Women's Suffrage - 100 Years of the Right to Vote

On June 26, 1913, the State of Illinois approved women’s suffrage. Illinois was one of many states to approve women’s right to vote in advance of the 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on August 18, 1920, which granted all women the right to vote in all elections.

Suffrage pageant featuring German actress, Hedwig Reicher as "Columbia" in front of 

U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., March 13, 1913. (Library of Congress)

Before women received the right to vote, they were considered second-class citizens with limited rights and privileges, and were beholden to their husbands. It was the Anti-Slavery Movement of the early 1800s that spurred progressive-minded women, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), to begin a women’s rights movement.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 

prominent civil rights and women's rights leaders. 

(Library of Congress)

In 1848, Stanton held a convention in Seneca Falls, NY to discuss the “social, civil and religious rights of women.” This was the official beginning of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) joined the movement in 1850, and became a central figure. Anthony was famously arrested for trying to vote for Ulysses S. Grant for president in 1872.

In the "Portrait and Biographical Album for Lake County, Illinois" 1891, each man's church and political affiliations are listed, but for their wives only a church affiliation, since their political views were inconsequential without the right to vote. The sketch for Mark Bangs of Wauconda notes: "In politics he was a Whig and cast his first Presidential vote for William Henry Harrison... Both he and his wife [Clarissa Hubbard Bangs] are faithful members of the Baptist Church of Wauconda." 

Anti-Women's Suffrage postcard, circa 1918. 

Even George Washington got in on the act! (Curt Teich Company postcard BB302)

The Suffrage Movement spread, and in 1910, chapter houses of the American Woman’s League were built in North Chicago and Zion, Illinois. The league worked to “advance, protect and uplift American womanhood,” and spun off into the American Woman’s Republic, which educated women about government in preparation for when they had the right to vote.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett, circa 1893.

African-American journalist and activist, Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931), fought for women's suffrage and civic education. In order to ensure the rights of Black women, Wells-Barnett worked to make them aware of their rights and established the Alpha Suffrage Club in January 1913 for African American women in the Chicago area. She encouraged women of color to become involved in politics. 

The club sent Wells-Barnett and followers to the national suffrage parade in Washington, D.C. in early March 1913. To their dismay, they were asked to march at the back of the parade or not at all. Segregating the marchers was a strategic move to win the support of Southern states who opposed having more black voters on the rolls.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett marching with the Illinois delegation at the suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., March 1913. Capper's Weekly (Topeka, KS) August 1, 1914, pg. 3

Unable to gain support from the white Illinois delegation, Wells-Barnett refused to march. Halfway through the parade, she mustered her strength and took her rightful place with the Illinois delegates, completing the march between two white supporters. 

A leading activist, Grace Wilbur Trout (1864-1955) was president of the Chicago Political Equality League, which published pamphlets and circulated petitions to lobby the state legislature to grant women voting rights.  When she became president of the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association, the organization started focusing on creating local organizations and lobbying individual legislators. 

Grace Wilbur Trout, 1913. (Library of Congress)

Trout mobilized a public show of support in getting Illinois's partial suffrage bill passed. The bill permitted women to vote for "Presidential elections and for all local offices not specifically name in the Illinois Constitution," but not for state representatives, congressional representatives, or governor. The bill passed on June 11 (83 votes for and 58 votes against) and was signed by Governor Dunne on June 26, 1913.

The new law made Illinois the first state east of the Mississippi River to grant women the right to vote for President of the United States. 

Interestingly, the first woman to vote in Illinois in a town election did so twenty-two years before the Illinois law was passed. In 1891, Ellen Martin of Lombard noticed that the town's charter did not mention gender as a factor in who could vote. After she and 14 other women voted in that year's elections, the charter was quickly amended. 

Clara Colby of Libertyville, 

the first woman to legally vote in Illinois.

Courtesy of the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society. 

