{"id":22316,"date":"2010-04-13T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2010-04-13T15:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=22316"},"modified":"2011-08-08T01:43:50","modified_gmt":"2011-08-08T06:43:50","slug":"guest-post-how-suffragist-postcards-got-out-the-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2010\/04\/13\/guest-post-how-suffragist-postcards-got-out-the-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"How Suffragist Postcards Got Out the Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

Considering what obvious justice suffrage for women was, it\u2019s surprising that it took 62 years from the birth of the U.S. suffrage movement to come up with an equally simple way of making the case. But in 1910, the National American Woman Suffrage Association<\/a> distilled their best arguments into one-paragraph gems printed on postcards. Their \u201cThink It Over\u201d series proved to be not only an excellent consciousness-raiser but fundraiser as well, since NAWSA received a commission on each card sold. Here\u2019s a particularly insightful one:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some other sample sayings on these postcards:<\/p>\n

The Declaration of Independence was the direct result of taxation without representation. Either exempt WOMAN from taxation or grant her the right of Equal Suffrage. What is sauce for the GANDER is sauce for the Goose.<\/p>\n

Woman, if granted the right of Equal Suffrage, would not endeavor to pass new laws for the benefit of WOMAN only. She would work and vote with MAN on all legislation. \u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

WOMAN should not condemn MAN because she has not the right of franchise\u2013rather condemn parents for having trained their sons since the beginning of time, in the belief that MAN only is competent to vote.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, suffragists didn\u2019t rely entirely on gentle logic. At the bottom of each card was the phrase, \u201cAn ounce of persuasion precedes a pound of coercion.\u201d Symbolism was employed as well. In the upper left corner was a shield of stars and stripes shown as having a dark spot in the center, labeled \u201cThe ballot is denied to woman\u201d with \u201cThe blot on the escutcheon\u201d inscribed underneath.<\/p>\n

Though people today generally associate black and white images and grim determination with the suffragists, here\u2019s proof from 1916 that they could be colorful and whimsical:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The disarming image of a child was common and popular, as above and below. The following image from 1913 was created by\u00a0 Bernhardt C. Wall<\/a> (1872-1956), an exception to the rule that most postcard artists labored anonymously:<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

No doubt the suffragists were well ahead of their time, but the card that follows from about 1916 is unusually far-sighted. (Of course, Victoria Woodhull had already run for president in 1872 on the Equal Rights Party ticket.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lots of adults were expressing similar sentiments in 1914, when the card below was in circulation. On May 2, 1914, there were more than 1,000 coordinated demonstrations, parades and rallies nationwide, and that same year the all-male Senate took its first vote on a suffrage amendment since 1887. (It gained a majority, 35-34, but was still well short of the 2\/3 required). Of course, the term most suffrage workers in the U.S. preferred for themselves was \u201csuffragist,\u201d because \u201csuffragette\u201d was originally used by opponents in Britain and then the U.S. as a derisive term implying \u201clittle voter,\u201d or to give the false impression that all supporters of woman suffrage were female. But in this case it seems uniquely appropriate, since it\u2019s a cute little girl with a ballot in her hand.\u00a0 The postcard was sent as a Valentine on February 12, 1914 from \u201cMarjorie\u201d to \u201cGeorge\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, this still-appropriate postcard, issued in Great Britain in 1909 by the Women Writers\u2019 Suffrage League<\/a>, shows a woman being pulled away from \u201cJustice\u201d by \u201cPrejudice.\u201d The WWSL was founded in June, 1908, by playwright Cicely Hamilton and novelist Bessie Hatton \u201cto obtain the vote for women on the same terms as it is or may be granted to men. Its methods are those proper to writers\u2013the use of the pen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today we might say \u201cthe use of the blog,\u201d but the message still rings true !<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

All postcards are from David Dismore\u2019s personal collection.<\/em><\/p>\n

———————————-<\/p>\n

David Dismore is a television news archivist and feminist history researcher for the Feminist Majority Foundation.\u00a0 As a teenager he was inspired by\u00a0a photo and a few paragraphs about the suffragists in his high school history textbook in Greenville, Ohio.\u00a0 The post below,\u00a0originally published at Ms. magazine<\/a>, looks at some of the propaganda that helped earn U.S. women the vote.\u00a0You can read more from David at Feminism 101<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you would like to write a post for Sociological Images, please see our\u00a0Guidelines for Guest Bloggers<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Considering what obvious justice suffrage for women was, it\u2019s surprising that it took 62 years from the birth of the U.S. suffrage movement to come up with an equally simple way of making the case. But in 1910, the National American Woman Suffrage Association distilled their best arguments into one-paragraph gems printed on postcards. Their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12508,8070,55,2095,2102,2094,253,85],"class_list":["post-22316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-activismsocial-movements","tag-artliterature","tag-gender","tag-gender-feminismactivism","tag-gender-history","tag-gender-politics","tag-history","tag-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22316"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38380,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22316\/revisions\/38380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}