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 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.

The Greenville Journal, July 25, 1912

CENTERED ON OHIO

ARE EYES OF WORLD ANENT THE SUFFRAGE QUESTION.


Buckeye State Is Considered the Pivotal Point by Suffragettes Who Oppose Anti Movement.

The eyes of the world are centered on Ohio when it comes to the suffrage question.

This statement no longer needs to be preached as it is admitted by either side of the contending parties.

 “I believe that the people outside of the state are more fully awake to the tremendous undertaking before us than are own people,” says Mrs. Hermon Hubbard, president of the Ohio Association Opposed to Woman’s Suffrage. One of the leading New York papers made the discovery a few days ago that the center of the suffrage fight had been moved from London, England, to Ohio. The truth of this statement is reinforced by a telegram from Mrs. Arthur M. Dodge, president of the national association. Mrs. Dodge says: “Suffragettes evidently consider Ohio the pivotal state, as they are concentrating their efforts there because the constitutional amendment is to be voted on before the referendum in five other states can be taken, and the result will have an important effect on these. The great danger with constitutional amendments, as I see it, is that a full vote may not be cast. If voters will realize the seriousness of the question and the vote can be brought out, I am sure suffrage will be defeated.”

 The judgement of the national headquarters is reinforced by every mail that reaches the state office at Columbus. There is growing evidence that the thinkers of Ohio are awakening to the seriousness of the problem, and that when the constitutional convention adjourns there will be such opposition to the extension of suffrage to women as will insure its defeat at the special election to be called.

The Greenville Journal was founded in the 1830s and lasted until 1918. This newspaper published articles with more conservative views. The majority of the articles were written towards the audience of women and children during the early 1900s. 

This article discusses the importance Ohio played for the upcoming constitutional suffrage amendment that would be voted on in Ohio in September. This amendment was also known as the Ohio Women’s Suffrage Amendment (Amendment 23), which would have granted women the right to vote if the amendment won in the September 1912 election. However, when the September election was held, this amendment was rejected by the male voters in Ohio. 

Also, at this time, not all women were in favor of women’s suffrage. There were a growing number of anti-suffragists present in Ohio at this time which made the 23rd Amendment difficult to pass in Ohio. Groups like the Ohio Association Opposed to Woman’s Suffrage was composed of women that advocated against women’s suffrage. Mrs. Hermon Hubbard was the president of this anti-women’s suffrage organization. In The Ohio Journal of Commerce, Susan P. Hubbard stated specific reasons why she was against women’s suffrage, including the claim that granting women the right to vote would not solve the unequal pay gap between men and women. She also said that most women didn’t support suffrage and that the Susan B. Anthony amendment was an attempt to control the majority with the minorities opinion. Hubbard further declared that the women who were suffragists were not mothers and if they were they needed to be at home and not out supporting suffrage.

Some reasons why women did not advocate for suffrage is because some women were mocked when they publicly supported women’s suffrage, some were uneducated on political issues, and some women thought voting would be an added expense. Women in Ohio who supported suffrage faced adversity from anti-women suffrage groups located in Ohio as well as nationally. 

The national association was organized by Mrs. Arthur Dodge who believed that suffrage was not necessary for women. Dodge was an anti-suffrage activist who served as president of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NAOWS) for six years. Dodge was often the target of threats from pro-suffrage groups. The NAOWS created a newsletter in 1918, called Woman’s Protest, which later changed to Woman Patriot, and in 1918 they moved their headquarters to Washington, D.C. until they closed in 1920 due to the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment