Carrie Chapman Catt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Carrie Chapman Catt | |
|---|---|
 A woman suffragist |
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| Born | January 9, 1859 Ripon, Wisconsin |
| Died | March 9, 1947 (aged 88) New Rochelle, New York |
Carrie Chapman Catt (January 9, 1859 – March 9, 1947) was a woman's suffrage leader. She was elected president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) twice; her first term was from 1900 to 1904 and her second term was from 1915 to 1920. Her second term coincided with the climax of the woman suffrage movement in the U.S., and culminated in the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. NAWSA was by far the largest organization working for woman suffrage in the U.S.
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[edit] Biography
She was born Carrie Clinton Lane in Ripon, Wisconsin. Catt spent her childhood in Charles City, Iowa and graduated from Iowa State College, later called Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. She became a teacher and then superintendent of schools in Mason City, Iowa in 1885.
In 1885 Carrie married newspaper editor Leo Chapman, but he died in California soon after. Eventually she landed on her feet but only after some harrowing experiences in the male working world. In 1890, she married George Catt, a wealthy engineer. Their marriage allowed her to spend a good part of each year on the road campaigning for woman's suffrage, a cause she had become involved with in Iowa during the late 1880s. Catt also joined the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
Catt became a close colleague of Susan B. Anthony, who selected Catt to succeed her as head of the NAWSA. Catt led the woman suffrage movement over the next twenty years. From her first endeavors in Iowa in the 1880s to her last in Tennessee in 1920, Catt supervised dozens of campaigns, mobilized numerous volunteers (1 million by the end), and made hundreds of speeches. After the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Catt retired from NAWSA. [1]
Catt founded the League of Women Voters in 1920 as a successor to NAWSA. In the same year, she ran as the Presidential candidate for the Commonwealth Land Party. [2]
Catt was also a leader of the international woman suffrage movement. [3] She helped to found the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) in 1902, serving as its president from 1904 until 1923. The IWSA remains in existence, now as the International Alliance of Women.
Catt was active in anti-war causes during the 1920s and 1930s. She settled in New Rochelle, New York in 1928. During this period she was frequently recognized as one of the most prominent female leaders of her time. Carrie Chapman Catt died in New Rochelle in 1947 and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY.
[edit] See also
- List of people on the cover of Time Magazine: 1920s - 14 Jun. 1926
[edit] Notes
- ^ [Women in Congress, 1917-1990, DIANE Publishing Company, page.208]
- ^ Excerpt from The Corruption of Economics by Mason Gaffney
- ^ [Carrie Chapman Catt: A Life of Leadership,by Nate Levin,page.62]
[edit] References
- Robert Booth Fowler, Carrie Catt: Feminist Politician (1986).
- Jacqueline Van Voris, Carrie Chapman Catt: A Public Life.
- Mary Gray Peck, Carrie Chapman Catt: A Biography.
[edit] Further reading
- Carrie Chapman Catt: A Life of Leadership by Nate Levin. (Full text available here:) [1]
[edit] External links
- The Carrie Chapman Catt Girlhood Home and Museum online, located in Charles City, Iowa
- PBS Kids: Women and the Vote [2]
- Information from the Library of Congress [3] [4]
- About.com [5]
- Interesting Timeline showing the different tactics of the National Woman’s Party and the National American Woman Suffrage Association [6]
- Alice Paul Institute [7]
- Biography by Women in History (an organization in Ohio) [8]
