Poll watching while female
Title
Poll watching while female
Description
These women are being arrested for poll watching while female. It’s New York City, September 1910, the Democratic primary. Before the day is over six women at four different precincts in Hell’s Kitchen have been hauled before the magistrate court. Thread.
They were all members of the Equality League for Self-Supporting Women. Harriot Stanton Blatch, ElizCadyStanton’s daughter, founded the group as an alternative to the boring New York State Woman Suffrage Association.
Harriot had recruited the women to be poll watchers, though no New York woman could vote. They were making a statement about access to the ballot box generally. Some of the suffragists also supported Francis Coughlin, who was challenging Tammany Hall politician John Curry in the Democratic primary. Couglin’s campaign had provided poll watcher certifications to most of the suffragists.
The Tammany machine, which wasn’t interested in expanding the electorate, had them ejected. The arrestees included Harriot’s daughter Nora and nurse Lavinia Dock. When told to leave, Dock replied, "I'm a legally appointed watcher and I've got as much right here as any one. I decline to move for you or any one else."
If you know Lavinia Dock, this is not surprising.
As it happens, pollwatchers who can’t vote have a limited impact on the outcome of elections. Curry, the Tammany incumbent, won the primary handily. He became the leader of Tammany Hall in its twilight years, and a foe of Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt.
A flurry of litigation followed the primary. The magistrate, the District Attorney, and the Attorney General all upheld women’s right to be poll watchers. Blatch then began recruiting women to pollwatch for the general election.
In this letter asking a Miss Allen to serve, Blatch says “Women now have this political right, and it seems to me we should shoulder the duty of our right….Can we not count upon you to fill this important and interesting political office, and would it not be possible for you to secure other women to act also?” The handwritten postscript says: “Word has just come to us that the Republican Watchers Association will welcome as many women as we can secure. This is a great triumph!"
#vote #suffrage100
They were all members of the Equality League for Self-Supporting Women. Harriot Stanton Blatch, ElizCadyStanton’s daughter, founded the group as an alternative to the boring New York State Woman Suffrage Association.
Harriot had recruited the women to be poll watchers, though no New York woman could vote. They were making a statement about access to the ballot box generally. Some of the suffragists also supported Francis Coughlin, who was challenging Tammany Hall politician John Curry in the Democratic primary. Couglin’s campaign had provided poll watcher certifications to most of the suffragists.
The Tammany machine, which wasn’t interested in expanding the electorate, had them ejected. The arrestees included Harriot’s daughter Nora and nurse Lavinia Dock. When told to leave, Dock replied, "I'm a legally appointed watcher and I've got as much right here as any one. I decline to move for you or any one else."
If you know Lavinia Dock, this is not surprising.
As it happens, pollwatchers who can’t vote have a limited impact on the outcome of elections. Curry, the Tammany incumbent, won the primary handily. He became the leader of Tammany Hall in its twilight years, and a foe of Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt.
A flurry of litigation followed the primary. The magistrate, the District Attorney, and the Attorney General all upheld women’s right to be poll watchers. Blatch then began recruiting women to pollwatch for the general election.
In this letter asking a Miss Allen to serve, Blatch says “Women now have this political right, and it seems to me we should shoulder the duty of our right….Can we not count upon you to fill this important and interesting political office, and would it not be possible for you to secure other women to act also?” The handwritten postscript says: “Word has just come to us that the Republican Watchers Association will welcome as many women as we can secure. This is a great triumph!"
#vote #suffrage100
Creator
Daily Suffragist
Source
Date
November 2, 2020
Files
Collection
Citation
Daily Suffragist, “Poll watching while female,” Daily Suffragist, accessed September 13, 2024, https://dailysuffragist.omeka.net/items/show/535.