Journal of Community Practice

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The Women's Suffrage Movement

Elizabeth L. Beck PhD , Ellen Dorsey PhD & April Stutters MSW

To cite this article: Elizabeth L. Beck PhD , Ellen Dorsey PhD & April Stutters MSW (2003) The
Women's Suffrage Movement, Journal of Community Practice, 11:3, 13-33

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 The Women’s Suffrage Movement:
Lessons for Social Action
Elizabeth L. Beck, PhD
Ellen Dorsey, PhD
April Stutters, MSW

ABSTRACT. The women’s suffrage movement is explored as a social

movement and an argument is made that analysis of the outcomes of so-
cial movements is central to those engaged in effecting social change. A
set of five factors that influenced the movement’s success is explored.
These factors are: (1) The framing processes of the Women’s Suffrage
Movement (WSM) enhanced collective and individual identity, while
fueling participants’ emotions and actions; (2) A movement community
developed that supported the goals of the WSM and held a radical flank
effect; (3) External resources were constant; (4) The WSM experienced
an infusion of new ideas as a result of cross-national interaction; and (5)
The WSM benefited from committed and innovative leaders throughout
the movement. These factors are not viewed as exhaustive; rather they
are components that were critical to success. [Article copies available for
a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mail
address: <[email protected]> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com>
© 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

Elizabeth L. Beck, PhD, is Assistant Professor at Georgia State University.

Ellen Dorsey, PhD, is Director of Rachel Carson Institute at Chatham College.
April Stutters, MSW, is Resident Community Manager at Mercy Homes.
Address correspondence to: Elizabeth L. Beck, Georgia State University, 140
DeKalb Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30307 (E-mail: [email protected]).
The authors would like to thank the reviewers and Sadhna Diwan.
Journal of Community Practice, Vol. 11(3) 2003
http://www.haworthpress.com/web/COM
 2003 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J125v11n03_02 13
14 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE

KEYWORDS. Women’s Suffrage Movement, community organizing,

social movements, social movement outcome

INTRODUCTION

The Women’s Suffrage Movement (WSM) in the United States began

as the Seneca Falls Convention ended. Its work would be based on the 12
resolutions passed during the convention, which addressed issues of
women’s subordinate position in society, family and education; the right
of women to hold privileges extended to men, including property owner-
ship, divorce, and child custody; and women’s enfranchisement, or right
to vote. Seventy-two years later, Carrie Chapman Catt emphasized the
enormity of the eventual accomplishment of the latter, explaining that the
fight for women’s enfranchisement had involved 480 state campaigns and
47 campaigns to the constitutional convention. Suffrage planks had been
sought at 277 state party conventions, and 19 campaigns were waged with
19 successive congresses. “Hundreds of women gave the accumulated pos-
sibilities of a lifetime, thousands gave years of their lives, hundreds of
thousands gave constant interest and aid as they could. It was a continuous,
seemingly endless chain of activity” (Catt & Shuler, 1969, p. 107).
This paper examines the WSM as a social movement and focuses on
the factors that supported its success. A great deal has been written about
social movements in general and the suffrage movement in particular,
and yet both literatures contain sparse discussions of factors that support
success (Della Porta & Diani, 1999; McAdam, McCarthy, & Zald, 1996).
When the outcome of a particular social movement is explored in the lit-
erature, it is generally not from the perspective of an analysis of process,
but rather an attempt to measure whether or how much collective action
affected outcome (McAdam, McCarthy, & Zald, 1988). In other cases, the
literature takes a more normative stance, that of understanding the charac-
ter and course of a social movement (Benford & Snow, 2000). In this pa-
per, we seek to overlay the character and course phenomena described in
the social movement literature with the history of the WSM to answer the
question: How did the WSM achieve success? We begin with the premise
that the WSM was successful in influencing change, based on the out-
come of women’s enfranchisement, and we examine the relevant charac-
ter and course phenomena for the ways in which they were implemented
by the WSM to support success. We postulate that five critical factors,
expertly put into action by the WSM, resulted in success. It is our belief
that analysis of factors that support social movements’ successes and fail-
 Beck, Dorsey, and Stutters 15

ures is of critical importance to practitioners, as it can provide insight into

their own campaign strategies and tactics.
We will begin the paper with a review of the relevant social move-
ment literature, followed by a historical overview of the WSM. Next,
the paper discusses the five critical factors that worked to move the
WSM from an idea of fantastic proportions to national enfranchise-
ment. Those factors are: (1) The framing processes of the WSM that
enhanced collective and individual identity, while fueling partici-
pants’ emotions and actions; (2) The development of a movement
community that supported the goals of the WSM and held a radical
flank effect; (3) The consistent supply of external resources; (4) The
infusion of new ideas, as a result of cross-national interaction; and
(5) The involvement of committed and innovative leaders through-
out the movement. The conclusion of this paper will highlight lessons
that can be learned and applied by contemporary community organizers.

