By Jeremy Dibbell

A very interesting Object of the Month essay this month by my colleague and occasional Beehive contributor Anna Cook – the object from our collections is a broadsheet handout for marchers in a 16 October 1915 Boston parade for woman suffrage in Massachusetts. It includes instructions for the parade, plus (on the verso) songs to be sung during the march and at the rally following. The parade, organized by the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association, included some 15,000 marchers!

Anna’s accompanying essay offers a brief overview of the struggle for the vote in Massachusetts, including a glimpse at anti-suffrage organizations such as the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women (I doubt they used the acronym, since MAOFESW doesn’t quite roll off the tongue).

To find out what happened when Massachusetts men were asked to amend the state constitution in November 1915 and allow women the vote, read the conclusion to Anna’s essay, here.