List of Virginia suffragists

This is a list of Virginia suffragists, suffrage groups and others associated with the cause of women's suffrage in Virginia.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (September 2020)

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## Groups

[edit]

* Bedford Equal Suffrage League.[1]
* Colored Women's Voting Club in Roanoke.[2]
* Equal Suffrage League of Fredericksburg.[3]
* Equal Suffrage League of Highland Springs.[4]
* Equal Suffrage League of Lynchburg.[4]
* Equal Suffrage League of Norfolk.[3]
* Equal Suffrage League of Williamsburg.[4]
* Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, formed in 1909.[5]
* Men's Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, formed in 1912.[6]
* Newport News Equal Suffrage League.[5]
* Virginia Beach National Woman's Party.[7]
* Virginia State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, created in 1907.[8]
* Virginia State Woman Suffrage Association.[9][10][11]
* Virginia Suffrage Association (formerly Virginia Suffrage Society) formed in 1893.[5]
* Virginia Branch of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage formed in 1915.[12]

## Suffragists

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Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute faculty members who registered to vote in 1920

* Pauline Adams (Norfolk).[1]
* Lillie Barbour.[13]
* Janie Porter Barrett (Hampton).[13]
* Kate Waller Barrett (Alexandria).[14]
* Anna Whitehead Bodeker – co-founder and inaugural president of Virginia State Woman Suffrage Association, the first suffrage association in Virginia.[14]
* Kate Langley Bosher (Richmond).[14]
* Rosa Dixon Bowser (Richmond).[1]
* Martha Haines Butt.[15]
* Anne Atkinson Burmeister Chamberlayne[16]
* Adèle Clark (Richmond).[1]
* Mary Ellen Pollard Clarke[17]
* Elizabeth Cooke (Norfolk).[18]
* Edith Clark Cowles (Richmond).[1]
* Anne Clay Crenshaw (Richmond).[5]
* Blanche Culpeper[19]
* Janet Stuart Oldershaw Durham[16]
* Janetta R. FitzHugh (Fredericksburg).[3]
* Ellen Glasgow (Richmond).[14]
* Nora Houston (Richmond).[1][19]
* Maude Jamison (Norfolk).[1][7]
* Julia S. Jennings[17]
* Eugenia Jobson.[13]
* Maria I. Johnston (Fredericksburg).[20]
* Mary Johnston (Richmond).[18]
* Emma Lee Kelley[17]
* Fannie Bayly King.[13][19]
* Orra Henderson Moore Gray Langhorn (Lynchburg).[5]
* Elizabeth Van Lew
* Elizabeth Langhorne Lewis[17]
* Mary Morris Hall Lockwood[17][16]
* Lucy Randolph Mason (Richmond).[1][18]
* Nell Mercer (Norfolk).[7]
* Sophie G. Meredith (Richmond).[7]
* Faith W. Morgan.[21]
* Mary-Cooke Branch Munford (Richmond).[14]
* Josephine Mathews Norcom[17]
* Elizabeth Lewis Otey[17][16]
* Rosewell Page.[22]
* Millie Lawson Bethell Paxton (Roanoke).[23][2]
* Mary Elizabeth Pidgeon.[1]
* Mary Bell Perkins[16]
* Caroline F. Putnam – abolitionist, teacher, and president of the Virginia State Woman Suffrage Association
* Agnes Dillon Randolph (Richmond).[1][16]
* Eudora Ramsay Richardson.[1]
* Ralza M. Manly
* Sally Nelson Robins (Richmond).[18]
* Ellen Robinson.[21]
* Ora Brown Stokes.[1]
* Alice Overbey Taylor.[4]
* Ida Mae Thompson (Richmond).[1]
* Clayton Torrence.[24]
* Jessie Fremont Easton Townsend (Norfolk).[3]
* Lyon G. Tyler (Williamsburg).[13]
* Lila Meade Valentine (Richmond).[14]
* Maggie L. Walker (Richmond).[1][16]
* Roberta Wellford[17]
* Annie Barna Whitner[17]
* Sarah Harvie Wormeley.[13]
* Eugenie Macon Yancey (Bedford).[1][16]
* Louise Collier Willcox (1865–1929) – honorary vice-president of the Virginia Equal Suffrage League.[25]

