Propaganda of the Suffrage Movement

During this time period, a woman’s place was in the home. Heaven forbid the father of the household to be responsible for his children. It was his role to work outside of the home only. This poster is trying to scare men and women this is the future waiting for them if women are granted the right to vote.

Mind the baby, I Must Vote To-day

Webb, E. H., composer, lyricist, 1914

Library of Congress, Music Division

Nina Allender created many posters outlining the hopes and ideals of the Women’s Suffrage movement. She was the official artist for The Suffragist (the weekly newspaper of the National Woman’s Party),

Women's Work for Women. 'The Sky's the Limit.'

Nina Allender, 1923

National Woman’s Party

These poor Kewpie Dolls! The one on the right is broken-hearted since they are a girl baby they will be “taxed without representation”. Where have we heard that saying before!

Propaganda pulls from successful campaigns of the past. “No taxation without representation” was a rallying cry for the American Revolution. This is trying to imply granting women the right to vote is the American and patriotic thing to do.

National Women’s Suffrage Association

At the beginning of the Suffrage Movement, the United States was still adding states to the union. When states like Utah joined, they granted women full suffrage. Other western states followed. The west led the way in granting women the right to vote.

How the West Led the Way

1919

National Woman Suffrage Publishing

Norman B. Leventhal Map Center

Boston Public Library

This map from 1919 is another representation of the which states granted the women the right to vote. Note which states were first!

It was not as simple as men vs. women for suffrage. Many men supported the women’s right to vote and many women did not want the right to vote. Some claimed a women’s place was in the home and there were too hysterical and emotional to vote.

Poster created by Nina Allender

National Woman’s Party Collection

Circa 1913

This poster created by Nina Allender shows a young woman lecturing a donkey about how the political parties are not meeting the needs of their citizens.

In this poster, Allender is drawing comparisons between President Lincoln handing the emancipation proclamation to enslaved Americans and the U.S. Constitution being held out of reach of women.

Nina Allender. Published in The Suffragist (January 23, 1915)

There are countless photographs of women protesting. This Allender poster commemorates these women. Often protest signs would contain quotes from leaders of the movement or taking the words of the political leaders. This banner features the Call to Action for World War I from Woodrow Wilson, “... We shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts, -- for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own Governments,”.

Nina Allender. Published in The Suffragist (June 6, 1917)

By 1918, unofficial vote counts of senators supporting the woman suffrage amendment revealed a deficit of just two votes. In this June 1918 cartoon by Nina Allender, a woman dressed as a soldier stands over a man representing the Senate. The man holds a piece of paper that reads, “Two Votes.” The phrase “The Last Trench” is inscribed beneath the image.

Nina Allender Political Cartoon Collection, National Woman's Party

As with any fight for human rights, women were willing to sacrifice and go to incredible lengths to have their voices heard. The caption reads “President Wilson says, ‘Godspeed to the Cause’”, while the board asks exactly what the President will do or if he will only offer words instead of action.

Nina Allender. Published in The Suffragist (October 3, 1917)