RELEVANT THEORIES ABOUT SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Movement Emergence

The social movement literature contains abundant discussion about

why movements emerge. Central theories exploring this question include
resource mobilization and political opportunities (McAdam, McCarthy, &
Zald, 1988; Staggenborg, 1998). Resource mobilization emphasizes the
interaction between social movements and postulates that movements
emerge in response to one another (McAdam, 1995; McAdam, McCar-
thy, & Zald, 1988). Political opportunity theory argues that changes in the
political climate affect movement emergence (McAdam, McCarthy, &
Zald, 1988). Adding another dimension to these theories, Tarrow (1989,
1994) claims that social movements emerge within a cycle of protest dur-
ing a time when the country is politicized, and that this politicization is
often a response to political opportunity. McAdam (1995) believes that
initial social movements spawn others, a phenomena often referred to as
spin-off effect, as the new movements emerge buoyed by the success of
the initiating social movement.

Character and Course

In addition to emergence, the social movement literature also dis-

cusses a number of factors associated with the character and course of
16 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE

social movements. It is from the character and course portion of the lit-
erature that we began to identify the five critical factors to the success of
the WSM: framing, social movement communities, external resources,
cross-national interaction, and leadership.
Framing, at its core, refers to the way in which an issue or its message
is articulated. Goffman (1974) defined frames as a “schemata of inter-
pretation” in which individuals “locate, perceive, identify and label”
themselves and the world at large (p. 21). Frames can be considered the
vehicle from which individuals identify with an issue, a collective iden-
tity is formed, and momentum is nurtured and supported (Snow et al.,
1986). In the social movement literature three types of frames have been
identified: (1) diagnostic frames, in which the issue being addressed or
the injustice is articulated; (2) prognostic frames, which set forth the
strategies for action; and (3) motivational frames, which support indi-
viduals in collective action (Wilson, 1973; Snow & Benford, 1988).
Staggenborg (1998) defines social movement communities as net-
works of activists who are committed to the goals of the social move-
ment. Social movement communities hold two important purposes.
First, they help to explain movement emergence, in that multiple move-
ments often will emerge during cycles of protest or politically active
times. As noted above, the initiating movement is often tied to resource
mobilization or political opportunity, and the spin-off movements are
viewed as related to the activism within the cycle of protest. To support
group efficacy, social movement communities create a collective iden-
tity. This collective identity is nurtured through the social movement’s
use of symbols, rituals, values and ideology (Taylor, 1992). Staggenborg
argues that this group efficacy supports the community and the overall
movement. Another component of a social movement community can be
a radical flank. McAdam et al. (1988) describe the radical flank effect as
the notion that radical groups can gain greater acceptance for moderate
groups and their demands (McAdam et al.,1988).
External resources–and money, in particular–are critical to the suc-
cess of a social movement (Jenkins & Perrow, 1977). Notably, social
movements that are based on identity or culture are often able to obtain
resources with greater ease than those based on class. The WSM, for ex-
ample, as an identity movement that captured the imagination of middle
class women, did have access to external resources (Melucci, 1994;
Piven & Cloward, 1979; Cloward & Piven, 1999).
The infusion of new experiences and ideas is also important to the de-
velopment of a social movement, as are the sources of energy, power
and legitimacy derived from interaction with other national movements
 Beck, Dorsey, and Stutters 17

with similar objectives. Thus, cross-national interaction of movements

can heighten solidarity and efficacy while providing new strategies and
tactics for application (Dorsey, 1992, 1996).
Finally, leadership is of importance to social movements (McAdam,
McCarthy, & Zald,1988). According to Staples (1984), leaders need to
have “self-interest, self-confidence and self control” (p. 128). Weber
(1962) identify two types of leaders, the bureaucrat and the enthusi-
ast–both of which are critical to the success of social movements. The
bureaucrat focuses on maintaining and building the organization, as
well as on the implementation of strategy, while the enthusiast focuses
on the principles of the movement.

