16 / Wings of a Bird

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Wings of a Bird

In 1912, when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá visited the United States, American women did not have the right to vote (also known as suffrage). Women had been working to gain suffrage and other basic rights for more than sixty years. The first women’s rights meeting in this country was held in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. At that time, in addition to being unable to vote, women did not have the right to give public speeches, testify in court, control their own wages, own property, or have custody of their own children.

By 1912, women had earned these rights in some parts of the country. They could control their wages in two-thirds of the states. But those wages were very low, and were often earned in unsafe and difficult conditions. Women might work for eleven or twelve hours a day— sometimes seven days a week. Though it was illegal, girls as young as eight were hired, and hidden in crates during inspections. They worked in buildings that were poorly maintained and barely heated in winter.

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If they spent an extra few minutes in the bathroom, it was deducted from their pay. They were not allowed to speak to each other during working hours. When women went on strike to try to obtain better conditions, some were arrested and even assaulted by the police.

Tragic attention was brought to women’s working conditions in 1911 when 146 employees (mostly female European immigrants) died in a fire at a garment factory called the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City. (A shirtwaist was a button-down blouse) The owners had locked the doors from the outside to prevent employees from leaving during working hours. The women were trapped in the building when the fire started, and there was no sprinkler system. Women clung to breaking fire escapes on the ninth floor, but fire fighters’ ladders could only reach the sixth floor. Some women jumped from windows to their death. It took a week for family members to identify their loved ones, and seven women could not be identified at all. A funeral was held for the unnamed women, and a three-hour funeral procession marched through New York in the pouring rain.

Eight months later, the company owners were found not guilty of any wrongdoing. One juror at the trial stated that he thought the employees were “not as intelligent as those in other walks of life and were therefore more susceptible to panic.” Two years later, one of the owners again locked his female employees in their workroom. He was fined just twenty dollars.1

Many women felt that until they could vote, they had no real chance of improving their lives. But not all women agreed. Some felt that participating in politics was unfeminine, and that their husbands or fathers represented them at the polls. Many anti-suffragists believed

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that giving women the right to vote would destroy the American way of life. They predicted that wives and husbands would argue over politics, and women would try to control their husbands at home.

Racism also influenced the suffrage movement. White women sometimes treated black suffragists unfairly. Some white women were willing to accept a law that gave only white women the right to vote, and excluded black women. White men, especially in the South, opposed rights for any blacks—including suffrage for black women. Others, in both the North and the South, supported suffrage for women as a way to limit the influence of blacks. They felt that white women voters would help them outnumber the total votes of black men and women.

Over the years, some states and western territories had granted women the right to vote, and at times, the right had been revoked. In 1912, women could vote in nine states—Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Washington, California, Arizona, Kansas, and Oregon.2 But many suffragists still insisted on voting rights for all women in the United States.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá had been asked for His opinion on suffrage by a reporter before He even reached the American shore. He replied,

The modern suffragette is fighting for what must be, and many of these are willing martyrs to imprisonment for their cause. . . . The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has dominated over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities both of body and mind. But the scales are already shifting—force is losing its weight and mental alertness,

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intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendency. Hence the new age will be . . . an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more properly balanced.3

To draw attention to their cause, women began holding suffrage parades in New York City in 1910. From just 400 marchers in 1910, the parade had grown to include 20,000 marchers by May 6, 1912, while half a million people watched. Women marched in the anklelength dresses and elaborate hats that were popular at the time. They held signs, wore sashes, and even carried umbrellas with slogans about women’s suffrage. Some rode on horses or in automobiles; others walked with their children or pushed baby carriages.

At the time of the parade, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was in Cleveland, Ohio. But just two weeks later, on May 20, He addressed a group of suffragists in New York. When He entered, everyone stood up with excitement and happiness. Mrs. Penfield, the chairperson of the meeting, gave a warm introduction: “I have the great honor tonight to present to you one of the most distinguished advocates of both Women’s Suffrage and Universal Peace. . . . I cannot use better language than that of one of his followers when I describe ‘Abdul-Bahá in these words: ‘Abdul-Bahá wishes to be known as ‘The Servant of Humanity.’ He seeks no higher station than this, yet when one understands all this means, one realizes the combination of humanity and exaltation which it implies.”4 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed the crowd:

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In past ages it was held that woman and man were not equal— that is to say, woman was considered inferior to man. . . . The idea prevailed universally that it was not allowable for her to step into the arena of important affairs. . . . She was denied the right and privilege of education and left in her undeveloped state. Naturally, she could not and did not advance. In reality, God has created all mankind, and in the estimation of God there is no distinction as to male and female. The one whose heart is pure is acceptable in His sight, be that one man or woman. . . .

The most momentous question of this day is international peace . . . and universal peace is impossible without universal suffrage. Children are educated by the women. The mother bears the troubles and anxieties of rearing the child, undergoes the ordeal of its birth and training. Therefore, it is most difficult for mothers to send to the battlefield those upon whom they have lavished such love and care. . . . So it will come to pass that when women participate fully and equally in the affairs of the world, when they enter confidently and capably the great arena of laws and politics, war will cease; for woman will be the obstacle and hindrance to it. . . .

The purpose, in brief, is this: that if woman be fully educated and granted her rights, she will attain the capacity for wonderful accomplishments and prove herself the equal of man. . . . Both are human; both are endowed with potentialities of intelligence and embody the virtues of humanity. In all human powers and functions they are partners and coequals.5

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According to Ma¥múd, after ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke, “There was great excitement in the audience, and, as in other gatherings, the people were deeply moved and both men and women shook His hand, supplicating for assistance.”6

‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke out in support of women’s rights throughout His travels. He said, “The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly.”7

Women continued working for suffrage throughout World War I, from 1914-1918. They also supported soldiers as nurses on the battlefield and as factory workers at home. This service may have helped men to see them as equals. In early 1919, President Woodrow Wilson spoke in favor of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which would allow women to vote. Finally, in August 1920, the amendment had been approved by 36 of the 48 states then in the union, and it became law. Women across the nation had earned their hard-won right to vote.

“In the estimation of God there is no distinction as to male and female. The one whose heart is pure is acceptable in His sight, be that one man or woman. . . . ”

—‘Abdu’l-Bahá

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