Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States

Alexander Street database
By Thomas Dublin and Kathryn Kish Sklar
Last update July 2024

The Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States will eventually offer short biographies of about 3,670 grassroots women suffragists whose activism was concentrated in the period 1890-1920, but also occurred before and after those years... Written entirely by volunteers, the sketches include three groups: militants associated with the National Woman's Party, Black suffragists affiliated with a variety of local and national organizations, and mainstream suffragists affiliated with the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The sketches place women's suffrage activism within the frame of women's broader social agenda, before and after the passage of the 19th Amendment in August 1920. 

State Coordinator for Rhode Island mainstream suffragists:
Dr. Elisa Miller, Associate Professor at Rhode Island College, HISTORY Chair

National Woman's Party

Mildred Hawes Glines (Grant Rollins), 1895-1974 Providence NWP - National Woman's Party; Red Cross 

Maria Kindberg, 1860-1921 Providence - Women's Political Equality League of Rhode Island, Congressional Union of Rhode Island, National Woman's Party

Ingeborg Kindstedt, 1865-1950 Providence - Women's Political Equality League of Rhode Island; Congressional Union of Rhode Island; National Woman's Party; International Temperance Organization for Rhode Island

Black Women Suffragists

Mae E. Proffitt Bentley, 1887-1971 Providence - Rhode Island Union of Colored Women's Clubs, NAACP 

Rose Talliaferro Bradic, 1880-1944 Providence - Rhode Island Union of Colored Women's Clubs, Providence League of Women Voters 

Jacinthia Perry Brown, 1891-1967 Providence - Rhode Island Union of Colored Women's Clubs 

Roberta J. Dunbar, 1868-1956 Providence NAWSA - National Association of Colored Women (NACW), League of Women Voters of Providence

Daisy D. Hart, 1878-1951 East Providence - Rhode Island Union of Colored Women's Clubs 

Eugenia V. Heathman, 1875-1928 Providence - Rhode Island Union of Colored Women's Clubs, Providence League of Women Voters, Rhode Island Woman's Party, Julia Ward Howe Republican Club 

Bertha G. Higgins, 1872-1944 Providence NAWSA - Rhode Island Union of Colored Women's Clubs, Providence Woman Suffrage Party, Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Party, Providence League of Women Voters

Mary E. Jackson, 1867-1923 Providence - Rhode Island Association of Colored Women's Clubs, National Association of Colored Women (NACW), Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), Alpha Suffrage Club

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Anna V. Jones, 1867-1942 Providence - Rhode Island Association of Colored Women's Clubs 

Josephine B. Long, 1880-1957 Providence - Rhode Island Association of Colored Women's Clubs 

Mary E. Ford Lysbey, 1860-1955 and Madelyn Mary Lysbey, 1900-? Pawtucket - Rhode Island Association of Colored Women's Clubs 

Elizabeth N.V. McCoy, 1867-1938 Providence - Rhode Island Association of Colored Women's Clubs 

Fannie H. Phillips, 1870-1929 Providence - Rhode Island Association of Colored Women's Clubs, RI Woman Suffrage Party, New England Suffrage League, Providence Woman Suffrage Party 

Julia B. Phillips, 1863-1938 Providence - Rhode Island Association of Colored Women's Clubs 

Lucy Proffitt (Johnson), 1882- 1959 Providence - Rhode Island Association of Colored Women's Clubs 

Victorine Spears (Kinloch), 1885-1951 East Providence - Rhode Island Association of Colored Women's Clubs 

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NAWSA National American Woman Suffrage Association

Esther H. Abelson, 1889-1970 Pawtucket - Progressive Party, Rhode Island Suffrage Party, Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association, Woman Suffrage Party

Sara M. Algeo, 1876-1953 Providence - RI College Equal Suffrage League; RI Woman Suffrage Party; RI Woman Suffrage Association; New England Woman Suffrage Association; RI Woman's Americanization Committee; Providence League of Women Voters; National Woman's Party; NAACP; Temperance and Working Women's Club; RI Association of Collegiate Alumnae; Teacher; Political Candidate

