During Women’s History month and hosted by WNBA-National, an interview with author/historian Doris Weatherford and moderated by Valerie Tomaselli, the author shed light on volumes of history, notably regarding the long road to securing women’s right to vote. One graduate level course sparked Doris’s lifelong interest in women’s suffrage and activism related to women’s issues. Her path, to fill in the gaps of untold history, began with research on the lives of immigrant women and her first of many books.
Doris and Valerie (former president, WNBA National and New York) worked together on WNBA’s centennial publication, Women in the Literary Landscape, but their collaboration dates back to before 1998, when they joined forces on two formidable volumes about women in American politics.
The 19th Amendment, long-time coming:
Doris regaled attendees with backstage dramas, from working with Congress to secure and keep the required 2/3 majority vote in both houses, to states changing their minds, seemingly on the whims of political winds. She described with irony (“things haven’t changed much”). Legislators voted from hospital beds, admonitions from their mothers, and due diligence led to the 19th Amendment added to the Constitution.
Players, Pacifists, and Politics
Although Doris referred to key Suffragists and early feminists, her approach was to place them in broader social contexts, like WWI or labor law movements. Favorites were Carrie Chapman Catt, who led or took part in an astonishing number of campaigns and events, Revolutionary War era women, and radical activists like Alice Paul.
No fact was left unturned in Doris’s presentation. She went on to include other notable times: how Utah had the first female state senator but lost the vote and how indecisive Washington state finally scrapped the vote. In granting suffrage, Western states were generally more liberal than Eastern states. Suffrage and temperance brought to life why Susan B. Anthony (and other women) who chose not to marry (to hang onto their property), and how women did not seek child custody, for fear of being sent to mental hospitals by their husbands.
Doris’s engaging speaking style is deft historian meets delightful storyteller; as she says, “in the end, we needed the radicals, the crazies, and the women wearing pearls, to come together.” It was painful to hear about the treatment of marginalized women of color. So-called luminaries came out on the wrong side of race and religion, including anti-Catholic, and anti-Black differences. Women got arrested picketing, chaining themselves to the fence, and were attacked by Washington DC cops.
Peaks and Valleys, Perspectives and Progress
Lively audience Q/A opened up the conversation. “Everything takes a long time, but look at what we have today. When President Biden made his State of the Union address, there were two women behind him for the first time (Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi).” Doris said. She referred to the last 50 years or so as a time of “peaks and valleys, mostly valleys – things were achieved in the first half of the 20th century, and still rights are not equal… Although the age of consent in Delaware was just seven in 1900, women were banned from serving on juries until the 1960s, and teachers did not receive equal pay until the 1950s.” Even progressive women opposed the Equal Rights Amendment for complicated reasons, including being of the mindset that the ERA might not protect women’s rights on the job, or might leave women worse off.
Doris shared her current concerns diplomatically, “Just vote for the party that concentrates on women’s reproductive rights. Get active on campaigns. It’s easy to get discouraged. Vote for the party that is most sympathetic to women’s rights,” concluding that to go on, “it takes dedication, perseverance, strategic thinking and tactical maneuvering.” Valerie added parallels between fights for women’s rights and women in publishing, and how WNBA’s founding in 1917 addressed that singular need. Doris’s unwavering vigilance to set the record straight and inform the public about women’s history has enticed me, and I’m sure many, to learn and read more.
“Writing is my favorite form of activism.”
What’s next? Doris is planning a summer visit to Washington, DC, to watch the statue of Mary McLeod Bethune replace Florida’s confederate general (posted in 1922). Bethune founded a college and was considered one of the most influential women during the Roosevelt and Truman eras. Valerie referred to Doris as “the great mentioner,” so we will end for now with this final mention, best wishes for continued success!
More information
Doris Weatherford’s books can be found on her website: //dweatherford.ag-sites.net/bio.htm.