On July 5, 1913, Clara A. Colby (1878 - 1962) became the first woman to legally vote in Illinois, casting her historic ballot for a new town hall in Libertyville. Colby said, “I’m a very happy woman to have had this opportunity.” 

Headline from the "Chicago Tribune," the day after Clara Colby's historic vote. (above)

The paper noted that Clara's husband, Wayne Colby, was very proud of her. He was quoted as saying: "Just to show that it is not such a terrible thing for a man to stay at home and do the housework on the occasional voting day."

Anti-Women's Suffrage postcard, circa 1918. Men at home doing the laundry and 

looking after babies was a prominent theme of naysayers. (Teich Postcard Archives, BB342)

After returning home briefly, Clara Colby went back out to encourage more women to vote. She spoke to women on the street telling them, "Do go and vote. I don't care if you vote in favor of the new hall or against."

Daisy E. Morse (1876 - 1946) headed a delegation of half a dozen women who applied for ballots. She was quoted in the paper: "My husband told me not to vote, but you see I am here."

Libertyville's Mayor Schnaebele's wife and daughter, Caroline and Della, preferred to finish their morning housework before casting their vote. The paper noted, "They were on hand first thing in the afternoon and cast a ballot in favor of the new town hall."

The Tribune noted that Clara Colby "more than hinted that the balance of power rested in their [women's] hands and the men had best take care and keep Libertyville clean or the women would show their strength and make demands."

Commemorative plaque at Clara Colby's gravesite, Lakeside Cemetery, Libertyville, Illinois. 

Joseph T. Bowen Country Club, Waukegan

One of Chicago's great civic leaders, Louise DeKoven Bowen (1859-1953), left the legacy of Bowen Park in Waukegan.

Louise DeKoven Bowen (1859 - 1953). Online source. 

Bowen's career as a social reformer began in 1893 when Jane Addams asked her to join the Hull House Woman's Club. The two women shared many values, including women’s suffrage and children's health. Bowen became one of Addams’ key benefactors.

The 19th century saw a myriad of social reform movements, including those centered on temperance, and the needs of poor working families. Among these Progressive movements was Hull House, founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gages Starr on Chicago’s near west side.

Hull House became a center of social reform and cultural activity for immigrant women and children. Hull House also led the way for the first juvenile court in the United States, woman's suffrage, national child labor laws, and workers' compensation.

By 1896, Louise DeKoven Bowen had become a trustee and the treasurer for Hull House. In 1911, when her husband Joseph T. Bowen died, she volunteered to endow a park in his memory to expand Hull Houses's reach. Louise purchased 72-acres north of Waukegan for $29,000.

Louise DeKoven Bowen with "campers" at the Bowen Country Club.
Photo courtesy of the Waukegan Park District. 

The Joseph T. Bowen Country Club fulfilled Jane Addams’ longtime dream of giving city children a taste of summer in the country. The summer camp provided a country setting where disadvantaged mothers and children from the Taylor and Halstead area of Chicago could come.

Every two weeks during the summer “campers” arrived at the Bowen Country Club. There, they were given relief from noise, pollution, and fear of the city streets, and taught to respect each other and the environment.

One camp counselor recalled that “in a setting of great beauty, people of many races, religions and ethnic backgrounds lived, worked, played, ate, sang and danced together in an atmosphere of harmony and joy.”

Celebrating the Fourth of July at the Bowen Country Club, circa 1920.
Collections of the University of Illinois at Chicago

Over 40,000 women and children benefited from summer stays at the Bowen Country Club, which operated from 1912 to 1962.

After Jane Addams died in 1935, Louise DeKoven Bowen became president of the Hull House Association. Bowen continued her work for women's suffrage until her death at the age of 94.

In 1963, the Waukegan Park District purchased the Bowen Country Club, and in 1978 the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Bowen Park's beautiful country setting also includes the Jack Benny Center of the Arts and the Waukegan History Museum.

Beatrice Pearce, M.D.

