Labels

Women's Suffrage in 1879?

On this day in 1879, the Cuba City Debating Society (also referred to as the Cuba City Literary Society) took up the issue of women's suffrage. Debating was a popular early form of entertainment in southwestern Wisconsin, and while it was usually men who took part, on this Saturday evening, several Cuba City women, none of whom had ever debated in public before, took the stage.

Image of gold Votes for Women button
Image credit: Smithsonian National Museum of American History (1981.3024.25)

The following report was published in the Grant County Witness on March 20, 1879:

"We had a lively time in Carlisle Hall* last Saturday evening, The question for the evening was: Resolved, That the right of suffrage should extend to woman. None but ladies were to take part in the debate, but, as one of the ladies on the negative was absent, one of the opposite sex spoke a few feeble words in behalf of the negative, but all to no purpose; for the debaters on the affirmative were debating for their own “rights,” and they were in earnest. The judges, three gentlemen, all voted for the affirmative. Not one of the ladies had ever debated in public before, but they did their parts well. The room was well filled; many came several miles. May success attend our efforts. A MEMBER"

While the subject of women's suffrage was overwhelmingly settled in Cuba City that evening in 1879, it would be over 40 years before the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote in the United States was certified. 

*The Carlisle Hall was on the upper level of an early Cuba City business. It may have been located on the corner of Main and Webster Street, where Gile Real Estate and Insurance is today.

Email Post
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts