Thursday, November 12, 2015

On This Date in Minnesota History: November 12

November 12, 1913 – Mrs. William Force Scott of New York, vice president of the Guidon Club, an organization opposed to woman suffrage, spoke in St. Paul today before a group of women who desire to form a Minnesota body similar to the club in which Mrs. Scott is an officer.



Women in Neb. protesting women’s suffrage1

A majority of the women at the session, which was held at the St. Paul Hotel, were from Minneapolis, with numerous St. Paul representatives. After Mrs. Scott made a short talk and before the scheduled address, those in sympathy with women’s suffrage and newspaper reporters were asked to leave. Later Mrs. Scott gave a short speech for their special benefit.

“The anti-suffrage movement is the most progressive movement of the day,” said Mrs. Scott. “We are fighting for a sane government, founded on the welfare of the majority. The suffragists, on the other hand, want an individualistic and anarchistic situation wherein everybody votes regardless of training and instincts. They want an unrestrained democracy, which means mob rule. We are working for a restrained democracy and the prosperity of the nation as a whole.”


Anti-suffrage Poster2

“In our battle we must set aside petty arguments and look at the question in its broadest respect. Set aside the emotional war cries of the suffragists about white slavery and minimum wage. We lost California by their morbid stories of the sufferings of the women and children in the glassworks. I don’t hesitate to say that these stories were not true. Go yourselves and investigate if you want to know the truth.

“The suffragists are making any sort of decent political life impossible. Every statesman is constantly heckled with the throats of the suffragists. It is they with their threatening letters who made our chief executive, President Wilson, break the law of his own country and let in Mrs. Pankhurst.*

“We must learn how to raise money,” she said. “I am only too glad to give all my money towards the movement, but we can have no real strength without capital. It is difficult for us to get money because it goes against our best feelings to ask for it, and we all hope that we will never have to earn it.”

Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Woman Suffrage Opponent Speaks; Advocates Barred. Mrs. William Force Scott Talks to Women on the Anti-Movement. Local Club Organized in St. Paul—Mrs. J. H. Straight, President.”; Nov. 13,1913; p.1.


 
*Emmeline Pankhurst was a well-known British suffragist who was detained at Ellis Island in Oct.1913; officials would not allow her to enter the U. S. once she admitted she’d been in prison for protesting. President Wilson intervened, allowing Mrs. Pankhurst to enter New York, much to the excitement of the general public.

https://books.google.com/books?id=OIOECqUkUCsC&pg=PT477&lpg=PT477&dq=mrs.+pankhurst+and+president+wilson&source=bl&ots=ThG8NiMx2t&sig=CPgzqlYJ1vvoTi4d8bIFHw7oP10&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDkQ6AEwCGoVChMIqZfAu5LmyAIVyXM-Ch21vQZW#v=onepage&q=mrs.%20pankhurst%20and%20president%20wilson&f=false
               __________________________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about your family history in Minnesota, I specialize in researching  genealogical and historical records in Minn. and western Wis., including:
census records,  birth records,  death certificates, obits, grave site photos, ship passenger lists, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records.  I will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MHS records.  Both short searches and family history reports.

Website: 
TheMemoryQuilt.com ®  click on Family History

Contact me at:
pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com   





No comments:

Post a Comment