The Mahoning Dispatch (Canfield), August 16, 1912

SUFFRAGISTS ARE MOBBED

Women Flee After Banana Skins, Chicken Bones, Lemon Rinds and Other Garbage Are Hurled.

     Dayton, O., Aug. 14. - Dayton policemen and firemen, on their annual outing, mobbed five women suffragists who attempted to talk to the men on the question of votes for women.

     Miss Margaret Foley of Boston mounted a table and was in full swing when a loaf of bread knocked off her hat. She continued to speak, but the noise about her became so loud that she could not be heard. Then a ham sandwich landed on her cheek. She talked on. Finally banana skins, chicken bones, lemon rinds and other refuse from the table came in a regular torrent. That was too much for even an ardent suffragist of the militant brand. She retired.

 
The Mahoning Dispatch first debuted in 1877 and was based in Canfield, a rural area around Youngstown. The paper was originally created out of concern that the growing industrial city of Youngstown would fail to notice the largely rural area of Mahoning county. For this reason, The Mahoning Dispatch focused on local issues, and maintained a rural demeanor. When Henry Manning Fowler first published the paper, he stated that The Mahoning Dispatch would be non-partisan in politics and would not be associated with any political faction or religion.

The women suffragists mentioned in the article had asked to speak to the policemen and firemen about supporting the right for woman suffrage. The women had even waited until after the main events of the picnic had concluded. According to another article on the event, as soon as Miss Margaret Foley began talking the policemen and firemen began yelling and throwing garbage at Miss Foley, with the chiefs watching. Margaret Foley was a prominent Irish Catholic suffragist from Boston, Massachusetts. She was a member of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association and after speaking in front many audiences, Foley earned the nickname, “The Grand Heckler”. She traveled to many states in 1912, including Ohio, in order to continue promoting suffrage.

After the events of the article, Harriet Taylor Upton, the current president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association in 1912, commented on the policemen and firemen's attack on the women suffragists. Upton, a prominent suffragist from Ravenna, Ohio, stated that the event was a stigma on the city of Dayton’s honor. She also pointed out that the policemen and firemen were attacking honorable women whose taxes pay their salaries, adding to the dishonor of the officers actions.

Written by Katrina Neff, Class of 2022

The Greenville Journal, October 29, 1914

WETS AND DRYS UNITED

SPOKE FROM SAME PLATFORM IN TOLEDO FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE.

    The novelty of “wets” and “drys” both pleading the woman suffrage cause from the same platform has been witnessed by a Toledo audience.

    The chairman of the mass meeting was Aaron B. Gabriel, a prominent temperance advocate, and the first speaker, Miss Elaine Jack, took up the question somewhat from a “dry” standpoint.

    Ex-Senator Frank Hillenkamp was then introduced and said bluntly: “I believe in the open saloon, and I am sure women will prefer that kind of a saloon to the kind that exists in violation of the law.

    “However, this has nothing to do with the suffrage question. Women are asking the ballot for the same reason that men want it. They should be granted it as a matter of simple right.”

    Miss Beatrice Vaughn, representing the woman labor unions, closed the meeting. She wore an apron to symbolize her position and pleaded for economic conditions which would not compel the women to invade men’s sphere in factories and offices. “Put the cradle back in the home,” pleaded Miss Vaughn. “Women will do it, if they can have their way.”  

In 1914 there was a great meeting of people in Toledo, Ohio, from both sides of the temperance argument who came together to rally for women’s suffrage. The first of the speakers was Elaine Jack who was a temperance supporter. The second was Frank Hillenkamp who was a former senator of the Ohio General Assembly. Hillenkamp was born in Germany in 1849 and moved to the United States in 1869. He settled in Toledo, Ohio, in 1871 where he engaged in various business. In 1905 he ran as an independent for Representative to the 77th General Assembly of Ohio. He won despite having no endorsement from either political party. He would lose in the polls in 1908, and then would again be nominated by the Independents and won in the 1910 election, this time being endorsed by the Democrats. In 1912, Hillenkamp would run as a Democrat for a Senator seat in the 80th General Assembly. He would be victorious against the opposing Republican and Bull Moose candidates. Hillenkamp was active in many progressive movements including the Women’s Suffrage movement. He was opposed to the temperance movement, but not to the Suffragists whom he supported at the meeting in Toledo. The last to speak was Beatrice Vaughn who represented the woman labor unions. The first female led labor union in Ohio was the Female Protective Union which was established in 1850 to fight for better conditions for women garment workers. It would start its own garment shop in 1851 which sported shorter hours and higher pay than the other clothing stores, however it would be shut down soon after due to the other stores working to run it out of business. The Female Protective Union would disband shortly after.