Leila Peirce Andrews, 1868-1946 North Providence - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Party, Rhode Island League of Women Voters

Mary M. Angell, 1838-1922 Providence - Rhode Island Women Suffrage Association, Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association, League of Women Voters - Rhode Island Women's Club, Athenaeum Librarian (biography has photo of Ratification signing Jan. 7, 1920)

Mary Borden Anthony, 1863-1947 Providence - RI Equal Suffrage Association; RI Woman Suffrage Society; RI Woman Suffrage Party; League of Women Voters; Girls' Friendly Society; National Woman's Party of Rhode Island

Agnes M. Bacon, 1876-1936 Central Falls - Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; Chair of American Citizenship, Rhode Island League of Women Voters; Officer; National Council of Catholic Women; Director of Americanization, Rhode Island Board of Education; Providence Queen's Daughters, Catholic Women's Benevolent Legion in Pawtucket, Central Falls Teacher Association

Mary Rathbone Ballou, 1837-1926 Bristol Ferry - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association; Rhode Island Women's Club

Elizabeth M. Barr, 1878-1950 Providence - Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; Rhode Island Women's Party; Librarian, Rhode State Library; League of Women Voters; Women's Republican Club of Rhode Island

Annie Howes Barus, 1854-1928 Providence - Association of Collegiate Alumnae; RI Consumers' League; RI Women's Club; RI Child Labor Committee; National Child Labor Committee; Providence School Committee; College Equal Suffrage League; RI Equal Suffrage Association; New England Woman Suffrage Association; United League of Women Voters of Rhode Island

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Nettie E. Bauer, 1873-1942 Providence - RI Woman Suffrage Party; RI Equal Suffrage Association; New England Woman Suffrage Association; Red Cross; League of Women Voters; Republican Party; Deputy Jury Commissioner of Rhode Island

Ellen M. Bolles, 1847-? Providence - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association; New England Woman Suffrage Association; Labor Activist

Jessie V. Budlong, 1875-1935 Providence - College Equal Suffrage League; United League of Women Voters; Rhode Island Association of Working Women's Clubs; National League of Women Workers; Consumers' League of Rhode Island; Rhode Island branch of Association of Collegiate Alumnae

Minnie Mabel Chamberlain Carpenter, 1868-1958 Providence - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association; Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; United League of Women Voters; Rhode Island Republican Party; Rhode Island Girl Scouts; Rhode Island Consumers' League

Joujou E. Converse Colt (Mrs. LeBaron C. Colt), 1878-1952 Bristol - Bristol County Equal Suffrage League; Treasurer, Rhode Island branch of the National Women's Oversea Hospital

Alice Worden Cooper, 1880-1961 Providence - RI Woman Suffrage Party; RI Equal Suffrage Association; Italian Department for the Sprague House and Federal Hill House; RI Consumers' League (Cousin of suffragist Inez Milholland)

Grace Lillian (Mrs. John A.) Cross, 1861-1930 Providence - Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; New England Woman Suffrage Association; Sprague House Association (Mount Pleasant Working Girls' Club); Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

Ardelia Cook Dewing, 1831-1915 Providence - RI Woman Suffrage Association (RIWSA); Providence Woman Suffrage League; New England Woman Suffrage Association

Helen Dougherty, 1880-1976 Providence - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Party; Secretary, Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; Socialist

Caroline Dowell, 1855-1921 Providence - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association; Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Party Member; Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Council

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Ettie (Mrs. George E.) Dunbar, 1869-1930 Cranston - Woman Suffrage Party, Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association, Newton Equal Suffrage League, Massachusetts Woman's Republican Club

Roberta J. Dunbar, 1868-1956 Providence - National Association of Colored Women (NACW), League of Women Voters of Providence

Margarethe Lyman Dwight, 1871-1962 Providence - RI Woman Suffrage Association; RI United League of Women Voters; RI Association for the Blind; Providence Female Charitable Society; Trustee, The Lincoln School

Sarah J. Eddy, 1851-1945 Bristol Ferry (Portsmouth) - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association, Painter of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass Portraits

