Bio of Carrie Chapman Catt--Intro and Chapter 1

Chapter 6

 In 1893, the woman suffrage organization in the state of Colorado arranged for an election to decide if voting right would be granted to women in that state.  The Coloradosuffragists asked for help from the National, but Miss Anthony though they had no chance of winning.  As usual, the National was short of money.  Miss Anthony thought it would be a waste to spend either time or money in Colorado.

            But Carrie was not so sure.  She started writing letters to the Colorado women with suggestions on how to organize their campaign.  As she learned more about the situation inColorado, she began to think they might succeed.  Many of the newspapers in the state supported the suffrage campaign and the political parties weren’t actively working against it. But the campaign needed money and good speakers.  Carrie got Lucy Stone and her husband Henry Blackwell to contribute some money and then Carrie herself went out to campaign inColorado.

            Carrie traveled around the state giving speeches and organizing suffrage clubs.  The mountains and frontier conditions made it a hard job, but Carrie was young, strong and determined.  Wherever she went, the cause of suffrage usually got a big boost.  When the election was held in November, the national organization was thrilled and surprised to find out that the Colorado suffrage campaign had succeeded.  The male voters of Colorado had agreed to change the state constitution to give women the right to vote.  Colorado had become only the second state to grant voting rights to women.  And this was the first time women had fought and won with their own campaign.  Much of the credit rightfully went to Carrie Catt.

            Unfortunately, the next year brought defeats, not more victories.  In New York, a few powerful conservative politicians made sure that the new state constitution would not give voting rights to women.  The national organization then concentrated on Kansas where there was to be an election on suffrage.  All the national leaders went to Kansas to campaign.  Carrie spoke at least once in almost every county in the state.  But two of the three main political parties fought against suffrage.  The economy was very bad and the people were divided and upset.  Carrie had had very good audiences for her speeches and expected the campaign to succeed. Instead, the result of the election was a crushing defeat.

            After a few weeks at home to rest and recover, Carrie joined Miss Anthony in a tour of five southern states.  The cause of suffrage had always been especially weak in the South, but now things were beginning to change there.  Miss Anthony was so famous that many people came to hear her speak.  Sometimes when she wasn’t feeling well, Carrie filled in for her. Everywhere they went, important people invited them into their homes.  And everywhere, Carrie made sure to organize local suffrage clubs.  The tour was a success.

            In February 1895, the National American Woman Suffrage Association held its convention in Atlanta, Georgia.  This was the first time the National had met outside ofWashington, and the meeting received a lot of publicity.

            Miss Anthony asked Carrie to head the committee which would plan the Association’s work for the next year.  The committee presented a report which said that 40 years of activity had not resulted in an effective organization.  It was necessary to have national and state associations working together in a coordinated way.  There had to be specific goals and enough money must be raised to meet those goals.

            The convention agreed that changes were necessary.  A permanent Committee for Organization was formed with Carrie in charge.