The Stark Couty Democrat (Canton), October 10, 1902

CANTON WOMAN

Honored at Convention of Ohio Woman’s Suffrage Association in Cleveland.

     At the seventh annual convention of the Ohio Woman’s Suffrage association, which opened yesterday in Cleveland, Mrs. E. M. Hall, of Canton, was given a position on the committee on courtesies. Mrs. Sue S. Roach, of Alliance, was honored by a place on the committee on finance. Mrs. Alice Danner Jones will deliver an address before the convention.

The Stark County Democrat, was distributed weekly in the Ohio city of Canton within Stark County. This newspaper ran from 1833 until 1912. The Ohio Woman’s Suffrage Association (OWSA) was a group founded in 1885 as a way for women to organize throughout the state of Ohio for suffrage. At the time of this newspaper’s release, the group’s primary focus was on laws at the local and state levels. The OWSA held this convention in Cleveland in 1902 beginning on October 9, 1902, the day prior to the release of this newspaper article. This convention’s guests included Susan B. Anthony who was honored there. Little is known of Mrs. Sue S. Roach outside of what is mentioned of her in this newspaper clipping. There were a variety of individuals named Mr. Roach, but with my research using various historical documents and records, I failed to verify which one she may have been married to or whether she had been married at all. Prior to this convention, Mrs. Eleanor Millar Hall, addressed in the article as Mrs. E. M. Hall, was recognized in the meeting minutes on June 3, 1901 for a suffrage convention that was led by Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, so she had some connections with individuals leading the suffrage movement in the years that followed. Mrs. Alice Danner Jones resided in Canton, Ohio, and she was related to and friends with President William McKinley’s wife, Ida, so she too had connections with lots of power and influence. Danner Jones gave lectures, was well educated, a writer, and involved with her church. A book she wrote entitled “A McKinley Romance” talked about President McKinley falling in love with and marrying his wife, Danner Jones’s relative. 

Written by Hannah Reikowsky, Class of 2021

The Mahoning Dispatch (Canfield), February 14, 1919

POMERENE ON SUFFRAGE

     A resolution has been introduced in the Ohio legislature asking the two Ohio senators, Pomerene and Harding, to vote for the women’s suffrage amendment now before the national congress. It is hoped thus to induce Mr. Pomerene to vote for the amendment’s submission. Without any regard to his personal feelings in the matter of women’s suffrage, Senator Pomerene has been influenced by the votes of the people of Ohio, he states. To the writer he recently stated that on three occasions during the last few years the people of Ohio had turned down women’s suffrage by direct votes when such amendment was submitted to them, by votes running as high as 170,000 against. The senator takes the position that he is not representing Pomerene in the senate, but the people of the state, and he would be misrepresenting them if he voted for the suffrage measure. The Patriot has always stood for suffrage, but it is fair enough to see the justification of Mr. Pomerene’s position. Lisbon Patriot.

In 1918 the women’s suffrage movement had a major win. The issue of an amendment was opened for debate in the House and passed, but then failed in the Senate. President Willison publicly supported the amendment for women’s suffrage in 1918 and some states had even approved the women’s vote, but Ohio citizens were still divided in 1919. Atlee Pomerene of Holmes County, Ohio, was a member of the Democrat party. After working in law and as Ohio’s tax commissioner, he was elected lieutenant governor of Ohio in 1910 and resigned in 1911 to become an Ohio senator in the U.S. Senate. He served in this role from March 1911 until March 1923. He continued his work as a politician in many roles and later returned to work in law in Cleveland. Senator Pomerene knew his job was to represent his constituents. Unfortunate for the women’s suffrage movement this meant representing the large number of citizens who did not approve of women voting.

