Postcards and buttons speaking to women's suffrage.
Library, Museums and Press Staff
March 13, 2024

Votes for Women: The Woman Suffrage Digital Collection

By David Cardillo, Digital Initiatives and Preservation

 

The road to women’s suffrage was not an easy one. As women fought for the right to vote and to actively participate in American politics and democracy, they were also working toward a major paradigm shift in societal norms.

The Woman Suffrage Collection in Special Collections consists of ephemera, pamphlets, books and realia relating to the campaign for women’s voting rights in the early 20th century, many of which have been digitized for easy access.

Many of the materials are propagandistic in nature, including literature that explains the rationale behind the idea of woman suffrage. You will also find items that represent the material culture of the movement. For instance, there are multiple examples of pins that women wore to show their support for their cause. (Hopefully some men also wore them to show support for the cause.)

Pin that says "I am a citizen" Pin that says "Full suffrage for women" Pin that says "Votes for Women"

 

Within the collection, you will also find postcards that speak to the various elements associated with the fight for women’s suffrage. Many of them used humor and design to make their points. Others used poignant messaging to combat the anti-suffrage movement.

Postcard with a cute little girl and text that reads, "Votes for Women. I want to speak for myself at the polls."

Postcard that reads, "Beware of magazines and newspapers which are opposed to woman suffrage. There's a reason."

 

Within the collection, you will find many other items that highlight why and how women’s right to vote is necessary and important – and the creative measures they used to do so. For example, this flyer presents popular arguments against suffrage with the counter-argument in favor of suffrage right alongside it.

A flyer headlined "Votes for Women." There are two columns, the first reads "People Say:" and the second reads "We Say:" and lists counterpoints for common reasons not to support woman suffrage

 

Women would also sing at events where they were advocating for suffrage – and in the digitized materials of this collection, you will find the sheet music for one of the songs, “The Woman’s Party Song.”

Sheet music for "The Woman's Party Song"

 

Of course, there was significant opposition to women’s suffrage, especially from those who thought they stood to lose something if women participated in the democratic process. The collection includes materials that illustrate this perspective, too, as seen in the example below.

Postcard with an old man standing outside of a "Women's Hotel" and a bench for women only. The caption reads, "By gum! Them suffragettes be gittin every thing."

 

Men were not the only ones to fear and object to women’s suffrage. Just as there were men in favor of women’s right to vote, there were women who opposed it. Some went so far as to sign what were called “pledge cards” against suffrage.

A card that reads, "I am opposed to woman's suffrage" with a line for name and street filled in below.

 

The items in this collection showcase the arguments both for and against women’s suffrage, and that the road to the right to vote was not an easy one. It is a glimpse of not just the process of political change, but of social change as well.

 

The Woman Suffrage Collection consists of ephemeral materials and realia relating to the campaign for women’s voting rights, primarily from the decade before women’s suffrage was achieved. Many of the items are freely and digitally available on UDSpace through the UD Library, Museums and Press. Researchers with an interest in politics, history, material culture and Delaware may find this collection particularly useful.