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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73 1919
Miniature of Lillian H. Olzendam to Rex
Lillian H. Olzendam to Rex
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    • Date Created: 1919-12-20
    • Description: Olzendam explains that she has started sending petitions for signatures in support of women‚Äôs suffrage to men belonging to various groups and professions.
    • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
    Miniature of John E. Waterman to Lillian H. Olzendam
    John E. Waterman to Lillian H. Olzendam
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      • Date Created: 1919-12-09
      • Description: Representative Waterman of Royalton responds that he will not sign the petition for the special session because he does not want to commit himself to anyone in the matter, but if called upon to vote for ratification he would support it.
      • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
      Miniature of Marion R. Horton to Annette W. Parmelee
      Marion R. Horton to Annette W. Parmelee
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        • Date Created: 1919-09-08
        • Description: Horton offers Parmelee the position of State Historian for the Vermont Equal Suffrage Association.
        • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
        Miniature of Frederick Jackson Tewksbury to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
        Frederick Jackson Tewksbury to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
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          • Date Created: 1919-10-20
          • Description: Representative Tewksbury of Ryegate responds that he will vote for ratification if a special session is held but asks to be excused from signing the petition. [Response is written on bottom of original request from Olzendam]
          • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
          Miniature of Lillian H. Olzendam to Ernest E. Moore
          Lillian H. Olzendam to Ernest E. Moore
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            • Date Created: 1919-12-22
            • Description: Olzendam asks Ernest Moore of Ludlow, as a supporter of suffrage, to sign a petition to the Governor to call a special legislative session for ratification and to pass the petition onto other well-known men in his social and professional groups.
            • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
            Miniature of George Edward Child to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
            George Edward Child to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
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              • Date Created: 1919-10-06
              • Description: Response of a legislator from Weybridge, Addison County, who voted for the suffrage bill in the last session and would do so again but would rather not sign a petition to the Governor.
              • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
              Miniature of Charles G. Miller to Lillian H. Olzendam
              Charles G. Miller to Lillian H. Olzendam
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                • Date Created: 1919-10-23
                • Description: Representative Miller of Westminster replies that he does not feel there should be a special session of the legislature. [Response is written on bottom of original request from Olzendam]
                • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
                Miniature of Lillian H. Olzendam to Horatio Nelson Jackson
                Lillian H. Olzendam to Horatio Nelson Jackson
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                  • Date Created: 1919-12-22
                  • Description: Olzendam asks Major H. Nelson Jackson of Burlington, 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 Frank G. Howland to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
                  Frank G. Howland to Lillian Herrick Olzendam
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                    • Date Created: 1919-10-20
                    • Description: Washington County Senator Howland says that Representative Hopkins of Burlington is in favor of a special session and ratification but does not want to appear as a member of the committee to approach the Governor, and asks Olzendam what she had in mind for payment of legislators if the session is held without expense to the State.
                    • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection
                    Miniature of William A. Root to Lillian H. Olzendam
                    William A. Root to Lillian H. Olzendam
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                      • Date Created: 1919-10-24
                      • Description: Bennington County Senator Root responds that he will vote for ratification if a special session is called but does not care to petition the Governor for the session. [Response is written on bottom of original request from Olzendam]
                      • Parent Collections: Women's Suffrage in Vermont Collection