 According to a February 28th article Senator Pomerene did not receive this Resolution and only knew of it through the press. This resolution urged the two Ohio senators Atlee Pomerene and Warren G. Harding to support the amendment to the Federal Constitution that would bring women the vote. In this later article he spoke of his regret for not knowing of the resolution sooner, he personally believed in the amendment and had previously voted for it. However, Ohioans had had the opportunity to support the vote for women in 1912, 1914, and in 1917 state elections, these had all been defeated by a wide margin. It was his conviction to accurately portray the will of the majority and thus he voted against the amendment. 

Warren G. Harding of Marion, Ohio, was a Republican who would later become the 29th president of the United States. Typically a conservative politician, he grew to support the Nineteenth Amendment as the Republican party did. In his first senate term he missed at least two-thirds of roll-call votes including the vote to send the Amendment to the states for ratification. As he ran for the presidency he maintained a more conservative appearance against his Democratic opponent the Ohio Governor, James M. Cox. He won the election of 1920, in part due to his popularity among women for his strong support in the Senate for women’s suffrage. This was the first presidential election women could vote in across the nation. 

From The Mahoning Dispatch’s creation in 1877 it was, according to founder, Henry Manning Fowler, to be an independent non- partisan journal. Holding no ties to any religious group or political affiliation. Founded by the Fowler family of Canfield, Ohio, the paper became the longest continuously run family paper in Mahoning County. The paper focused on local issues while also reporting on national and international events with local viewpoints.

Written by Hope Bruce, Class of 2019 

The Democratic Banner (Mount Vernon), February 13, 1912

ANTI-SUFFRAGE FIGHT STARTED

Columbus Women to Oppose Votes For Fair Sex

Say Ballot is Not Desirable - Will Tell Constitutional Convention Delegates That Only Small Minority of Women Throughout State Desire Privilege And That They Exercise Full Share of Responsibility For Public Welfare In Homes

            Columbus, O., Feb. 12. - Local women, many prominent in social and club life of the capital city, met at the home of Mrs. Herman Hubbard and organized to fight the movement which has for its motive the promotion of equal suffrage propaganda throughout the state, and, specifically, to influence constitutional delegates either to adopt a suffrage proposal in Ohio’s now organic law or to submit the question to the people. They have already drafted an anti-woman’s suffrage petition, which soon will be submitted to the constitutional convention.

            The petition reads: “We, the undersigned women, citizens of Ohio and residents of Franklin county, hereby respectfully protest and remonstrate against any modification of the constitution of our state that seeks to impose upon women the duties and responsibilities involved in the suffrage. We believe that women can and do exercise their full share of influence and responsibility for the public welfare without the ballot. We are confident that only a small minority of the women of the state desire the franchise and we respectfully submit that to impose the responsibilities of the franchise upon an unwilling electorate is unfair to the individual and dangerous to the state. We therefore respectfully object to any and all measures having that end in view.”

 The Democratic Banner, published in Mt. Vernon from 1838-1935, was founded by Chauncey Bassett and Joel Robb. Between its founding and its sale to Lecky Harper in 1853, the paper had nine different editors. Under Harper, the paper had a Peace Democrat political bent and became equivalent with criticism of other papers and immigration defense. Following their father’s death, Harper’s sons Frank and William took over editorship, bringing larger national, local, and court case news coverage to the paper. Finally, Stephen J. Dorgan, leasing editor from 1917 until the paper was sold in 1935 to the Republican News, gave the paper a conservative bent but remained progressive. He focused on local news and also included political cartoons.

 This article, taking place in Columbus not Mt. Vernon, is found within The Democratic Banner due to the subject matter. Not only was suffrage a topic important to all parties, but the Ohio Constitutional Convention of 1912 had begun a month earlier in Columbus, covering proposed amendments from suffrage to education which would affect the entire state. Mrs. Herman Hubbard, or A.P. Hubbard, was the president of the Ohio Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage which formed in May 1902. Mrs. Hubbard traveled Ohio and to other states, including Massachusetts and New York, in order to influence delegates and work against the granting of female suffrage. Mrs. Hubbard, along with her organization, wrote this petition in order to protest the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association working to influence the convention to adopt an amendment granting women’s suffrage to Ohio’s organic law. As organic law serves as the basis of government within a state, this would be the Constitution within Ohio. On September 3, 1912, the delegates to the constitutional convention voted down the amendment calling for female suffrage.