Council. In the president travels to minnesota to give remarks on the economy live at 3 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. In 1840 eight, convention was held in seneca falls, new york, discussed the state of womens rights in the country. This was the beginning of the womens Suffrage Movement. 1920 four women to earn the right to vote. During those years, would form,s creating a national movement. It was women in every community who led the effort in their towns and states to amend rights. Some ofintroduce you to these women who dedicated their lives to this cause. You will learn why western territories in states where on the leading edge of the movement. And you will hear how a letter from a mother to her son would lead to the ratification of the 19th amendment, giving women the rights to vote. York,in in syracuse, new where an author talks about one of the movementss known figures, Lucretia Mott. She was born on the island of nantucket. But she lived most of her life in philadelphia. That was the city from which she based her activism. It stretched across the u. S. And the atlantic. She defined herself as a feminist and a womens rights activist. Commitment to womens rights to her child. It was a Community Based on the whaling industry. On men would usually go off years long voyages. A lot of them ran businesses. Andns independence capability was selfevident. Quakers were the first denomination to allow women to preach. She had already seen female ministers. A minister in 1821. She got married to her husband in 1811. There was nothing to indicate that she would become a great activist. She eventually had six children who lived to adulthood. She became a quaker minister. None of this was unusual. The key moment in her life that turned her into an activist was a controversy in the society of friends. This happened in the 1820s. Into two competing, hostile groups, known as the hicksite and the orthodox quakers. Lucretia mott was a Hicksite Quaker named after their leader, elias hicks. The hicksites were one of the issues that they focused on was that they believed that the leadership of the society of friends had become complacent on the issue of slavery. So Lucretia Mott puts a lot of pressure on him, actually, to give up that business and eventually, he became a wool merchant by 1830. That was a radicalizing decade for her. She would speak on womens issues and antislavery issues when she became a minister. That was a formative period for her. But i think in the early 1830s in philadelphia, philadelphia had the largest population of three blacks in the north. Lucretia mott would have interacted them in free produce societies, for example, and probably tried to speak in africanamerican churches and otherwise connected with them. There were a lot of race riots in philadelphia in the early 1830s. So the intensity of northern racism was very visible to her, and so, when she attended the founding meeting of the American Antislavery Society in 1833, and then, thereafter founded the philadelphia female antislavery society, she believed their goal should not only be fighting slavery but also racial prejudice. It was a twopronged approach. One of the things she did frequently, whenever she met a slaveholder, as she did when she was traveling abroad or around the United States, she would often speak in delaware, virginia and slaveholding states, kentucky, she would engage, she would try to convince that slaveholder that slavery was wrong. You know . Rather than being polite or you know, just tolerating this lady, poking them in the ribs, she seemed to have had some individual, personal success. She set this one slaveholder i met told me to send him some pamphlets when i got home and i will send him some pamphlets. I think, again, she was not afraid of confrontation and engagement, and she was going to try to persuade people that slavery was wrong no matter where she was and who they were. Lucretia mott was not interested in politics or the political process, but she did speak on multiple occasions in washington, d. C. , and at one point, she was supposed to speak in congress, but because she would not agree not to talk about slavery, if that is clear, they would not let her speak. So, she spoke at a Unitarian Church and all sorts of politicians, including congressmen attended. Of course, she spoke about slavery, because that is what she was compelled to speak about. During that trip to washington, d. C. In 1843, she also met president tyler and his line about Lucretia Mott was, you know, i think i will turn mr. Calhoun over to you, you can negotiate with john c. Calhoun for me. Lucretia mott first met Elizabeth Stanley in when they met, they met in sort of an unlikely place which was at the worlds Antislavery Convention in london, england in 1840. Two americans meeting in london. They had other connections, but Lucretia Mott was there as a delegate from various american antislavery societies. She was there to attend the convention. Elizabeth cady stanton was there on her honeymoon. She had just married an abolitionist named henry stanton. For her, it was a European Tour rather than a political journey. The two women instantly connected. Elizabeth cady stanton later described Lucretia Mott as a revelation of womanhood. She said i did not know it was possible for women to be so outspoken and independent. She really became an admirer of Lucretia Mott. Elizabeth cady stanton refer to Lucretia Mott as the moving spirit of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. It was a label Lucretia Mott rejected. She said elizabeth, you should claim that for yourself. But it was the fact that