendam asks the Honorable Frank Fish of Vergennes, as a supporter of suffrage, to sign a petition to the Governor to call a special legislative session for ratification and to forward the petition to other well-known men in his social and professional groups.
    • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
    Miniature of Frances E. Rastall Wyman to Annette Watson Parmelee
    Frances E. Rastall Wyman to Annette Watson Parmelee
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      • Date Created: 1919-10-27
      • Description: Wyman explains to Parmelee the succession of presidents of the VESA between 1913 and 1915.
      • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
      Miniature of Annette W. Parmelee to Henry C. Tinkham
      Annette W. Parmelee to Henry C. Tinkham
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        • Date Created: 1919-12-10
        • Description: Parmelee asks Dr. Tinkham at the University of Vermont if women are given equal advantages with men at the College of Medicine, and why, if it is true that as of 1818 women were granted admission to the Vermont Medical Society, that women are unaware of this and seek their medical education out of state.
        • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
        Miniature of Frederick C. Brown to Lillian H. Olzendam
        Frederick C. Brown to Lillian H. Olzendam
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          • Date Created: 1919-10-27
          • Description: Legislator Brown of Barton responds that he did everything he could for suffrage in the last session and will again when the proper time comes, but does not feel that a special session would "meet the approval of the Governor or the State at large."
          • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
          Miniature of Lillian H. Olzendam to Ashley Joseph Goss
          Lillian H. Olzendam to Ashley Joseph Goss
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            • Date Created: 1919-10-30
            • Description: Olzendam asks again for the signature of Representative Goss of Danville calling for a special session.
            • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
            Miniature of Melvin G. Morse to Annette W. Parmelee
            Melvin G. Morse to Annette W. Parmelee
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              • Date Created: 1919-12-10
              • Description: Morse, librarian of the Legislative Reference Bureau, sends Parmelee copies of women-related legislation introduced in 1919, and states "there were no bills introduced in 1900 except the ones which I sent you with the other list."
              • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
              Miniature of Harvey W. Varnum to Lillian H. Olzendam
              Harvey W. Varnum to Lillian H. Olzendam
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                • Date Created: 1919-10-25
                • Description: Senator Varnum of Jeffersonville replies that he does not care to sign the petition to the Governor.
                • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
                Miniature of Annette W. Parmelee to Ida Husted Harper
                Annette W. Parmelee to Ida Husted Harper
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                  • Date Created: 1919-09-11
                  • Description: Parmelee debates whether or not to accept the position of State Historian for the Vermont Equal Suffrage Association.
                  • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
                  Miniature of Minutes of the First Annual Meeting of the Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association, Held in the M. E. Church, Barton Landing, Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 14 and 15, 1885.
                  Minutes of the First Annual Meeting of the Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association, Held in the M. E. Church, Barton Landing, Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 14 and 15, 1885.
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                    • Creator: Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association
                    • Date Created: 1885
                    • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
                    Miniature of Minutes of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of The Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association Held in the Congregational Church, Peacham, Vt., Thursday Evening and Friday, June 27 and 28, 1895.
                    Minutes of the Eleventh Annual Meeting of The Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association Held in the Congregational Church, Peacham, Vt., Thursday Evening and Friday, June 27 and 28, 1895.
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                      • Creator: Vermont Woman's Suffrage Association
                      • Date Created: 1895
                      • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection