Carrie Chapman Catt was born in 1859 on a farm in Ripon, Wisconsin as Carrie Clinton Lane. When she was seven years old, her family moved to Iowa. She graduated from high school and, because her father refused her financial support for a college education, she began to teach. After earning enough money, she enrolled in 1877 at Iowa State Agricultural College (now known as Iowa State University) at Ames, Iowa. Three years later she graduated with a science degree and became a principal at the high school in Mason City, Iowa for the next two years. In 1883, she became one of the first women in the United States to become superintendent of schools.
Carrie Lane Chapman Catt (January 9, 1859 – March 9, 1947) was an American women’s rights activist. She was the founder of the League of Women Voters, and became one of the most influential members of the women’s suffrage movement.
Early life
Chapman Catt was born in 1859 on a farm in Ripon, Wisconsin as Carrie Clinton Lane. When she was seven years old, her family moved to Iowa. She graduated from high school and, because her father refused her financial support for a college education, she began to teach. After earning enough money, she enrolled in 1877 at Iowa State Agricultural College (now known as Iowa State University) at Ames, Iowa. Three years later she graduated with a science degree and became a principal at the high school in Mason City, Iowa for the next two years. In 1883, she became one of the first women in the United States to become superintendent of schools.
In 1885, she married Leo Chapman and began to work as assistant editor of his newspaper, the Mason City Republican. A year later, her husband died of typhoid fever and she went to San Francisco to work as a newspaper reporter. When she returned to Iowa in 1887, she started work as a lecturer. A short time later, she joined the Iowa Woman Suffrage Association. She soon became an active part of the movement and was appointed the director of field activities in 1889. A year later, she went to the conference of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and became one of its most ardent members.
In 1890, she married her second husband, George Catt, who supported her occupation as an activist of the feminist and suffrage movement. All through the 1890s, the NAWSA focused on winning the vote state by state and that is why many state campaigns took place. She was active in these campaigns, and her writing, oratorical and organizational skills proved to be useful.
She eventually became known as one of the principal suffragists, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. She became chairman of NAWSA’s National Organization Committee from 1895 to 1900. This position enabled her to exert considerable influence.
In 1900, at the gathering of the NAWSA, Susan B. Anthony resigned from her post and gave her blessing to Chapman Catt. Thus, she was elected president of the NAWSA. She held the position as president from 1900 to 1904 and then again from 1916 to 1920. Chapman Catt, like Stanton and Anthony, wanted to establish an international suffrage movement. In 1902, the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA), was created. Chapman Catt was a leading initiator and also the first president in 1904.
Because of her shaky health she decided to retire from her presidency of the NAWSA in 1904. Carrie also suffered a personal loss, when in 1905 her husband unexpectedly died. After her husband’s death, she suffered from depression, but eventually recovered.
Wealthy publisher Miriam Leslie died in 1914, bequeathing her entire estate to Carrie Chapman Catt to be used for the promotion of the cause of woman suffrage. The will was disputed but after eight years, the final accounting by the executors set Miriam Leslie’s fortune at $2,086,359.62. Mrs. Catt used the proceeds to organize the “Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission.”
Catt started to work on her international suffrage work again. Because she no longer needed to earn a living –her husband left her a considerable amount of money– she invested even more time into the women’s enfranchisement movement on an international level. In April 1913, she attended the International Woman Suffrage Congress in Budapest. After Anna Howard Shaw retired as president of the NAWSA in 1915, Carrie Chapman Catt was asked to take over the position once again. At first she refused the offer but was urged by many to accept ” she finally did.
The next year she devoted her time to travelling the country and counselling with many suffragists all over the United States. Finally at the NAWSA conference in 1916 she presented the (so-called) “Winning Plan,” which was a strategy to win the vote through a united effort at both federal and state level. One of the main points of this plan was the winning of one of the southern states, known to be opposed to the woman suffrage movement. Some midwestern states, as well as New York and Maine were also necessary to win in order to break the anti-suffrage bloc. When this was achieved, she thought, it would put enough pressure on the national legislature to pass the constitutional amendment that had originally been presented by Susan B. Anthony. The nineteenth amendment to the constitution was finally ratified on August 18, 1920, granting women the right to vote.
After the women’s enfranchisement was accomplished Chapman Catt devoted herself to the education and organization of women in order to form them into independent and politically informed citizens. For this reason she founded the League of Women Voters. She became involved in the League of Nations and also campaigned for the Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928.
Chapman Catt died in March 1947. She was known as a pragmatic leader of the suffrage movement, a talent that enabled her to fulfil the demands of the different positions she held during her life. She was a charismatic orator and her ability to bring together thousands of women and her administrative skills made her one of the most influential leaders of the suffrage movement.
Source: Carrie Chapman Catt. (2006, September 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19:52, October 17, 2006.
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