The Feminist Press
November 12, 1921
Volume 20, Issue 34
Expressing the views and opinions of the modern day feminists through indepth articles on momentous topics
League of Women Voters Fights for Equal Opportunities for Women
The League of Women Voters extends their support past suffrage to complete equality
Established in 1920 after women gained the right to vote through the nineteenth amendment, League of Women Voters advocates suffrage for women. This political organization, organized by Carrie Chapman Catt, started after the National American Women’s Suffrage Association disbanded. Their main purpose is to assist women with this new responsibility and promote certain public policies. Much of these policies surround equal opportunities for women in social, political and economic settings. After obtaining equal suffrage, many women and supporters believe that fight is over. However, there are numerous inequalities that still exist and women are just beginning to reach new independence and freedom from the traditional boundaries. Nearly a century of struggles has brought us to this remarkable decade where women’s fortunes are starting to develop and revolutionize. Suffrage is only a step towards our final goal, even though many treat it as our only ambition. Support of women equality should not stop until there is an equal numbers of women and men in charge of stores, businesses, and nations, until women are not afraid to express their views and personalities in public, and until women are allowed eqality in high schools, colleges and careers. This was the idea behind the League of Women Voters. Even
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Board of Directors National League of Women Voters Chicago Convention, February 1920. Top row: left to right: Miss Katherine Ludington, Mrs. Richard Edwards, Miss Della Dorth, Mrs. George Gellhorn, Mrs. James Paige, Mrs. Solon Jacobs. Lower row: Mrs. Maud Wood Park, Mrs. Grace Wilbur Trout, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt though the National American However, that time has not the Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca, New York. At this conWomen’s Suffrage Association come. became outdated, there was still That time will never vention, they passed a declaration a need for a national organiza- come unless all women uphold which consisted of 12 resolutions, tion to promote women’s issues their civic responsibility and one of which was suffrage for in politics and amongst society. support equality for women. women. Ever since, women have Alice Paul, popular suffragist, has In the first federal election that been working toward suffrage, said, “The time will come when women were granted suffrage, however once they gain federal the human race will become so only a small fraction of the suffrage, a majority of them fail to human that we shall not need women of voting age voted. separate women’s organizations.” In 1848, women organized at •Continued on Page 2
Antoinette Blackwell First clergywomen passed away last Saturday
Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackwell, a proud feminist, passed away last Saturday in her home town of Elizabeth, New Jersey. She spent her last 12 years as a pastor for All Souls Unitarian Church. She lived until her 96th birthday and was able to vote on November 2, 1920, after fighting for women’s suffrage. She was born May http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/ File:Antoinette_brown_blackwell_400w.jpg 20, 1825, to parents Joseph Brown Antoinette Louisa Brown Blackand Abby Morse. well at age 89, just before voting Blackwell struggled for womin the 1920 election. en’s rights in all aspects of her life. Making large strides for women, she was the first woman ordained as a
priest in the United States. Blackwell challenged the traditional barriers that restricted women’s role in society. Even though audiences disapproved of her gender, she was a popular speaker. Using her religious ranking she helped feminism greatly by advocating women’s rights in her church. Blackwell also strongly believed in the abolitionist and temperance movements. Inspiring several prominent women advocates, she lectured all around the country. Being a mother and a wife,
she settled down after a life of activism to raise her children; while doing so she substituted lecturing with writing. Blackwell wrote several articles for local newspapers, novels, poems and essays. Her books include The Sexes Through Nature and The Making of the Universe. She also attended several conventions for women’s suffrage. As her children grew up she went back to devoting her time to preaching at Unitarian Society of Elizabeth, which she established. Blackwell is survived by her five daughters.