Buttons calling for women’s suffrage, likely from 1900.
A 2x2 centimeter pin lies within the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s vast collection. Though small, the pin reflects the complex history of the women’s suffrage movement in the United States. From 1840 to 1920, women across the nation advocated for their enfranchisement and broad-based economic reform. Petitions, parades, and attention-grabbing stunts have led many to overlook the role of pins and other seemingly mundane memorabilia in advancing suffragists’ objectives. This pin, produced by National Equipment Co., is dated to around 1900. The item is surrounded by a red border and adorned with four blue stars. Printed front and center on the pin are three words: Votes for Women. Pins allowed suffragists to raise money and spark conversation as they showcased poignant symbolism that made the movement’s message more memorable.
It is important to discern which individuals had access to the public sphere and distributed these pins in the first place. Working-class women often failed to sustain advocacy due to their lack of access to education and general political apathy. George Holyoake, an English journalist, respectfully suggested that “only small numbers [of working-class women] knew how few the rights of their sex were, or had any desire to increase them,” concluding that “the majority did not know… whether they had civil rights at all.” Instead, historians generally concur that middle-class women were the primary actors. These women spoke at the Female Political Association, founded cooperative societies, and joined trade unions. Within these associations, they could “[endeavor] to compel governments to act to remedy some of the social problems.” However, not all advocates were women; male allies played a collaborative role from the outset. One of the most prominent male advocates was Frederick Douglass, who viewed women’s suffrage as an extension of his work to achieve liberty for all Americans. Douglass published the abolitionist newspaper The North Star, where he frequently campaigned for enfranchisement. The paper’s motto was “Right is of no sex… God is the father of us all, and all we are brethren.”
Initial opposition to the suffrage movement was intense. Many dismissed the cause as futile or dangerous. Organizations like the American Tobacco Company and Massachusetts Association wrote satirical pieces. In 1913, the New York Times famously declared that “the benefits of women's suffrage are almost wholly imaginary.”
Unlike in the British women’s suffrage movement, American activists never sought to persuade through violence or arson. Instead, small pins, with recognizable slogans like “Votes for Women” or “Suffrage First,” were disseminated: they were worn in public and distributed at rallies throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. For instance, in 1896, when women were granted voting rights in Idaho, pins expressed state pride. In a 1911 campaign, activists distributed more than 90,000 buttons in Southern California alone. The suffrage referendum passed by 3,587 votes. Meanwhile, bright colored pins and signs were placed near trees, poles, and windows throughout the Northeast United States. The power of the pin as a medium for advocacy rested in its eye-catching nature and widespread accessibility. As explained by California suffragist Alice Park, pins easily “aroused curiosity among strangers [and could lobby] tradesmen, salespeople, and passerby.”
The pins strategically incorporated symbols and colors associated with the suffrage movement. From early on, organizers understood that symbolism could “help get their message across and make it memorable.” Thus, suffragists chose objects, clothing, and colors to communicate their ideas. For instance, as women sought full citizenship in tandem with voting rights, patriotic emblems and images connected to the United States’ founding became “natural [symbols] for getting their point across.” Stars, akin to those on the American flag, appear in various items related to the suffrage movement. Stars usually represented the number of states that had adopted suffrage for women at the time of the item’s creation. The stars on this pin represent the four states (Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho) that had granted women voting rights in 1900. The star count became a method to track the progress of the movement and kindled a shared sense of solidarity amongst suffragists. Activists aimed to reach 36 stars, the number of state ratifications needed for what would become the 19th Amendment to pass under law. Meanwhile, colors like red, white, and blue, as used in this pin, became popular to evoke a sense of patriotism. However, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) never had official colors, allowing individual groups to market through colors of their choosing. The strategic use of patriotic colors and stars created a memorable aesthetic and visual identity associated with the movement.
Mainstream associations, including the NAWSA, advocated for structural change, urged representatives to vote for reform, and coordinated rallies to nationalize the issue. On the other hand, wearing pins, taking to the streets, and distributing buttons at doorsteps was uniquely key to sparking conversation on a personal level. These grassroots efforts allowed pins’ slogans to remain at the forefront of public consciousness. Historian Susan Ware, an independent author specializing in the history of feminism, concludes that women advocates were especially effective at “[making sure] suffrage was a topic on everyone’s mind. It was everywhere. And you had to take a stand.”
In 1920, after decades of advocacy, the 19th Amendment was passed. The amendment declares that “the rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged… on account of sex.” However, racist restrictions continued to keep thousands of women from the ballot box. For instance, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, a prominent suffragist based in New York City, was unable to obtain American citizenship and suffrage until the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1943. Meanwhile, activists Ida B. Wells and Fannie Lou Hamer, among others, campaigned for voting rights for Black women, earning suffrage after 1965. As such, it is apparent that the use of pins did not dissipate after 1920. Strategies used by early twentieth century suffragists have been honed over the last century and pins remain a cornerstone of modern political campaigns.
Works Cited
"Buttons and Ribbons." Ann Lewis Women's Suffrage Collection. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://lewissuffragecollection.omeka.net/collections/show/10.
Hall, Stephanie. "Symbolism in the Women's Suffrage Movement." Library of Congress. Last modified August 24, 2020. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2020/08/symbolism-in-the-womens-suffrage-movement/.
Harlan, Jennifer, Veronica Chambers, and Jennifer Schuessler. "Suffrage at 100: A Visual History." The New York Times (New York, NY), August 20, 2020. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/17/us/suffrage-movement-photos-history.html.
"The Marketing of the Movement." Library of Congress. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/women-fight-for-the-vote/about-this-exhibition/new-tactics-for-a-new-generation-1890-1915/marketing-of-the-movement/pin-it-and-show-your-colors/.
National Equipment Co. Votes For Women. 1900. Photograph. The Gilder Lehrman Collection. The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York, NY. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/glc09764.
Neale, R. S. "Working-Class Women and Women's Suffrage." Labour History, no. 12 (1967): 16-34. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27507859.
U.S. Const. amend. XIX (amended 1920). Accessed June 26, 2024. https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-19/.