“Men's League for Woman Suffrage.” Miller Scrapbook. Geneva, New York, 1910-11; JK1881.N357, sec. 16:9 NAWSA, pp. 82-83. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
The Rare Book and Special Collections Division's significant cache of suffrage scrapbooks offers a unique look at a slice of social history, documenting the gradual evolution of public sentiment and the changing
strategies of several generations of activists as they struggled to win the vote for women. The scrapbooks are the creations
of women whose interests complement each other and represent a range of activities over time and differences in focus.
Like Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Gage (1826- 1898) was active in the National Woman Suffrage Association and compiled four volumes
of newspaper clippings, 1850-76, that cover women's professional accomplishments and crimes against women, as well as suffrage
issues (JK1901.G16) .
Ida Husted Harper (1851-1931), a suffrage writer and Anthony biographer, compiled fourteen volumes of her published writings
and activities between 1896 and 1920 (JK1896.H4). They include Harper's articles in the New York Sun, 1899-1903, extensive coverage of the California campaign of 1896, accounts of the international congresses and related social
activities, 1899-1915, and detailed coverage of suffrage victories, 1916-20. These are supplemented by six boxes of suffrage
pamphlets published between 1848 and 1922 (JK1896.H42)
, as well as additional Harper material now in the Manuscript Division.
Seven scrapbooks compiled between 1897 and 1911 by Elizabeth Smith Miller (1822-1911) and her daughter Anne Fitzhugh Miller
(1856-1912) of Geneva, New York (JK1881.N357 sec. 16, no. 3-9 NAWSA) , document suffrage activities at the local, state, national, and international levels. Creator of the bloomer costume, Elizabeth
Miller was the daughter of the abolitionist Gerrit Smith and a cousin of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In addition to their leadership
in the suffrage cause, both women were active supporters of higher education for women.
The Millers organized the Geneva Political Equality Club and represented it at New York State and national suffrage conventions
and parades. They were often hosts to national and international suffrage leaders, including Emmeline and Sylvia Pankhurst.
The Millers' scrapbooks contain much more than the clippings one might expect. They filled their pages with programs, photographs,
pins and ribbons, and other artifacts and memorabilia from years of local organizing, lobbying, and national involvement,
as well as correspondence with influential people and government officials.
May Wright Sewall (1844-1920) held executive offices in both the National and the International Council of Women. She documented
these organizations' activities in four volumes of clippings, 1894-1904 (HQ1114.N3). Harriet Taylor Upton (1853-1945) of Warren,
Ohio, treasurer of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, compiled “Oklahoma Indian Territory,” which contains
newspaper clippings about the Oklahoma bill for statehood and the campaign for women's suffrage in 1904 and 1905. It also
holds an annual report of the Oklahoma NAWSA chapter outlining their successes, and signed by Kate H. Biggers (F699.S4) .
