Women Mobilize for the Vote
Early attempts to recognize woman suffrage in the Texas constitution in 1868 and 1875 failed, but the movement gained support in 1888 when the Texas Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) voted to endorse the effort. More women became involved in social welfare causes and supported suffrage because of their interest in prohibition. It became common wisdom that a vote from a woman would likely be a vote against alcohol. Anti-suffragists opposed the vote for a host of reasons, espousing that men sufficiently represented the needs of women, that politics would sully a woman’s delicate disposition, that the power of the vote would threaten the harmony of the home and that enfranchised African American women would aggravate racial tensions in the South, among other arguments.
The Texas Equal Rights Association formed in 1893 but quickly faded into non-existence until a resurgent group led by Houston sisters Annette, Elizabeth and Katherine Finnegan attempted to revive the organization in 1903. After the Finnegans left Texas in 1905 the momentum slowed once more, with only one suffrage club remaining in Texas, the Austin League, active until 1912. Eleanor Brackenridge led an energized San Antonio Equal Franchise Society that year and went on to be elected president of a statewide organization, the Texas Woman Suffrage Association. This group held its first annual convention in 1913, supported a federal amendment to the U.S. Constitution recognizing a woman’s right to vote and became very active in promoting suffrage by organizing, forming local societies and distributing literature.
Exhibit Items
Bill file for House Joint Resolution 29, 24th Legislature, Regular Session, 1895. Front paper cover, Page 1, Page 2, Back paper cover. Bill files, Texas Legislature, Box 100-1937.
This resolution introduced by Rep. A.C. Tompkins marks the first time a constitutional amendment for the enfranchisement of women was introduced in Texas. It was referred to the Committee on Constitutional Amendments but moved no further. [Digital facsimile on display. Original document transferred to Legislative Reference Library.]Click or tap on thumbnails or links for larger images.
![The cover of “Wm. Jennings Bryan Against Liquor Traffic: Stenographic Report of His Speech in Part Before Catholic Total Abstinance [sic.] of America,” undated. Thomas Jefferson Holbrook papers, Box 1965/111-5](/sites/default/files/public/tslac/exhibits/womenvote/1965111_5_12_4.png "The cover of “Wm. Jennings Bryan Against Liquor Traffic: Stenographic Report of His Speech in Part Before Catholic Total Abstinance [sic.] of America,” undated. Thomas Jefferson Holbrook papers, Box 1965/111-5")
“Wm. Jennings Bryan Against Liquor Traffic: Stenographic Report of His Speech in Part Before Catholic Total Abstinance [sic.] of America,” undated. Thomas Jefferson Holbrook papers, Box 1965/111-5 and “What We Owe to Alcohol,” “True Temperance Monographs No. 4,” undated. Thomas Jefferson Holbrook papers, Box 1965/111-5.
The temperance movement was deeply tied to the women’s suffrage movement. These publications outline what these groups saw as the negative influence of alcohol on society and advocate for prohibition.
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Program of the M. Eleanor Brackenridge Training School, 1918. Cover - Page 1, Pages 2 and 3, Back - Page 4. Erminia Thompson Folsom papers, Box 1985/119-2.
The Texas Equal Suffrage Association presented a day of training for new suffrage workers at the Driskill Hotel in Austin in 1918. This program contains the schedule, which included sessions on organizing, election day logistics, public speaking, campaigning and media publicity. Click or tap on thumbnails or links for larger images.
Stoddard, Helen M. “Fort Worth Address, 1898” in “To the Noon Rest: The Life, Work and Addresses of Mrs. Helen Stoddard.” Butler, Indiana: L.H. Higley, 1909. Photo and Page 107, Pages 108 and 109, Pages 110 and 111, Pages 112 and 113, Pages 114 and 115, Pages 116 and 117, Pages 118 and 119, Page 120 and Photo and Page 121. TSLAC-Main Collection, 920.7 ST63t.
Helen M. Stoddard was president of the Texas Women’s Christian Temperance Union from 1891 to 1907. During this time, she traveled the state organizing and delivering addresses such as those collected in this volume. Click or tap on thumbnails and links for larger images.
Representative C.B. Randell to Erminia T. Folsom, 1910. Erminia Thompson Folsom papers, Box 1985/119-1.
Representative C.B. Randell links his opposition to women’s suffrage to the “race question” and wonders if those who support woman suffrage also support the right to vote for African American women.
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Representative Rufus Hardy’s response to Congressional Committee questionnaire, undated. Erminia Thompson Folsom papers, Box 1985/119-2.
In his response to a questionnaire created by the National American Woman Suffrage Association, Representative Rufus Hardy elaborates on his reasons for opposing suffrage.
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Mary Kate Hunter portrait, about 1880. Prints and Photographs collection, Image 1987/022.
This copy print depicts Mary Kate Hunter, who served as vice president of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association from 1915 to 1916. She went on to organize a local unit of the Woman's National Foundation and was elected poet laureate of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
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Clifford Howard. “Why Man Needs Woman’s Ballot” in the “Bulletin of the University of Texas, No. 31. June 1, 1915, Woman Suffrage: Bibliography and Selected Arguments,” ed. Shurter Edwin DuBois, 1915. Cover, Pages 24 and 25, Pages 26 and 27, and Pages 28 and 29. Erminia Thompson Folsom papers, Box 1985/119-2.
This bulletin was produced as a resource for schools participating in University Interscholastic League debates. It collects articles and essays illustrating a range of affirmative and negative arguments regarding women’s suffrage. Click or tap on thumbnails and links for larger images.
Ida Darden scrapbook, 1912-1925. Call number 1985/063. [Supplemental item for web version only. Due to size and condition this item is not on display.]
Ida Darden was a conservative activist who opposed suffrage for women. In 1916, she served as the publicity director for the Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage.
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“Votes for Women” postcard, undated. A.M. Wiggington family papers, Box 2-23/1038.
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“The Price of a Drink” poem, undated. Erminia Thompson Folsom papers, Box 1985/119-5.
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“About Voting” broadside, undated. Erminia Thompson Folsom papers, Box 1985/119-2.
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Texas Equal Suffrage Association constitution, 1916. Cover - Page 1, Pages 2 and 3, Page 4. Erminia Thompson Folsom papers, Box 1985/119-2.
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