Regular visitors here may remember a post seen here and a subsequent piece in the November 2016 Gaslight News that featured photos documenting the 1913 women’s suffrage hike from New York City to Washington, DC. A series of hand-captioned photos in an old family album owned by Bill and Nancy Steel provided the catalyst that activated our research for that article.
We hope that our readers may have more old family photo albums, letters, diaries, and other such primary sources that may further illustrate the struggle of South Jersey suffragists who fought to secure the right to vote for women.
Lisa Hendrickson of Mt. Laurel’s Alice Paul Institute asked for our help in finding items from folks that the organization can photograph to reproduce on educational banners. These banners will travel to local libraries, historical societies, corporations throughout 2020.
Ms. Hendrickson writes:
Was an ancestor of yours a suffragist? Do you have family photographs of suffrage events in southern New Jersey from 1905-1920 that you would be willing to share?
Please help the Alice Paul Institute and the Riverton Historical Society find information on local suffragists and some of the suffrage events that happened in southern NJ. The Alice Paul Institute is creating a traveling exhibit about the suffrage movement for the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 2020. We are looking for photographs, voting memorabilia, newspaper articles, etc. that show local people and events. Items would be photographed for the two-dimensional exhibit.
You might just see an ancestor in the following list of suffragists’ names that appeared in newspapers of the time.
Mrs. Rachel Foster Avery
Miss Annette Campbell
Miss Amelia Coale
Miss Edith Coale
Mrs. E. S. Cole
Mrs. Catherine B. Lippincott
Miss Helen Lippincott
Miss Elizabeth Lippincott
Mrs. Mary W. Lippincott
Miss Beulah Parry
Miss Susanna Parry
Mrs. Mary L. Thomas
Mrs. E. R. H. VanValin
Miss Elizabeth Williams
Mrs. D. Henry Wright
These were excerpted from a much longer list of suffragists from throughout South Jersey that Ms. Hendrickson provided. Look for dozens more names from Beverly, Bordentown, Camden, Clayton, Collingswood, Florence, Franklinville, Haddonfield, Glassboro, Merchantville, Millville, Mt. Holly, Palmyra, Pennsauken, Princeton, Riverside, Trenton, Westfield, and Woodbury.
If you have any items that you could share, please contact us. Questions? Call the Alice Paul Institute at 856-231-1885.
Alisa Dupuy, professional storyteller and historical reenactor, will return in October to portray Alice Paul, American suffragist, feminist, and women’s rights activist. Details to follow in another post.