Emeline Burke Eldredge, 1853 - 1934 Bristol Ferry - Newport County Woman Suffrage League; Superintendent of Portsmouth Schools; Board member of the Portsmouth Free Public Library; Director of the Social Studio

Helen Emerson, 1889-1971 Providence - College Equal Suffrage League of Rhode Island; Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association

Florence (Mrs. Fred S.) Fenner, 1875-1937 Providence - RI Equal Suffrage Association; League of Women Voters RI; Providence LWV; Democratic Women Voters of RI; Ladies' Department of the G.A.R.; RI National Woman's Party; Woman's Christian Temperance Union of RI; Daughters of the United States Constitution of RI

Sara Loretto (Groden) Fittz, 1877-1969 Providence/Cranston - RI Equal Suffrage Association; RI Woman Suffrage Association; RI Woman Suffrage Party; United League of Women Voters of Rhode Island

Jeannette S. French, 1847-1918 Pawtucket - RI Women Suffrage Association, Pawtucket Women Suffrage League, Editor and Publisher of The Woman Citizen (RI), New England Woman Suffrage Association, Woman's Christian Temperance Union; Daughters of the Heather

Florence Garvin, 1876-1968 Pawtucket - Rhode Island College Equal Suffrage League; Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association; New England Woman Suffrage Association

Ardelia Cook Dewing Gladding, 1857-1930 Barrington/Providence - RI Woman Suffrage Association; College Equal Suffrage League of RI; Barrington Equal Suffrage League; New England Woman Suffrage Association; National American Woman Suffrage Association; Temperance Activist

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Althea L. Hall, 1864-1934 Pawtucket - RI Woman Suffrage Association; RI Equal Suffrage Association; RI Woman Suffrage Party; Pawtucket Woman's Citizen League; Red Cross; Chair, Pawtucket LWV; United League of Women Voters of RI

Louise Hall, 1881-1966 - Paid field secretary for the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association and the Rhode Island College Equal Suffrage League 

Amy E. Harris, 1854-1938 Providence - RI Woman Suffrage Association; Trustee, Bell Street Chapel; Member, Rhode Island Woman's Club, Sister of artist and suffragist, Sarah J. Eddy

Avis A. Hawkins, 1857-1951 Providence - Teacher; Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; United League of Women Voters; Rhode Island State Federation of Women's Clubs, Federation of Women's Church Societies of Rhode Island; Providence Woman Christian Temperance Union

Bertha G. Higgins, 1872-1944 Providence - Rhode Island Union of Colored Women's Clubs, Providence Woman Suffrage Party, Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Party, Providence League of Women Voters

Mary Frances Wellington Homer, 1842-1913 Providence - Belmont Suffrage League, RI Woman Suffrage Association, American Peace Society, the National Council of Women, the RI Women's Club, the National Unitarian Temperance Society, the Union for Christian Work, Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sprague House Association

Helen N.B. Janes, 1854-1930 Providence - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association, Providence Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Rhode Island League of Women Voters, Union Settlement (a social welfare organization), Providence Mothers' Club (an organization that advocated for better conditions for mothers and children)

Agnes M. Jenks, 1870-1945 Providence - Brookline (MA) Equal Suffrage Association; Concord (MA) Equal Suffrage Association; NH Woman Suffrage Association; RI Woman Suffrage Party; RI Woman Suffrage Association; RI Equal Suffrage Association; Actress; Republican Speaker; Tax reform activist

Ann M. Jewett, 1837-1927 Providence - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association, New England Woman Suffrage Association, National American Woman Suffrage Association, Bell Street Chapel - married by Anna Garlin Spencer 

Deborah Knox Livingston, 1876-1923 Providence - Rhode Island Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), Bangor (Maine) Suffrage Center, Rhode Island League of Women Voters

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Frances Lucas, 1873-1944 Providence - Principal, Lincoln School; Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; Rhode Island United League of Women Voters; Women's Peace Party; Rhode Island Association of Working Women's Clubs

Clara Brownell May (Mrs. Oscar) Miller, 1866-1953 Bristol Ferry - Newport County Woman Suffrage League, Newport County Women's Republican Club