Beatrice Pearce (1866 - 1948) was one of the first women doctors in Lake County, and one of the first doctors in the frontier town of Ketchikan, Alaska.

Beatrice Pearce, circa 1899. Dunn Museum, 92.24.294.

In 1847, Beatrice's father, Dr. William S. Pearce, immigrated from England. He settled in Chicago and opened a drug store on N. Clark Street. He married Mary Grace Copp in 1853. 

By 1855, Dr. Pearce moved to Waukegan, "Because the ground [in Chicago] was swampy." He re-established his drug store at Genesee and Washington Streets.

The first Pearce house (above) was located at 509 Julian Street, Waukegan.
Dunn Museum 94.14.30.2
It is believed that William S. Pearce had this house built, circa 1855.
Beatrice was born here in January 1866.
In 1881, her father purchased the former Dr. Kellogg house
at 320 Julian Street, where the Pearce's lived until 1922. 

After graduating from Waukegan High School, Beatrice attended the Woman's Hospital Medical College in Chicago from 1883 to 1887. Since her father and brother were doctors, it is likely that Beatrice had a good deal of support as she pursued a medical career. Typically, women faced discrimination and other barriers to becoming a doctor. By the end of the 19th century, about 5% (over 7,000) of all doctors in the United States were women. 

After graduating with her medical degree, Beatrice set up her own practice, specializing in diseases of women and children. Her practice was located above the Pearce Drug Store on Genesee Street. She lived with her parents on Julian Street. The Pearce Drug Store was founded by her father in 1855, and later operated by her brother, Dr. William W. Pearce.

Pearce family listings in Waukegan city directory for 1897-1898.
Beatrice is shown as a physician and her father W.S. as retired. 

In addition to her medical practice, Beatrice was a suffragette. In March 1897, she attended a Woman Suffrage convention in Waukegan, but the event had low participation due to a blizzard. Still, the women organized a local suffrage association, consisting of 30 members, and Beatrice became its treasurer. 

In 1908, Beatrice met Dr. George E. Dickinson, while attending a medical convention in Chicago. They married later that year. Dickinson (1870 - 1956) had immigrated from England and was practicing medicine in Ketchikan, Alaska. He took his new bride to Ketchikan where they practiced together for nearly 40 years.

Postcard of Ketchikan, Alaska, 1918. Curt Teich Co. postcard A74192. 

When Beatrice arrived in Ketchikan, she found a frontier town with a population of approximately 1,600. It was pioneer country compared to the bustle of Waukegan with a population of 16,000, in addition to the nearby metropolis of Chicago. Ketchikan got its start in 1883 with the establishment of salmon fishing and canning, and later mining and timber companies. Today, it's known as the Salmon Capital of the World, and salmon and tourism are the foundation of the local economy.

Beatrice and George had no children. They devoted their lives to the well-being of the residents of Ketchikan.

Beatrice passed away March 16, 1948 and is buried in Bayview Cemetery, Ketchikan. Memorial services were held in Waukegan on April 1, 1948, and conducted in the Masonic temple by the Waukegan chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, to which Beatrice had belonged since 1892.

- Diana Dretske, Curator ddretske@lcfpd.org

Sources: 
Lake County History Archives/Lake County Discovery Museum. 
Curt Teich Postcard Archives/Lake County Discovery Museum.

"Woman Suffrage Work at Waukegan," Chicago Tribune March 24, 1897.

Waukegan City Directory 1897-98, Vol. II, Whitney Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois. 

"Dr. B.P. Dickinson Memorial Rites Will Be Conducted April 1," Chicago Tribune March 25, 1948.

"Dr. Dickinson Dies in Alaska," Waukegan News-Sun, 1948.
"Waukegan: A History" by Ed Link, Waukegan Historical Society, 2009. 
Mommd.com - MomMD is a leading online magazine, community and association for women in medicine. 

Census records

Family records on Ancestry.com