Lucretia Mott was in the area that the convention was held and her presence was advertised to draw attendees. Her sister lived in auburn, new york, which was not far from seneca falls, so she would come up to this part of the country regularly. When she came up in 1848, she was engaged in a number of activities. She attended an annual quaker meeting. The genesee early meeting. She traveled to ontario, canada, to visit former slaves, american slaves who had fled to canada. She went to the seneca reservation and witnessed them writing their constitution. She is actually engaging very in all of these interesting activities in the summer of 1848, native american rights, africanamerican rights, and womens rights. Before the Seneca Falls Convention in july, 1848, she meets up with her old friend, Elizabeth Cady stanton and other quakers in the area. They decide to hold this convention devoted to women, and the civil condition, and they advertised that Lucretia Mott will be there and she will be the principal speaker. Once a newspaper called her a grizzled speaker of the movement. That she had somehow shed her femininity by engaging in activism. But the womens rights movement, the Antislavery Movement held her up as a paragon of womanhood. They said Lucretia Mott is an example that you can do both, be an excellent wife, mother, grandmother, and have a public life, be an activist. For her, the activism and the family life blended seamlessly because her husband was also an abolitionist and active in a lot of the same organizations she was. He attended the first Womens Rights Convention in seneca falls and shared the convention chaired the convention. And her children also became involved in the philadelphia antislavery society. And other organizations for womens rights and womens suffrage in philadelphia. In many ways, her activism was a family affair. There was not a lot of conflict. At her funeral, someone said silence is appropriate for a quaker funeral, but someone said, who can speak . The preacher is dead. That is how much of a void had been left by Lucretia Motts death, because she always had something to say. I think that made her in some ways too good. She has become almost what Elizabeth Cady stanton made her, almost a saint. And in actuality, she was a deeply radical person for her time and was not afraid to speak her beliefs. In 1869 in new york city, Elizabeth Cady stanton and Susan B Anthony founded the National WomensSuffrage Association for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to vote. However, much of the womens movements early progress came in the west. In oregon, duniway, who established a prosuffrage newspaper became active in the movement after her husbands business failed. Benjamin duniway was a good husband and father to the children. He did not have may be the level of business skills that somebody should have in managing a farm. Because of his kindness and generosity, he cosigned a loan for a friend, and the friend defaulted on that loan, and as a result, the duniways lost their farm. That was in the mid1860s. After that, benjamin was involved in a farming accident, and he became disabled. It therefore fell to abigail to become the breadwinner for the family. She did some teaching, again, but eventually decided to move down to albany, oregon, a little town further south in the willamette valley, and she set up a milliner shop, a hat shop. Apparently, she was quite successful in that business. She even traveled to San Francisco to get supplies for her business. But an important thing happened when she interacted with the women who came into her shop. She became aware of difficulties in their lives. The head no life, no standing in the community. They could not own property. They were dependent on their husbands and their husbands goodwill to lead a good life, and she saw a lot of women suffering because of that. At one point she realized, if women could vote, they could enact change themselves and change lives to benefit all women and all people. So, she turned her attention to the Suffrage Movement. She moved her family back to portland in the 1870s. Her first effort was to start her own newspaper. That was called the new northwest. This was the vehicle she used to communicate about her suffrage efforts. And the whole family, many members of her family were involved in producing this newspaper. One of her sons was a printer. It was kind of like a family enterprise. She communicated through the new northwest. That was important part of for developing skill in becoming a suffrage leader in the northwest. She also communicated with National Suffrage leaders. In 1871, she coordinated a visit by Susan B Anthony out to the west and traveled with her on a speaking tour in california. In very short order, i think it is very remarkable, in very short order, she all of a sudden had significant standing and presence in the Suffrage Movement. Harvey scott was her brother. He traveled with the family on the oregon trail. Apparently, he had been abusive to his siblings, and there are accounts of him beating up the sisters. He kind of continued that tradition. When the family came to oregon, eventually, he became an editor at the portland oregonian, the largest newspaper in oregon and one of the largest in the pacific northwest. And he was an antisuffragist. So, he wrote editorials against suffrage. So, in a way, he continued to beat up on abigail, even as they were adults. In the 1900 campaign, i believe suffrage wouldve passed had it not been for harvey scotts editorials in the portland oregonian. If you tabulate the number of votes cast, primarily in multnomah county, it was