Maryland Women’s Quest for Vote and Voice Organizing, lobbying, demonstrations, jail: Maryland suffragists’ persistent, long march to 19th Amendment ratification By Desiree SmithDaughety
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aryland can trace its women’s suffrage history back to the Colonial era. Margaret Brent, a British colonist who resided in St. Mary’s City, was the first woman in Maryland to receive a land grant. Governor Leonard Calvert made her executor of his estate, and she served as Lord Baltimore’s attorney. In 1648, Brent appeared before the Maryland General Assembly in St. Mary’s City, petitioning for the right to vote in its proceedings. The General Assembly recorded that she “requested to have vote in the house for herself and voice also…” Brent based her claim on being a landowner, and as such, she should enjoy the same right as any male landowner who could vote. Though her petition was denied, Brent’s bold request gave Maryland credit for the suffrage movement’s beginnings in what would become the United States.
The Years Leading to the 19th Amendment Brent’s opening salvo for suffrage faded into silence for more than two centuries. While women’s suffrage activism was not prevalent prior to the Civil War, Maryland was the first state in which a local group, the Maryland Equal Rights Society, was established. Organized by Lavinia Dundore in 1867, the Society pushed to expand an encompassing range of rights, including universal voting rights. The group, comprised of white and black men and women, reached its peak in 1872 when its convention was attended by nationally prominent suffrage activists. The Society disbanded in 1874, possibly disheartened after years of opposition with no traction achieved. Future suffrage groups divided along racial lines but engaged in mostly parallel activism—an ironic contradiction to trailblazing activist Susan B. Anthony’s abolitionist and civil rights’ beliefs. Caroline Hallowell Miller of Sandy Spring breathed life back into the state’s movement in 1889 by establishing and serving as president for the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA). She coordinated efforts with the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), sending state delegates to the national association’s conventions. The Baltimore Suffrage Club was organized in 1894, and Emma Maddox Funck, elected its president in 1897, was also elected MWSA’s president in 1904. Funck served in both roles until the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920, after which she helped launch the Maryland Federation of Republican Women in 1921—a group still active today. The 20th century saw an upsurge in suffrage activism with the emergence of new organizations. These groups held meetings and events throughout the state—including entering a suffrage-themed boat in a local regatta near Annapolis—to bring attention to their quest for voting rights. In addition, their members joined and enlarged NAWSA’s ranks. In 1906, NAWSA held one of its annual conventions in Baltimore at the Lyric Theater, which was attended by national suffrage icons, including whatsupmag.com | August 2020 | What’s Up? Annapolis
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