Women's Voting Tips in 1919: Beware Hair Parts, Mandates and Hecklers

From the January 9, 2019, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"Now that  women have power to vote, their men folk on the strength of hundreds of years start in the study of politics, are giving them lots of advise.   Among their valuable hints are the following:

"Never vote for a candidate who parts his hair in the middle.  He is obviously unable to take one side or the other.

"If your candidate asks you to give him a mandate, ask him:  "What about a womandate?"

"If you attend a political meeting as a heckler, heckle the speaker the same way as you would your husband.  That will get him all tied up."

Ha Ha.  --CootMam

Thomas Wilson Dorr-- Part 4: Campaigned for White Male Suffrage in Rhode Island

Meanwhile, Governor Samuel King proclaimed martial law and  offered a $5,000 reward for the capture of Dorr and started making widespread arrests of Dorr's followers.  He was forced to flee the state in 1842. Dorr and his followers launched a bungled attack on the Providence, R.I., arsenal helped bring about Dorr's collapse as well.

In June, Dorr and his followers were back as an armed force but were dispersed by the Rhode Island militia and he found refuge in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  He returned after the passage of a more liberal constitution in 1843 which allowed universal suffrage for all white males but was arrested and tried for treason against the state.

He was convicted and sentence to hard labor and solitary confinement for life on June 27, 1844.    The public was outraged and in 1945, Dorr was given amnesty but his health was broken by then and he lived in retirement afterwards until his death in 1854.

So, this is how Dorr Township in McHenry County came to be named for this man.  Some folks were indeed admirers.  Also, Dorr Township in Alleghan County, Michigan.

--CootVote

Thomas Wilson Dorr-- Part 3: Rhode Island Had Two State Governments

Efforts had been made to increase while male suffrage in Rhode Island at intervals in its early years as a state, usually by lowering the amount of land that needed to be owned.  In 1834, a convention met at the capital, Providence, with that intention.  Dorr was a part of it. But all their efforts were blocked by rural interests in the legislature.

By 1841, Rhode Island  was almost the only state that had not adopted universal suffrage for white males.  More than half of the adult white males were unable to vote. And, with more people owning factories and living in cities, even fewer could vote because of the land requirements.

In 1840,  the Rhode Island Suffrage Association was formed to address the problem and state legislator Thomas Dorr took a leading role.  When that didn't get anywhere, a "People's Party" was formed and adopted a state constitution.  The sitting legislature refused to recognize it.

However, the new party, referred to as Dorrites, were unfazed and went ahead and elected an entire state ticket with Dorr as governor.

So, in May 1842, Rhode Island had two governments.  The already seated government was allowed to remain in the statehouse, but both governors, Dorr and Samuel Ward King, issued proclamations.  King appealed to Washington, D.C., for federal aid.  Dorr went to D.C. himself to plead his cause with President John Tyler, but received no help.

--Cooter

Looking Back to 1916: Women Voting for the First Time

From the November 23, 2016, MidWeek "Looking Back."

1916, 100 Years Ago.

"Two prominent Elva women cast their first votes and both are at an advanced age.  One was Mrs. Susan Ward, aunt of Judge Harry McEwen who came to Elva in a taxi to take her to the polls.

"Mr. and Mrs. J.O. Agnew took Mrs. Helen Rollins who is seventy-five years of age to the polls.

"Both women are well and greatly interested in present day affairs.

Finally, the Right to Vote.  --Cooter

Fifty Years Ago This Week-- Part 4: Selma Civil Rights Marches

"It was more dangerous for African-Americans to march in Alabama on March 7 [1951] than it was for Marines to land on a beach in South Vietnam.  State troopers, under orders from Alabama Gov. George Wallace, reacted violently to the right-to-vote demonstration, firing tear gas into the crowd and clubbing people with nightsticks.

"After "'Bloody Sunday,' Selma became ground zero in the civil rights movement.  King led a second, largely peaceful march of more than 2,500 protesters March 9.  Later that day, five men attacked three out-of-town white ministers.  The Rev. James Reeb was beaten so badly he would die two days later.

"On March 21, tens of thousands of marchers, led by King and protected by hundreds of soldiers, began a successful three-day trek to the state capital.  President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law less than five months later.

--DaCoot