Fulton County Tribune (Wauseon), October 15, 1915

OHIO WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY CONVENTION

Call For Meeting to be Held in Cleveland Thursday and Friday, November Eleventh and Twelfth

Western Newspaper Union News Service.

     Cleveland.- Upon the invitation of the Woman Suffrage party of Greater Cleveland, the Ohio Woman Suffrage association will hold its 30th annual convention Thursday and Friday, Nov. 11 and 12, at Hotel Hollenden. The executive committee will be in session on the evening of the 10th, but the convention proper will begin at 10 a. m. on the 11th. At 1 p. m. a luncheon will be served to delegates, visitors and friends, the delegates being the guests of the Woman Suffrage party. Mrs. Ethel Snowden, the wife of the Liberal member of the English parliament, will be the only speaker at the luncheon. Mrs. Snowden is a brilliant, beautiful woman of great oratorieal powers. One hour on the 12th will be set aside in memory of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who was born Nov. 12, 1815. and who was responsible largely for the calling of the first woman’s rights convention in 1848.

Ohio speakers and workers now in the campaign states will tell of their experiences.

All suffrage associations are urged to send delegates, and attention is called to the following articles of the bylaws, article 2. section 1: “Local dues paying societies may become auxiliary to the state association by paying into the treasury annually 25 cents for each of their paid-up members. Such local auxiliary societies shall be entitled to three delegates by virture of such auxiliaryship, and to one additional delegate for every 25 members. Section 2. Non-dues paying local societies, such as campaign committees, men’s leagues, woman suffrage parties, etc., may become auxiliary to the state association by the payment of a fee of $2 annually into the state treasury. Such auxiliaryship shall entitle such societies to two delegates in the state convention.” All delegates signifying their intention of attending the convention before Nov. 6 will be entertained by Cleveland people. Those wanting further particulars in regard to the convention generally should address Mrs. Upton, state headquarters. Warren, O. Those wanting information in regards to local matters address Mrs. Rufus P. Ranney, general local chairman convention committee, 1706 Euelid-av, Cleveland. The call is signed by Mrs. Francis M. Casement, Painesville; Mrs. Harriet Taylor Upton, Warren; Miss Zara Dupont, Cleveland; Mrs. Dora Sandoe Bachman, Columbus; Mrs. Helen Wise Molony, Cincinnati; Mrs. Ethel R. Vorce, Cleveland; Mrs. Zell Hart Deming, Warren; Mrs. O. F. Davisson, Dayton.

 
The Fulton County Tribune was created in 1883, after sentiments divided for the local Republican Party. The newspaper typically covered local events and interests. 

In 1915, Cleveland held the 30th annual Ohio Woman Suffrage association convention after being invited by the Woman Suffrage party of Greater Cleveland, now called the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland. The Ohio Woman Suffrage association was organized May of 1885 in Painesville with the goal of changing laws preventing women from voting. 

The guest lecturer mentioned to be speaking on the 11th was Mrs. Ethel Snowden. Snowden is the wife of Philip Snowden, a British Labour Party politician and the Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1924 and between 1929-1931. Ethel Snowden was active in the support of woman suffrage and later became a speaker for the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. 

An hour was set aside in the memory of Elizabeth Cady Stanton because she was a prominent supporter of woman suffrage who passed away in 1902. Harriet Taylor Upton and she was an important member of the National Women’s Suffrage Association, she even served as treasurer of the Association from 1894 to 1910. From 1899 to 1908 and from 1911 to 1920, Upton also served as the president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association. 

Mrs. Rufus P. Ranney could be the wife or relative of Democratic Ohio politician, Rufus Putnam Ranney. Francis M. Casement was a suffragist from Painesville, Ohio, who has been inducted in the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame. Mrs. O. F. Davisson was the president of Dayton and Montgomery county Woman Suffrage Association. The remaining women were suffragist that helped organize and promote the cause for suffrage. 

Written by Katrina Neff, Class of 2022

The Mahoning Dispatch, (Canfield), October 15, 1915

For the full article, see Chronicling America

WILL MAKE AN INDIRECT APPEAL

Woman Are Urged to Vote This Fall So As to Show They Are Interested.

HOPE TO BOOST CAUSE OF SUFFRAGE

The Question Not Likely to Come Before Voters for Years Unless the Four Eastern States Should Go for Suffrage.

Special Columbus Correspondent.
     Columbus, Oct. 14. – Women of Ohio, having no campaign for equal suffrage under way, are trying this fall to make an indirect appeal to the male electorate. The indirect appeal is the very unusual one of just voting. The point is that the women can vote for members of boards of education and nothing else. And the notion of the suffragists is that if their sex turns out in large numbers to exercise the very limited franchise they now have, that fact in itself will make another argument for suffrage when the next campaign comes around. So the word is being sent out from the headquarters of the women workers that it will be expedient and wise for all women voters to cast their ballots this fall. As a matter of fact and precedent, however, most political observers do not believe there is much of an appeal in the idea of having the feminine contingent exercise the privilege it now has. These observers aver that the argument that women do not care for the ballot is not one that makes much of an impression with the male electorate anyway, and that even if every woman voted for school board members every two years that wouldn’t hasten equal suffrage so very much. In a word, the argument these people put up is that men who are set against suffrage have some other reason than the notion that women do not want it. Meantime suffrage is not likely to be put up to the voters of Ohio for some years unless the campaigns now in progress in four eastern states pan out well for the suffrage advocates. But if the four eastern states, or say a majority of them, should go for suffrage this fall, it would not be surprising to see the Ohio contingent again cast their hats into the ring next fall.

The Mahoning Dispatch, 1877-1968, was an independent, family run, non-partisan newspaper in Canfield county near Youngstown, Ohio. This particular article discusses female suffragists’ appeal to women voters to utilize their limited franchise in order to disprove the theory that women did not care to vote. Beginning in the 1890s, women in Ohio were given the right to vote in school board elections by the state legislature. This being the only voting right afforded women of said state, many women believed if they utilize their right to vote in school board elections, it would make an argument for their desire and ability to have full suffrage. 

Though only mentioned as “the headquarters of the women workers” within the passage, it can be assumed that the said “headquarters” leading this appeal was the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association. In May of 1855, the Association turned their focus from gaining a constitutional amendment for female suffrage to changing local and state level laws regarding its illegality within the state. The Association, along with all female suffragists in Ohio, were also working against the notion that if given full franchise, all women would vote for prohibition. As these two issues were closely tied during this period, it is quite likely that men disliked female suffrage due to the fear of national or statewide prohibition. It was also believed that the granting of female suffrage in Ohio hinged on the suffrage campaigns of the four eastern states (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania). This was due to the fact that these four states held a fifth of the nation’s population, providing them with the potential to jump start the female voting pool in the United States allowing for a larger chance of change at the national level.