OVERVIEW OF THE WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT

IN THE UNITED STATES

In 1848, following the Seneca Falls Convention, women began to ag-

itate for suffrage by implementing a consciousness-raising effort that
included the use of annual conventions, petition campaigns and speak-
ing tours (Flexner, 1970; Stanton et al.,1985a) (see Appendix). Under
the organizing leadership of Susan B. Anthony, the WSM resolved at its
1867 convention to implement its first strategic suffrage campaign. Its
goal was to win a state suffrage referendum in Kansas–a decision under-
pinned by Anthony’s belief that universal suffrage required a critical num-
ber of states to adopt referenda (Dorr, 1970; Flexner, 1970; Stanton et
al.,1985a).
At the same time, however, following the Civil War, Anthony and
Stanton refused to actively support the enfranchisement of African
Americans through the 15th Amendment, as they saw it as a diversion
from the “real issue” of women’s suffrage. Lucy Stone and her husband,
Henry Blackwell, disagreed with Anthony and Stanton’s stance. Indi-
cating that this was “the Negro’s hour,” Stone and Blackwell severed ties
with Stanton and Anthony, and two organizations developed (Blackwell,
1971; Flexner, 1970; Stanton et al.,1985b).
The former abolitionists, Anthony and Stanton, justified their oppo-
sition to the 15th Amendment by their belief in the notion of expediency,
according to which the end of women’s suffrage justified the means. Ex-
pediency led Stanton and Anthony to use racist and classist rhetoric to
garner support in their organizing of the south. For example, Stanton stated
that women were cast “under the heel of the lowest orders of manhood”
(Giddings, 1984; Stanton et al.,1985b, p. 103). In the name of expediency,
18 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE

Stanton and Anthony also allied themselves with suffrage supporters of

dubious distinction, such as Francis Train, a rumored supporter of the
Confederacy.
While Stone and Blackwell’s group focused on publishing a weekly
suffrage periodical, Stanton and Anthony concentrated their efforts on
state referenda and a new strategy of testing the law. Women tested the
law as they attempted to vote. Their subsequent arrests and refusals to
pay their fines brought favorable press coverage (Blackwell, 1971; Na-
tional American Woman Suffrage Association, 1940).
Despite a cold reception from many suffrage associations, African
American men and women worked for the cause. Several African
Americans affiliated themselves with existing organizations, while oth-
ers initiated their own campaigns. Frederick Douglass was one of many
African Americans who encouraged African American men to cast
their ballot in support of universal suffrage. Other suffrage leaders in-
cluded Sojourner Truth and Francis Harper–contemporaries of Stanton
and Anthony–and, later, Mary McCrudy and Gertrude Bustill Mossell
(Terborg-Penn, 1998).
The radical daughters of Stanton (Harriot Stanton Blatch) and Stone
and Blackwell (Alice Stone Blackwell) urged reconciliation between
the severed organizations, and in 1890, the groups joined to form the
National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). After the
initial impetus, and early leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt, however,
the years between 1896 and 1910 are described as “the doldrums.” This
is attributed largely to the weak leadership of the NAWSA President,
Dr. Anna Howard Shaw (Dorr, 1970; Stanton et al.,1985c).
Despite the doldrums, important developments were brewing. One of
these was the increased suffrage activity among African Americans. Suf-
frage was linked with black institutions such as the Black Women’s Clubs
and National Association of Colored Women, and these organizations ini-
tiated their own suffrage activism (Hendricks, 1995; Terborg-Penn, 1998).
A second development was the return from England of younger and
more radical leaders, such as Blatch, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. In-
spired by the radicalism of the English Suffrage movement, the new lead-
ers brought suffrage into the open air through parades and outdoor
speeches. Paul and Burns were determined to breathe new life into the in-
effectual lobbying arm of the movement, the Congressional Committee
of the NAWSA. With their co-chair, Jane Addams, they revitalized the
capital-based office of the NAWSA. However, Paul’s ideas proved too
radical for the NAWSA, and she and Burns began their own organiza-
tion. Soon thereafter, Paul and Blatch combined efforts to start the Na-
 Beck, Dorsey, and Stutters 19

tional Women’s Party (NWP), known for its lobbying, picketing, civil
disobedience and engagement in prison hunger strikes. While NAWSA
members initially distanced themselves from the young radicals, they
eventually incorporated a number of their ideas in their own work (Dubois,
1996; Ford, 1996; Lunardini, 1986).
Following her husband’s death in 1910, Catt, a former colleague of
Stanton and Anthony’s, returned to the United States from Europe,
where she had been a leader in cross-national organizing. While abroad,
she had sought to encourage global suffrage and engage heads of state
in the fight for women’s suffrage in the United States. Upon her return,
she led an expertly organized referendum campaign in New York State.
In 1915, Catt was again elected President of the NAWSA, and resumed
leadership (Catt & Shuler, 1969; Van Voris, 1987). Catt’s work differed
from that of previous suffragists. Although the WSM implemented strate-
gic state-oriented campaigns, its work both nationally and within chosen
states was centered on consciousness raising. Catt, however, believed that
the consciousness of the country had been raised, and now the work needed
to be targeted on influencing legislation.
Taking her philosophy to the national level, in 1917 Catt initiated
what she called The Winning Plan: a coordinated advocacy effort to ob-
tain a critical mass of states with suffrage and the initiation of a
full-blown federal campaign. Organizing work began on both the state
and federal level (Catt & Shuler, 1969; Lunardini, 1986; Van Voris,
1987). Catt explained that the suffragists came to know Congress like
no other group, and toward the end of the campaign, women were com-
ing and going between Congress and the NAWSA in relays in numbers
up to the hundreds. The women learned about congressional operations
thoroughly and knew intimately the “work, machinery; its tricks; the
men in it, their pet foibles, their fundamental weaknesses, their finer
ability and their human quality” (Van Voris, 1987, p. 316).
In 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment, giving women the
right to vote, but state ratification was needed. Relatively easily,
twenty-three states ratified, but a twenty-fourth was needed. Of the remain-
ing states, Tennessee was the one most sympathetic to suffrage, and activists
from both sides lobbied the state. A legislative vote of 48-48 signaled a de-
feat for women. However, remembering his mother’s request that he support
Mrs. Catt, State Representative Harry Barnes changed his vote and cast
the final affirmative vote in the 72-year campaign for suffrage
(Flexner, 1970).
20 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE

ANALYTIC METHODS

In order to identify and analyze central factors in the success of the

WSM, the author conducted an extensive review of the women’s suf-
frage literature that included both primary and secondary sources.
Using the constant comparison method, in which the researcher identi-
fies patterns from the data and then builds those patterns into working
hypotheses (Corbin & Strauss, 1997; Bogdan & Biklen, 1992), the doc-
uments were reviewed and coded to identify factors that answered the
question: What factors supported the success of the WSM? We vali-
dated our analysis using Goetz and LeCompte’s (1984) rationale that
construct validity is obtained in qualitative data when the analysis of
data reflects the views of the participants. We obtained construct valid-
ity through the direct reflections made by the participants of the WSM
found in primary resources.

ANALYSIS OF CRITICAL FACTORS

Framing the Issues

Frames enhance collective identity, which in turn provides momen-

tum. Frames were particularly critical to the WSM, given the need to
sustain 72 years of vigorous work; the WSM durability was directly
linked to its success and bolstered by effective framing. Framing was
successful in part because of its use of diagnostic frames that raised con-
sciousness, the prognostic frames that set strategies for action, and the
motivation that was implied in these frames (Wilson, 1973; Snow &
Benford, 1988).

Consciousness Raising

The first 60 years of the movement were largely devoted to con-

sciousness raising, and the WSM was framed as an issue of freedom. In
town halls, churches, living rooms and other venues, national and local
leaders raised women’s consciousness about their status and the need
for change. Transformed participants expressed their belief by signing
petitions, giving money, buying suffrage souvenirs and literature, and
working as organizers. Building on the ideas of the 18th century femi-
nist Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady Stanton first framed the
WSM as an issue of freedom in her Declaration of Sentiments. The
 Beck, Dorsey, and Stutters 21

Declaration of Sentiments reflected the Declaration of Independence,

but differed in stating that “all men and women are created equal”
(Stanton et al., 1985a, p. 70). Since both declarations affirmed a duty to
throw off a government that pursues abuses and usurpation, Stanton
wrote: “Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this
government” (Stanton et al., 1985a, p. 70). She listed abuses and usur-
pations and ended her declaration with resolutions (Finnegan, 1999;
Stanton, 1970, Stanton et al., 1985a).
Particularly in the first 60 years of the WSM, virtually all of the tens
of thousands of speeches, articles and other forms of communication
that followed were based on constructs of freedom relative to women’s
rights. This frame is evidenced in the collection of speeches, letters, legis-
lative actions, reminiscences and other information compiled by Stanton,
Anthony, Gage, and Ida Huster Harper in the 4,000-plus pages of Volumes
1-5 of the History of the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and in the Stanton
and Anthony archives. Freedom-based arguments were found in most 19th
century suffrage arguments. For example, suffragist Ann Preston argued
that God made people free and no man should have the right to come be-
tween God and his intentions, as men had done to women (Stanton et
al., 1985a, pp. 361-362). In the same vein, in 1853 Elizabeth Oakes
Smith argued that women’s exclusion from the constitutional fold
was tyranny and that “true noble womenhood is yet to be created”
(Stanton et al., 1985a, p. 254), and Charles Burleigh explained that
women’s reliance on their husbands’ vote was despotism (Stanton et
al., 1985a, p. 148).

