Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association

The MWSA was founded in 1881 to coordinate statewide and local efforts to obtain universal equal suffrage for women. After the Minnesota legislature ratified the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution in September, 1919, it reorganized to form the Minnesota League of Women Voters.

From the description of Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association records, 1894-1923 [microform]. (Minnesota Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 313842893

The Minnesota Woman, Suffrage Association (MWSA) was founded in Hastings, Minnesota, in 1881. The establishment of this group marked the beginning of a united effort to gain equal suffrage for women in Minnesota. Prior to this time, suffrage was an issue that had met with only sporadic success in Minnesota. Several special laws and an amendment to the state constitution had been passed that permitted women to vote for designated local candidates and issues. This early legislation was enacted in spite of the absence of a systematic organizational effort to promote the suffrage movement on both the state and national levels.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the MWSA adopted a "moderate" approach to achieving equal suffrage. It promoted suffrage by distributing educational literature from suffrage booths at the Minnesota State Fair and at other expositions and by petitioning Minnesota state legislators to introduce suffrage legislation. The MWSA also began to establish local auxiliaries in communities around the state. Although these auxiliaries and other Minnesota suffrage groups shared a common goal, they were not yet linked by a statewide organizational network. Important individuals in the MWSA during this early period included Sarah Burger Stearns, first president, 1881-1883; Julia B. Nelson, fifth president, 1890-1896; Maud Stockwell, eighth president, 1900-1910; Alice Hall, tenth president, 1911-1913; and Harriet E. Bishop.

National woman suffrage groups were restructuring their organizations during this period, and the suffrage movement was gaining momentum. In 1890 the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) merged to become the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). These organizations were founded separately in 1869 when a dispute over strategies split the suffrage movement. The NWSA, a more militant group led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, favored amending the United States Constitution. The AWSA, a more moderate group led by Lucy Stone and Julia Ward, advocated amending state constitutions. Following their merger, the NAWSA adopted a policy of promoting amendments to both the United States Constitution and individual state constitutions. The new national organization adopted the moderate, educational approach to achieving equal suffrage but did not yet have a plan that would unite all suffragists. By 1914 the suffrage cause had not gained many victories. Only six states passed equal suffrage legislation between 1896 and 1914. Suffragists discovered that the lack of a strong organization, difficulty in amending state constitutions, outspoken opposing organizations such as the National Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women, liquor interests, and a continuing division among suffragists themselves hindered the success of the movement both nationally and in the states.

In response to this situation, the NWSA and its state auxiliaries decided to focus their efforts on amending only the United States Constitution and adopted new administrative procedures that unified their organization. The new administrative structure linked the NWSA and its state affiliates in a systematic network that offered efficient communication, consistent funding, and common tactics. Professional organizers traveled around the United States, spending from a few months to several years in a state to organize its suffrage campaign.

In response to this situation, the NWSA and its state auxiliaries decided to focus their efforts on amending only the United States Constitution and adopted new administrative procedures that unified their organization. The new administrative structure linked the NWSA and its state affiliates in a systematic network that offered efficient communication, consistent funding, and common tactics. Professional organizers traveled around the United States, spending from a few months to several years in a state to organize its suffrage campaign.

Suffragists revived the movement by employing new tactics, such as suffrage parades and rallies that brought the suffrage issue into prominent national view and utilized new and existing forms of technology to serve their cause. The automobile enabled suffragists to disseminate information rapidly and to make personal visits to even the most remote areas. Signs on autos advertised "Votes for Women" daily. Suffragists captured the attention of the news as groups of women embarked on cross-country promotional auto tours. Women stunt pilots performed aerial shows; suffrage trains toured the country. The Mississippi Valley Suffrage Association sponsored a suffrage barge that plied its way down the Mississippi River from Minnesota to St. Louis, Missouri, promoting suffrage in towns along the way. Photography illustrated many of these events in various suffrage and other publications.

Under the leadership of Clara (Mrs. Andreas) Ueland, who served as president from 1914 to 1919, the MWSA followed the lead of the NAWSA. In 1915 Minnesota suffragists were encouraged to promote only the national Anthony Amendment to the United States Constitution; all efforts to amend the Minnesota State Constitution were discouraged. Despite these directives, a bill authorizing presidential suffrage was introduced and passed in the Minnesota state legislature in 1919. The MWSA also initiated an administrative reorganization in 1915. The new plan created a statewide network of community and district suffrage groups, organized by legislative district, that would hold regular meetings, recruit new members, distribute literature, lobby legislators, and sponsor fund-raising events. Fund-raising events served two purposes: new members were recruited for suffrage groups, and proceeds from these events were distributed among the local, state, and national organizations to fund their operations. By 1916 several professional organizers, notably Rene E. H. Stevens and Bertha Moller, had been hired to implement the new plan.

Despite the renewed efforts to secure suffrage, some suffragists felt that the movement was hampered by the activities of another suffrage group, the National Woman's Party. This organization, originally called the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, was founded in 1912 by Alice Paul. Its name was changed in 1916 when it was reorganized as a political party. Its members believed that tactics much more militant than those of the NAWSA were necessary to secure suffrage. Demonstrations in front of the White House in 1917 led to the arrest and jailing of women picketers, who refused to pay fines to avoid imprisonment. Their subsequent hunger strike and forced feeding received national news coverage. The NWSA and the MWSA, concerned about their image, officially disassociated themselves from any actual or implied link with the National Woman's Party.

Suffragists also viewed two other events as adverse influences on the success of the movement. Some felt that the entry of the United States into World War I diverted the efforts of some women from suffrage work to wartime social causes. Many suffragists, however, believed that this situation was mitigated by the increased employment of women in jobs formerly held only by men, which helped to improve public attitudes toward women's capabilities. In addition the widespread influenza epidemic of 1918 appeared to be a setback, since suffrage meetings were disrupted for months in Minnesota and elsewhere when all public meetings and gatherings were officially banned.

The so-called Anthony Amendment, which was first introduced in the United States Senate in 1878, finally was passed by Congress in June, 1919. After its passage, suffragists in Minnesota and around the country petitioned governors to call special legislative sessions to ratify the amendment. The Minnesota State Legislature ratified it at a special session held on September 8, 1919. The Anthony Amendment became the nineteenth amendment to the United State Constitution after the Tennessee State Legislature ratified it in August, 1920.

As each state ratified the Anthony Amendment, the NAWSA and its affiliates turned their attention to analyzing the future of the suffrage organizations. The NAWSA concluded that suffrage groups could be of service in educating newly enfranchised women and immigrants in the areas of citizenship and voting. The NAWSA, therefore, was reorganized as the American League of Women Voters (ALWV) at a national convention in St. Louis, Missouri, in March 1919. State organizations followed this lead. On October 28-29, 1919, the MWSA was reorganized into the Minnesota League of Women Voters (MLWV) with Clara Ueland as president.

From the guide to the Association records, [microform]., 1894-1923., (Minnesota Historical Society)