The movement for women's suffrage had its beginnings in 1848 at a Friends meeting in western New York. It received attention in the New York Tribune under Horace Greeley, but failed to gain momentum until Susan B. Anthony devoted her energies to it, beginning in the 1850s.There followed a long, slow effort which did not end until the close of World War I, when women finally broke down the barriers of opposition. The 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, became a part of the Constitution Aug. 26, 1920. The heavy cardboard post card was copyrighted in 1893 (and again in 1911) by Henrietta Briggs-Wall of Hutchinson, Kan. It sold for 5 cents or eight for 25 cents; $2.50 per 100. The legend beneath the picture reads:The American Woman and her Political Peers. In many states women are classed politically with idiots, convicts, the insane and Indians--not allowed to vote. Women do not, however, escape taxation. Taxation without representation is tyranny. Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.The woman in the center of the group is Frances E. Willard, an excellent speaker, dean of women at Northwestern University and president of the WCTU and the National Council of Women in 1888. Kathryn Hanks of Smithville supplied the post card. Kansas City Times, November 28, 1980.
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