From Awareness to Action

During the last 12 years of the campaign, with the probability of suf-
frage in sight, the frames shifted from awareness to action, as well as
moving from ideas of freedom to calls for specific action. In reflecting
on the convention of 1915, Francis Harper wrote, “For more than 40
years the conventions were dominated by intellectual feasts. In this way
the seed was sowed and public sentiment created. This year it was felt
that the general public needed no further education on this subject; the
association had become a business meeting and the woman suffrage
question one of practical politics” (Stanton et al., 1985d, p. 441). Catt
articulated this shift in framing when she said that she did not know
whether suffrage was a right, duty, or privilege, but women wanted it. In
1917, billboards told people to attend a meeting and help nail the suf-
frage plank (Finnegan, 1999, p. 61).
22 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE

Building Commitment

Motivational frames did not permeate the WSM, but rather an indi-
vidual’s motivation to support the WSM was garnered through the diag-
nostic frames that raised consciousness and the prognostic frames for
action. For example, the organizers viewed petitions not as political
tools, since they recognized that suffrage would not be won by petition
alone, but rather as motivational activities in which the act of signing
one’s name would bind oneself to a cause (Stanton, 1970; Stanton, An-
thony, & Gage, 1985).
A mutually reinforcing relationship develops between the frame of
action, direct action and motivation. Consider C. Wright Mill’s discus-
sion of the positive effect on an individual’s commitment to an issue
when that individual takes the issue from a closed space into an open
sphere (Mills, 1959). In the 1900s, younger suffragists radicalized by
the work of English “suffragettes” took the women’s movement into the
streets with open-air or soapbox lectures and other street-based activi-
ties. In 1910, the streets of New York teemed with suffrage soapboxes.
Describing the campaign, Mary Ting said, “we don’t mind them hoot-
ing . . . all of them will go home and talk to their families about the great
gathering we had, and our cause will get great advertising” (Lumsden,
1997, p. 32). In addition to soapbox campaigns, the younger suffragists
initiated local and national parades. For many participants it took enor-
mous courage to show their political desire in such a public manner
(Lumsden, 1997). Lumsden (1997) states that, “A sense of solidarity
and idealism rubbed off on the women who marched shoulder to shoul-
der in vibrant, color-coordinated costumes, bearing exquisitely stitched
banners of velvet and silk who road opulent floats . . . as bands stirred
the air with marching music” (p. 275).

Movement Community

The WSM emerged during a cycle of protest and was rooted in the
abolitionist and temperance movement. Stanton and Mott met in Lon-
don, following their gender-related exclusion from the World Anti-Slav-
ery Convention in London. Abolitionists Sarah and Angelina Grimke
became suffrage leaders when they recognized that their abolition argu-
ment that individuals had the right to control their own bodies, also held
for women (Sanchez-Eppler, 1993). Anthony also committed herself to
a life of activism as a temperance worker, from which she gained a
number of organizing skills. The WSM not only emerged from a cycle
 Beck, Dorsey, and Stutters 23

of protest, but also it furthered additional social movements which then

supported its own success.
Many organizations, including the NAWSA, National Women’s
Party (NWP) and the National Association of Colored Women, com-
prised a suffrage social movement community (Flexner, 1970). While
competing groups can adversely affect a social movement, the WSM was
bolstered by other organizations. Several factors supported the effective-
ness of the movement community: (1) Organizations worked for the
same narrowly defined goal; (2) Women decided to work with those or-
ganizations that best reflected their definition of the problem, and indi-
viduals excluded from the NAWSA vis-à-vis race, class, or politics
developed their own affinity groups; and (3) The various organizations
did not openly condemn the work of other organizations (Flexnor,
1970; Lunardini, 1986).

Radical Flank Effect

The NWP was a particularly important organization within the social

movement community. The benefits derived from its radical flank ef-
fect proved critical to the passage of the suffrage amendment. The NWP
embodied an important and often underplayed aspect of the WSM’s
success; indeed, it would be difficult to predict what would have been
the course of the WSM without the urgency created by the NWP’s pro-
tests (Graham, 1998). The NWP itself claimed credit for the passage of
women’s suffrage, saying that the Wilson administration “yielded un-
der the gunfire” of the NWP (Ford, 1996, p. 293).