Cora Mitchel, 1847-1929 Bristol Ferry - Newport County Woman Suffrage League; New England Woman Suffrage Association

Isabelle Ahearn O'Neill, 1880-1975 Providence - Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; teacher of elocution and physical education; stage and screen actor; first woman elected to the Rhode Island legislature

Mabel E. Orgelman, 1885-1966 Bristol - Bristol Equal Suffrage League, Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association, Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Party

Ethel W. Parks (Barlow), 1880-1972 Providence - RI Woman Suffrage Party; Member, RI Equal Suffrage Association; RI Woman Suffrage Association; League of Women Voters RI; Member, RI Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; Providence YWCA

Helen (Mrs. George W.) Parks, 1852-1932 Providence/Watch Hill - RI Woman Suffrage Party; RI Equal Suffrage Association; RI Woman Suffrage Association; League of Women Voters RI

Louise (Mrs. Walter A.) Peck, 1856-1934 Providence - Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; United League of Women Voters of Rhode Island; Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children; Woman's College at Brown University; Daughters of the Revolution; Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Housewives' League

Enid M. Pierce, 1874-1921 Providence - Providence Woman Suffrage Party; Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Party; Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; Providence League of Women Voters

Alice F. Porter, 1859-1939 Providence - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association; Officer, North Providence and Rhode Island Woman's Christian Temperance Unions; Committee Chair, Rhode Island United League of Women Voters

Anne E. Hitchcock (Mrs. W.S.) Sims, 1875-1960 Newport - Newport County Woman's Suffrage League, Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; Naval Wife; Girl Scouts of the USA; Red Cross; Rhode Island Civic Committee (penal reform and child labor reform)

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Anna Gardiner Smith (Mrs. Edwin C.), 1880-1962 Providence - Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association; National American Woman Suffrage Association; the Woman's Republican Club; State Federation of Woman's Clubs

Veva Etheline (Mrs. Bertram) Storrs, 1875-1950 Portsmouth - Newport County Woman Suffrage League, Current Topics Club, the Newport Girl Scouts' Council, American Red Cross

Mary Clark Sturtevant, 1843-1931 Middletown - Newport County Woman Suffrage League, Newport County Woman Suffrage League, Newport Suffrage League, Rhode Island State Committee of Woman Suffrage, Congressional Union - Berkeley Memorial Church

Rowena Peck Barnes Tingley, 1851-1919 Providence - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association, New England Woman's Suffrage Association, Woman's Christian Temperance Union

Henrietta von Klenze, Ph.D., 1871-1945 Providence - College Equal Suffrage League; New England Woman Suffrage Association; Congressional Union

Gertrude Edgerton Knox Wells, 1887-1977 Providence - Rhode Island Equal Suffrage Association, College Suffrage League, Young Women's Christian Association, Near East Relief (aid to Armenian genocide victims in Ottoman Turkey), Rhode Island United League of Women Voters

Mary K. Wood, 1828-1902 Providence/Pawtucket - Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association; New England Woman Suffrage Association; Women's National Loyal League (abolition); Woman's Christian Temperance Union 

Sadie Wright (Mrs. Walter), 1867-1942 Newport - Newport County Woman Suffragist League; War Library Fund; Progressive Party; Newport County Women's Republican Club

Elizabeth Upham Yates, 1857-1942 Providence - Missionary; Lecturer for the Maine Woman Suffrage Association, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union; Chair of Presidential Suffrage for NAWSA; RI Woman Suffrage Association; RI Equal Suffrage Association; New England Woman Suffrage Association; United League of Woman Voters, Candidate for Lieutenant Governor; Democratic Women's Bureau of RI; Peace Activist

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Summer Residents (Newport area)

Alva Vanderbilt Belmont NWP - Marble House 
Margaret Tobin Brown NAWSA
Augusta Lewis Maverick [Gus] Kelley NWP
Margaret Lewis Morgan Norrie NAWSA
Helen Coolidge Mansfield  NAWSA
Katherine Duer Mackay  NAWSA
Marian Lincoln Perry  NWP
Vira Boarman Whitehouse  NAWSA

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