Carrie Chapman Catt

Carrie Chapman Catt
Born	(1859-01-09)January 9, 1859 Ripon, Wisconsin
Died	March 9, 1947(1947-03-09) (aged 88) New Rochelle, New York

Carrie Chapman Catt (January 91859 – 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.

History

Catt, born Carrie Lane in Ripon, Wisconsin, spent her childhood in Charles City, Iowa and graduated from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. She became a teacher and then superintendent of schools in Mason City, Iowa in 1883.

In 1885 Catt 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 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.

Catt founded the League of Women Voters in 1920.

Catt was also a leader of the international woman suffrage movement. 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. During this period she was frequently recognized as one of the most prominent female leaders of her time.

Controversy

Beginning around 1913, a conflict was in the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Catt supported those already in power. Her strategy was to support Woodrow Wilson as the country entered World War I. Alice Paul, who would later become the leader of the National Woman's Party (NWP) led a parade to protest Wilson's lack of support for the suffrage movement one day before his inauguration.

In light of these differences, a split developed and the NWP was started.

Catt died of a heart attack in March 1947 at age 88.

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.

Further reading

• Carrie Chapman Catt: A Life of Leadership by Nate Levin. (Full text available here:) [2]

External links

• The Carrie Chapman Catt Girlhood Home and Museum online
• PBS Kids: Women and the Vote [3]
• Information from the Library of Congress [4] [5]
• About.com [6]
• Interesting Timeline showing the different tactics of the National Woman’s Party and the National American Woman Suffrage Association [7]
• Alice Paul Institute [8]
• Carrie Chapman Catt Girlhood Home and Museum [9]
• Biography by Women in History (an organization in Ohio) [10]