Collective Identity

As Staggenborg (1998) indicated, social movement communities

create a collective identity, often through symbols, rituals, values, and
ideology. The central ritual of the WSM was the annual convention, and
its message was shared through a variety of suffrage periodicals. With-
out question, participants had a strong and proud sense of themselves as
suffragists. A mutual friend of Stanton and Anthony wrote, “each vies
with the other in the noble enthusiasms for the cause to which they are
devoting their lives” (Stanton et al., 1985a, p. 456). In a symbolic use of
power, suffragists showed their alliance to the cause in numerous ways
that included clothing. For example, suffragists often wore yellow rib-
bons, and members of the NWP who were arrested went on speaking
tours donning their prison garb. Suffrage trinkets that identified women’s
24 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE

alliances were sold; these included badges, clothing, and luggage tags
(Finnegan, 1999; Lumsden, 1997).
Collective identity galvanized the actions of the WSM, and its effec-
tiveness was viewed in Shaw’s statement that, “I would rather be an ad-
vocate of equal suffrage and starve than to speak every night on the best
paying platform” (Stanton et al., 1985d, p. 7). Her passion for her iden-
tity was shared among many and helped sustain the movement.

Individual Relationships

The social movement literature does not discuss individual relation-

ships. However, individual and group relationships provide a critical
component to building both a shared identity and the movement com-
munity. Individuals breathe life into the movement organizations and
ignite a sense of solidarity to the group and loyalty to the cause. In so
doing they create a bond of individual responsibility to the sacrifices of
others. As relationships build, so do reinforcing perceptions of efficacy
and solidarity. Relationship building is difficult both to track and to
measure for outcomes. Yet anecdotal evidence, taken from interviews
and memoirs of movement activists, demonstrates that the develop-
ment and nature of relationships can be a critical factor in an individ-
ual’s perseverance in movement activity. Consider Julia Ward
Howe’s contention that the WSM brought her “into such high com-
pany of . . . men and women with whom it was a privilege to labor”
(Blackwell, 1971, p. 246).
Two relationships are noteworthy for their profound effect on the
movement. In each case, the women’s support of each other both sus-
tained them as individuals and buoyed the entire movement. The rela-
tionship between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony is
legendary. Stanton explained, “in thought and sympathy we were one
and in the division of labor we exactly complemented each other”
(Stanton, 1985d, p. 166). Upon Stanton’s death, Anthony indicated that
she could not talk, where Stanton “would have found beautiful phrases
to describe our friendship, but I cannot put it into words” (Dorr, 1970,
p. 327). A second important relationship is found between Paul and
Burns. An NWP member commented that the two women seemed to
have one mind and spirit (Lunardini, 1986). Moreover, in looking at the
success of the movement, it is interesting to note that Burns and Stanton
were the “enthusiasts” to Paul’s and Anthony’s “bureaucrats,” respec-
tively.
 Beck, Dorsey, and Stutters 25

External Resources

Constant sources of money and external resources also have been as-
sociated with the success of social movements (see, for example,
Jenkins & Perrow, 1977). The WSM gained great support in this regard,
particularly in that the movement was comprised largely of privileged
classes of white women, who were also the most immediate beneficia-
ries of the movement’s success. While the WSM was always seeking
money, lack of money was not viewed as a constraining factor (Flexner,
1970). For one thing, few suffragists drew salaries for their work
(Flexner, 1970). Moreover, one way or another, money was available
(Finnegan, 1999; Flexner, 1970), and wealthy individuals provided the
supporting financial glue (Dorr, 1970). For example, family donations
often supported Stone’s suffrage weekly (American Memory, 2000),
and in 1914, Catt received a two million dollar bequest from Mrs. Frank
Leslie to use for the movement.
Suffragists raised money in time-honored ways. Local groups sold
suffrage trinkets and raffle tickets, initiated rummage sales, and staged
a variety of fundraising events, including suffrage pageants (Finnegan,
1999). When Catt assumed the presidency of the NAWSA, she an-
nounced that she would raise a million dollars and accomplished her
goal in less than one year (Van Voris, 1987).

Cross-National Interaction

As Dorsey (1992, 1996) contends, the infusion of new experiences

and ideas are critical to the development of a social movement. The
WSM benefited greatly by the infusion of ideas coming from cross-na-
tional interaction. The leaders of the WSM were energized by the com-
monality of struggles faced by women throughout the world. They were
inspired by successes in Europe and influenced to adopt a more political
strategy with radicalized tactics.
Catt, in particular, benefited from international work and travel. For
eight years, she worked with the International Woman Suffrage Associ-
ation, supporting several countries in their efforts to gain suffrage. She
helped build worldwide support for women’s enfranchisement (Catt &
Shuler, 1969; Van Voris, 1987), and from her experience, gained im-
portant personal insights. She originally employed xenophobic argu-
ments in her suffrage stance; however, following her international
experiences she stopped speaking in intolerant terms and eventually be-
came committed to world peace (Van Voris, 1987).
26 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE

The most important aspect of cross-national interaction, however,

came through young radical suffragists. Following a visit to London
and visits from English suffragettes, Blatch fused her long-time work for
women’s suffrage with a newfound class consciousness. Specifically,
Blatch wanted to insure that working-class women were brought into the
suffrage campaign, as well as benefiting from its ratification. Moreover,
she worked to expand her activism to include class-based issues and ad-
vocated for women’s work to hold economic value. To gain the support
of working-class women Blatch focused her organizing on accessible
open-air campaigns (DuBois, 1996).
The NWP itself was a product of cross-national interaction. Paul and
Burns met in England in 1909, at a suffrage demonstration where they
both were arrested. In England their time was filled with activism that
included learning militant tactics and exploring the philosophy of the
suffragettes which they would carry back to the United States
(Lunardini,1986; Ford, 1996).

Leadership

Leaders frame issues, help the community take action, encourage com-
mitment and often set the tone or steer the course of action (Brueggemann,
1996; Bobo, Kendall, & Max, 1999). The extraordinary leadership capabil-
ities of Stanton, Anthony, Catt, and others are well documented (Dorr,
1970; Ford, 1996; Stanton, 1970; Van Voris, 1987). Within the NWSA,
Stanton held the role of enthusiast, while Anthony and Catt with their
organizing leadership fulfilled more bureaucratic roles. Each of these
women, along with numerous lesser-known local leaders, developed
and orchestrated strategies and tactics, as well as garnered supporters
for the movement.
Catt’s bureaucratic leadership skills can be viewed as particularly as-
tonishing. Flexner indicated that Catt’s greatest gift, “outranking even
her excellence as an organizer was [her] vision which enabled her to
conceive a plan of action, in which each group could play a role to
achieve the desired goal” (p. 189). In 1910 Catt organized New York
into 804 electoral districts and made sure that each district had a team
leader. Team leaders saw that every person in their district had been
talked to about suffrage and that their districts posted banners and held
canvassing squads, speeches, open-air protest meetings, concerts, street
parties, parades and pageants. As a result of these efforts, later in
1917–the year that New York achieved suffrage–1,030,000 names were
collected on petitions (Catt & Shuler, 1969; Van Voris, 1987). Suffrage
 Beck, Dorsey, and Stutters 27

schools were opened to organizers, and in addition to learning how to

implement their own strategies and tactics, the schools explored the
strategies and tactics of the anti-suffragists.
The authors believe that Catt’s greatest strength arose from her abil-
ity to read the social and political context and strategically adapt the
WSM to this context. For example, although somewhat suspicious of
open-air campaigns, Catt soon saw their efficacy and incorporated that
tactic into her repertoire. Most significant was Catt’s understanding that
the context of the Progressive Era supported an action-oriented cam-
paign and that times demanded that the WSM ratchet its strategy to a
higher level of action. Upon this recognition Catt used her skills to de-
velop her winning plan. Before announcing her plan, she worked for
two years proving the tenets of her ideas in New York and developing
allies. Thus, when she unveiled the plan, its adoption by the NAWSA
was virtually assured. Catt saw the need to change strategy and then
guided a conservative organization toward her agenda (Catt & Shuler,
1969; Van Voris, 1987).

SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

The WSM provides numerous lessons to students of social welfare

history and community practice, as well as to community practitioners.
This paper argues that five critical factors supported the success of the
WSM.
(1) The framing of the WSM as a freedom-based cause built the nec-
essary consciousness and constituency, and the numerous strategies and
tactics employed by activists moved the effort forward. Later, the issue
became reframed into a winning plan in which the activist’s role was
clearly defined. Together, these frames supported women’s political
identity and increased activism. (2) Through suffrage, women were
able to find a movement community and identity that sustained them in
their lives and in their work. In the waning stages of the Victorian era,
women began pushing the boundaries of society by engaging in their
own breed of radicalism. In this regard, the suffrage community not
only sustained suffrage work but also provided meaning in the lives of
those individuals involved. (3) The suffrage movement received exter-
nal resources and particularly financial benefit by its appeal to mid-
dle-class and elite women. (4) The WSM was additionally successful
because it looked to others for examples. Much like the current interest
in best practices, the suffrage movement sought to learn from the work
28 JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PRACTICE

