Women

This page is about reflection. You’ll find a list of some of the key people and organizations relevant to this section. You’ll also find a section called intersectionality to encourage thinking about how different issues are connected, and discussion questions to encourage deeper thinking. Take some time to answer the questions, look these people up and learn more about their stories.

Momentum continued to build for the women’s suffrage cause, despite disagreements among women activists.

After decades of suffragist activism, President Wilson finally began to urge Congress to pass a voting rights amendment for women.

The NWP was relentless in their acts of Civil Disobedience peaceful refusal to obey the commands of the government, and their methods led to hundreds of arrests.

Not everyone in the NAWSA agreed that the women’s suffrage movement was moving fast enough, or using the right tactics.

Some women activists were impatient with the pace of change. In 1915, white suffragist Alice Paul was forced to resign from the NAWSA because she advocated using extreme tactics in the fight for suffrage. She formed a rival suffrage group, the Congressional Union, later named the National Woman’s Party.

Segregated suffrage groups were not always unplanned consequences of prejudice; sometimes they were intentionally organized (and often equally racist).

Black women’s clubs grew to the hundreds in the first two decades of the 20th century.

In addition to national groups like the Baptist Women’s Convention and the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), independent, affiliate and even secret associations blossomed. They developed their own suffrage strategies as well as working collectively with the national organizations.