### Politicians supporting women's suffrage

[edit]

* Richard Lewis Brewer, Jr.[19][26]
* Charles Carlin (originally opposed)[19]
* Howard T. Colvin.[24]
* Howard Cecil Gilmer.[22]
* Thomas Lomax Hunter.[22][26]
* Allan Jones.[22]
* Wyndham R. Mayo (Norfolk).[13][19]
* Hill Montague (Richmond).[24]
* John Garland Pollard[19]
* John R. Saunders[19]
* Elbert Lee Trinkle[19]
* John C. Underwood
* Junius E. West[27]
* Westel Willoughby
* Emma Howard Wight.[28]

## Places

[edit]

* Occoquan Workhouse.[8]
* Three Hills.[29]

## Publications

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* The Virginia Suffrage News, published monthly starting in 1914.[30][6] Managed by Alice Overbey Taylor.[4]

## Suffragists who campaigned in Virginia

[edit]

National Woman's Party suffragists driving through Richmond's Capitol Square

* Susan B. Anthony.[31]
* William Jennings Bryan.[32]
* Carrie Chapman Catt.[22]
* Pauline Wright Davis.[31]
* Margaret Foley.[33]
* Matilda Joslyn Gage.[31]
* Joy Montgomery Higgins.[4]
* Josephine Miller.[32]
* Mabel Vernon.[34]
* Emma Howard Wight.[35]
* Elizabeth Upham Yates.[31]

## Anti-suffragists in Virginia

[edit]

* Maria Blair (Richmond).[36][37]
* Jane M. Rutherford.[38][37]
* Molly Elliot Seawell[37]
* Catherine Coles Valentine[37]
* Mary Mason Anderson Williams[37]
* Margaret Wilmer[37]

Politicians

* Harry Flood Byrd[19]
* Robert Franklin Leedy.[22]

Groups

* Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (VAOWS), formed in 1912.[36]

## See also

[edit]

* Timeline of women's suffrage in Virginia
* Women's suffrage in Virginia
* Women's suffrage in the United States

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Julienne, Mari (August 19, 2020). ""When Victory Really Came" : Virginia Women Who Fought for the Vote". The UncommonWealth. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
2. ^ a b Edds, Margaret (2020). "Millie Lawson Bethell Paxton (1875–1939)". Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Library of Virginia. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
3. ^ a b c d Julienne, Mari (August 21, 2019). "Equal Suffrage League of Virginia Records are coming to Making History: Transcribe". The UncommonWealth. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper 1922, p. 666.
5. ^ a b c d e "Women's Suffrage in Virginia". Virginia Places. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
6. ^ a b "Women's Suffrage in Virginia". W&M Women's Law Society. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
7. ^ a b c d "Suffragists in Virginia". Turning Point Suffragist Memorial. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
8. ^ a b Coker, Kathy (April 23, 2020). "A Glimpse at Virginia's Organized Woman Suffrage Movement: Part II". Richmond Public Library. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
9. ^ Green, Elna C. (1997). Southern Strategies: Southern Women and the Woman Suffrage Question. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 153–155. ISBN 978-0807846414 - via Internet Archive.
10. ^ "Anna Whitehead Bodeker (1826–1904) | Shaping the Constitution". Education @ Library of Virginia. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2025.
11. ^ Treadway, Sandra Gioia. "Anna Whitehead Bodeker (ca. 1826–1904)". Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Library of Virginia. Retrieved April 18, 2025.
12. ^ Julienne, Mari (2020). ""Freedom, Justice And True Democracy": The Virginia Branch Of The Congressional Union For Woman Suffrage". The UncommonWealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
13. ^ a b c d e f g Julienne, Mari (April 15, 2020). "'Secure the Suffrage for Women on Equal Terms with Men' : The Equal Suffrage League of Virginia". The UncommonWealth. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
14. ^ a b c d e f McDaid, Jennifer Davis. "Woman Suffrage in Virginia". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
15. ^ Van Zelm, Antoinette G. (September 23, 2013). "Butt, Martha Haines (1833–1871)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
16. ^ a b c d e f g h Juliene, Mari (2021). "'Her Prospects Of Election': Virginia Women Run For Office". The UnCommonwealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
17. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tarter, Brent, Marianne E. Julienne, and Barbara C. Batson (2020). The Campaign for Woman Suffrage in Virginia. Charleston, S.C.: The History Press. pp. 104–105, 165. ISBN 978-1-4671-4419-3.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
18. ^ a b c d Harper 1922, p. 667.
19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tarter, Brent (2021). "'Why Should Not Women Vote?' – Virginia Men Who Supported Woman Suffrage". The UnCommonwealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
20. ^ Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "Johnston, Mrs. Maria I.". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. Charles Wells Moulton. pp. 423–24. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
21. ^ a b Harper 1922, p. 668.
22. ^ a b c d e f Harper 1922, p. 671.
23. ^ Edds, Margaret (February 12, 2021). "Paxton, Millie Lawson Bethell (1875–1939)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
24. ^ a b c Harper 1922, p. 669.
25. ^ American Commonwealth Company 1914, p. 886.
26. ^ a b Tarter, Brent (2020). "'On The List Of Those Who Will Vote For Woman Suffrage': Virginia Women Lobby The General Assembly". The UnCommonwealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
27. ^ Tarter, Brent (2020). "'Virginia Ready For Women To Vote': The General Assembly Authorizes Women To Vote In 1920". The UnCommonWealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
28. ^ Keelor, Josette (October 11, 2019). "The three women of Fisher's Hill". The Northern Virginia Daily. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
29. ^ "Virginia and the 19th Amendment". U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
30. ^ Johnson, Olin (2017). "Virginia Suffrage News". The UnCommonwealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
31. ^ a b c d Anthony 1902, p. 964.
32. ^ a b Harper 1922, p. 670.
33. ^ "Foley, Margaret, 1875–1957. Papers of Margaret Foley, 1847–1968". Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
34. ^ Julienne, Mari (June 10, 2020). "'Freedom, justice and true democracy': The Virginia Branch of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage". The UncommonWealth. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
35. ^ Keelor, Josette (October 11, 2019). "The three women of Fisher's Hill". The Northern Virginia Daily. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
36. ^ a b Deal, John (June 17, 2020). "Woman Suffrage – The Vanguard of Socialism". The UncommonWealth. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
37. ^ a b c d e f Deal, John (2020). "Woman Suffrage – The Vanguard of Socialism". The UnCommonwealth: Voices from the Library of Virginia. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
38. ^ Graham 1993, p. 233.

### Sources

[edit]

* This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: American Commonwealth Company (1914). Woman's Who's who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915 (Public domain ed.). American Commonwealth Company.
* Anthony, Susan B. (1902). Anthony, Susan B.; Harper, Ida Husted (eds.). The History of Woman Suffrage. Vol. 4\. Indianapolis: The Hollenbeck Press.
* Graham, Sara Hunter (April 1993). "Woman Suffrage in Virginia: The Equal Suffrage League and Pressure-Group Politics, 1909–1920". Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 101 (2): 227–250\. JSTOR 4249352.
* Harper, Ida Husted (1922). The History of Woman Suffrage. New York: J.J. Little & Ives Company.

## External links

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* Suffragists in Virginia History
* We Demand: Women's Suffrage in Virginia
* Virginia Suffrage issues available online via Virginia Chronicle