of others, and most specifically through their cross-national interactions

with English suffragettes. (5) The leadership of the WSM was passion-
ately committed, and by utilizing leaders who were extraordinarily
strong as either bureaucrats or enthusiasts, the WSM maintained strong
philosophical appeals for suffrage and solid organizing techniques.
While these points supported the success of the WSM, it is important
to note that resource mobilization and political opportunities affected
the WSM as well. In terms of resource mobilization, the WSM grew out
of the abolition and temperance movements. Additionally, the political
context of the progressive era supported the passage of reform legisla-
tion, including women’s suffrage. The importance of resource mobiliza-
tion and political opportunity cannot be underestimated in an examination
of the WSM. Fisher (2001) argues that the political, economic, and social
context of the world at large shapes the success and failure of commu-
nity work. Cloward and Piven (1999) take this argument a step further
as they argue that the success of organizing campaigns hinges on con-
text. While believing that context is critical to success, the authors also
realize that it is something over which organizers have little control, and
that even when a context presents a moment right for change, that
change will not occur without good organizing skills. Thus the lessons
of the WSM prove instructive.
However, the lessons learned from the WSM are not all positive. The
racism expressed by individuals and organizations in the movement has
had a long-term detrimental effect on the building of multiracial gen-
der-based organizations. While Blatch fought to incorporate work-
ing-women’s issues into the fold, organizing for gender equality is often
still based in a middle-class context.
Many of additional lessons can be gleaned from an examination of
the WSM. One of the most intriguing issues is that of durability. How,
indeed, did the movement sustain itself for such a long period? While
we argue that the factors associated with success were also associated
with durability, more work needs to be done to explore the separate is-
sue of durability within social movements. An additional issue for ex-
ploration is whether women-led movements have different qualities
from other social movements.
Social movements and their success are central to social work. Not
only do social workers play important roles in social movements, but
social movements also affect all aspects of social work practice. Addi-
tionally, Fisher and Romanofsky (1981) argue that community-orga-
nizing successes are often related to their ability to align with or reflect
contemporaneous social movements. Perhaps most important to social
 Beck, Dorsey, and Stutters 29

work, however, are analyses of social movements’ successes. While so-

ciologists can be viewed as interested primarily in issues of environ-
mental context, social workers, as change agents, are interested in and
committed to those processes that support effective outcomes.
Fisher and Karger (1997) and Fisher (1994) argue that the United
States is at a point of neoconservatism, creating a difficult environment
for community organizing and social justice work. However, the politi-
cal opportunity theory of emergence supports the idea that social move-
ments can form from repressive policies. It is also important to note that
the social justice gains that have been made need to be protected. In our
globalized, post-September 11th world, community organizers have
large issues with which to grapple and may want to consider the lessons
of the past to support their strategies, tactics, and actions.

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 Beck, Dorsey, and Stutters 33

APPENDIX. Timeline of the Movement for Women’s Suffrage

1840 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott meet and agree to hold a convention to
advocate for the rights of women.
1848 The Seneca Falls Convention is held, and a small group of women initiate a con-
sciousness-raising campaign.
1851 Susan B. Anthony joins the Women’s Suffrage Movement (WSM) as a full-time or-
ganizer.
1867 The WSM seeks to win state suffrage in Kansas.
1869 The question of whether to support the enfranchisement of African American men
with the 15th amendment causes a split in the WSM.
1869 Supporters of the 15th amendment, such as Lucy Stone and Harry Blackwell,
start the American Suffrage Association, which publishes the Woman’s Journal, a
suffrage weekly.
1869 Anthony and Stanton begin the National Suffrage Organization.
1870 Anthony and Stanton align themselves with Francis Train, a rumored supporter of
the confederacy.
1871 Anthony and Stanton align themselves with Victoria Woodhull, a supporter of free
love.
1873 The National Suffrage Organization adopts the strategy of “testing the law.”
1890 After several years of negotiations, the National American Woman Suffrage Asso-
ciation (NAWSA) is formed.
1900 Anthony resigns as NAWSA President and Carrie Chapman Catt succeeds her.
1904 Catt resigns her presidency to devote more time to her husband. Dr. Anna
Howard Shaw is elected President of the NAWSA. Her tenure yields few accom-
plishments.
1907 Harriot Stanton Blatch forms the Equality League of Self Supporting Women, later
called the Women’s Political Union, and uses open-air speeches and parades to
bring suffrage into public space.
1910 Carrie Chapman Catt organizes the New York referendum campaign.
1915 With Florence Kelly’s leadership, Shaw is ousted as President of the NAWSA and
Catt voted to replace her.
1917 Catt initiates what she calls “The Winning Plan.”
1917 Paul and Blatch form the National Women’s Party (NWP).
1917 The NWP begins picketing the White House; picketers are arrested and begin
hunger strikes in jail.
1919 Congress passes the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote.
1920 Twenty-two states ratify the 19th Amendment.
1920 Suffragists and anti-suffragists descend on Tennessee, the most likely of the re-
maining states to ratify.
1920 A vote held in Tennessee ratifies suffrage.