Attractive, charming Mary Church Terrell, an African American, was recognized as a leading social activist and suffragist in the late 1800s and early 1900s. She earned a bachelor's degree in the Classics in 1884 from Oberlin College in Ohio. She earned her master's degree in education four years later, one of the first two Black women to earn a M.A. degree. She taught school and became a school superintendent. She left that job to study in Europe for two years, becoming fluent in French, German and Italian. Mary returned to America as a journalist, becoming socially active, focusing on the empowerment of Black women. She met Frederick Douglass, a leading Black civil rights activist and worked with him on several campaigns, including anti-lynching.
Her husband, attorney Robert Terrell, was Washington, D.C.'s first Black municipal judge. The couple lived in Washington and Mary became the first president of the National Association of Colored Women. Among the organization's accomplishments were the creation of day nurseries and kindergartens for Black children. Mary also founded the National Association of College Women, which later was renamed the National Association of University Women. As an Oberlin student, Mary was active in suffrage activities. Later she supported the National American Woman Suffrage Association and women having the right to vote. She was a friend of Susan B. Anthony, president of the Association, and developed a friendship with Carrie Chapman Catt, which continued for decades. Mary spoke at some of the Suffrage Association meetings. Most members were very impressed with her talks. However, some members were reluctant to include African American women in their activities and she spoke out about that. Today, the Terrell home in Washington, D.C. has been named a National Historic Landmark.
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One hundred years ago the National American Woman Suffrage Association began winding down its work because it was about to achieve its goal...the right for women to vote in national elections.
President Carrie Chapman Catt and some of her colleagues felt it would be too bad to disband such a large, organized, enthusiastic group of women across the country. Carrie had always felt that next to getting the vote for women was helping educate them on the facts of governing. She wanted the nation to be filled with educated women voters. She urged that the League must be nonpartisan and all partisan. So, the League of Women Voters was founded, encouraging members of the suffrage organization to join. Carrie was asked to lead the group but declined, saying they needed someone younger. Maud Wood Park, well educated on the operations of government due to her work with the suffrage association, became the first chairman. Today, the League works to register voters, provide voters with election information through voter guides as well as candidate forums and debates. In the past it sponsored popular presidential candidate debates seen throughout the country. The league envisions a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge and the confidence to participate. To learn more about how the league works with over 700 state and local leagues to improve our democracy visit the League of Women Voters website. The league's assistance is invaluable as we approach a presidential election in November of this year. LET'S CELEBRATE! On August 26, 1920, American women received the right to vote in national elections. It took many years and a great deal of hard work and sacrifice on the part of thousands of women and their supporters to get that vote.
However, more important than a celebration is being sure you cast a vote in the upcoming November presidential election. You should get out and vote and encourage your friends to join you. As Carrie Chapman Catt said 100 years ago, when the vote was finally ours, "Prize It." In the 1870s Clara Shortridge Foltz was abandoned by her husband in San Jose, California, with five children to feed and support. She began a dress making business but a local sheriff took her sewing machine away to pay her ex-husband’s debts. Clara wanted to sue for the machine’s return but no male lawyer would take her case. She joined the woman suffrage movement as a lecturer and began reading law books on the side.
After a long struggle, Clara became a California lawyer. She presented her idea of having a public defender available to criminal defendants at a meeting of the Board of Lady Managers during the Chicago 1893 World’s Fair. Today, that concept is being used to provide assistance to impoverished criminal defendants across America. In 2002 the Criminal Courts building in Los Angeles was rededicated as the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in honor of California’s first woman attorney. Go to to Learn more about this courageous, fascinating woman on Wikipedia. The Thought Co website put together a fascinating timeline on women's suffrage around the world. Take a look at the "International Women's Suffrage Timeline: 1851-Present."
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