May 1912
“Suffrage Interest Keen: Speakers Engaged to Conduct Educational Campaign at Grants Pass,” The Oregonian, May 20, 1912, 7.
Grants Pass suffragists invited Rosetta (Mrs. Jackson) Silbaugh* to speak on how woman suffrage could help to solve the problems of cities. Many supporters would have been interested in the specific ways that women’s votes could make their community a better place, something with which many were involved in this progressive era. The topic no doubt appealed to many in the “large gathering.”
The article also indicates that Josephine County suffragists were working to organize their group for effective action at the local level, another important ingredient for success.
And finally, the article showcases another vital feature of successful suffrage organizing - networking and support across states. Seattle’s Rosetta Silbaugh had been involved in Washington state suffrage activities in 1910 and provided a voice of experience in this meeting. Cross-state cooperation was not confined to suffrage alone. Two years later Silbaugh would work with Oregon activist Caroline J. Gleason and other Industrial Welfare Commission members in Washington and Oregon to report on conditions for women wage-earners. Suffrage activism led the way to other modes of activism after the campaign was completed.
*(not Silsbaugh as The Oregonian had it)
Additional Reading:
Caroline J. Gleason (Sister Miriam Theresa), Report of the Industrial Welfare Commission of the State of Washington on the Wages, Conditions of Work, and Costs and Standards of Living of Women Wage Earners in Washington (Olympia: Washington State Industrial Welfare Commission, 1914)
Want to read more articles from Oregon suffrage campaigns? Click here
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