really what blocked the passage of suffrage that year. Here is a letter abigail is writing to her son clyde this is the 1900 campaign and they are waiting for the returns to come in, and she says my dear clyde, last night, after anxious waiting for returns, during which the oregonian and your mad uncle have subjected the women of oregon to every form of insult with the four counties we depend on. She says, i was quite sick until i got the returns. Despite the abuse of the oregonian, now i will set the coward up she was referring to her brother, harvey. Change came about in a way that measures could be presented to the citizenry for voting. Initially, when duniway started out on her campaign work, she used what she called the still hunt, which was to quietly get in good with the men who had been elected to the oregon legislature. She would curry their favor and she did it quietly because she did not want to stir the opposition. That resulted in the measure for womens suffrage to be presented on the ballot. And each time, it was defeated. In oregon, suffrage was presented six times, more than any other state. But eventually, during the progressive movement, a particular person wanted to change that process. He advocated for a referendum system that all the states now use. Its called the oregon system. That way, people could gain support for measures by getting enough signatures, and then it would be presented to the voters. By the time suffrage was passed in oregon, duniways technique was not effective because it was not necessary. Eventually, there were many other women who came forward to carry on the campaign, one woman in particular spearheaded the effort. It was largely through their effort and the use of more modern campaign techniques, like mass mailings, storefront campaign shops, marching in parades, more radical techniques like that really pushed it over and managed to pass suffrage in 1912 in oregon. When suffrage was passed in 1912, duniway you know, she was often bedridden during the 1912 campaign when suffrage passed. She wasnt effective, but she had been working for suffrage for 42 years by that time. She had devoted her life to this cause. And people feted her. She was celebrated when suffrage finally passed. Which was really great. A lot of people sent congratulatory telegrams to her. Here are some examples. To ms. Abigail scott duniway, congratulations on the triumph of justice. This one from medford. The medford equal Justice Association offers you congratulations. Your many days of effort for the cause of women may be crowned with success. This was sent before the vote. This was in october and the vote was in november. We sincerely congratulate the women of oregon upon their new citizenship. This wonderful victory must help us to success in the future, from the cleveland womens suffrage party. Send love and congratulations to our dearest trailblazer who has made its dawning possible. The congratulations poured in. Its just so wonderful that she lived long enough to see suffrage passed in oregon, and she voted. She was able to vote in multnomah county, which was pretty special. We have in the collection a scrapbook that duniway kept during her years as a suffrage leader. It has some photographs in it. It includes some lectures. It also includes things like some correspondence and newspaper clippings that she kept. This is also a really great resource for any researcher who wants to study the topic of the history of suffrage in oregon or about duniways life. In her pursuit for suffrage in oregon, Abigail Scott duniway would travel throughout the northwest to meet with fellow suffragists. One of her stops was in the home of daniel and Elizabeth Bigelow in washington. They would work to bring suffrage to washington in 1910. We are at the bigelow house on the east side of olympia, one of the citys oldest homes. It was built in 1860. It was built by daniel and Elizabeth White bigelow. Both came over the oregon trail in the early 1850s. When Daniel Bigelow arrived in olympia, he set up his law practice and was evidently a great orator as well. He was called upon in july of 1852. He is credited with spurring the development of a separate territory of washington from oregon. Washington became a separate territory from oregon in 1853, and Daniel Bigelow was elected to the first legislative session held here in olympia. We know that daniel and elizabeth were both active in the campaign for Voting Rights for women. This is the chair where Susan B Anthony sat when she came to the house in 1871. She and Abigail Scott duniway, the oregon suffragist, were on a swing through the pacific northwest. She had dinner here at the bigelow house. We know that from her diary where she called misses bigelow splendid. At the time, there was a lot of advocacy for womens right to vote. He gave a landmark speech about womens suffrage. He said if i understand the principles of self government. Man has no more right to say a woman shall or shall not vote than a woman has to say of man. As a matter of natural right, i know of no valid argument to deny franchise to women anymore than man. In our form of government, the more universal the right of franchise, the greater the security to individual rights. In 1871, Susan B Anthony addressed the Territorial Legislature. She and the bigelows, along with the other suffragists, worked together to form the very First Washington territory womens Suffrage Association, and they held their convention here in olympia in november of 1871. This really set a wonderful framework for advocacy for women to gain the right to vote. And the territory enacted womens right to vote in washi