Carrie Chapman Catt
Personal Information
Born: 1859
Died: 1947
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
Iowa Agriculture College (now Iowa State University) BS General Science 1880
""We are all of us apt to be arrogant on the score of our Anglo-Saxon blood but we must remember that ages ago the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons were regarded as so low & embruted that the Romans refused to have them for slaves. The Anglo-Saxon is the dominant race today but things may change. The race that will be dominant through the ages will be the one that proves itself the most worthy. . . the race problem is the problem of the whole country & not that of the south alone. . . Let us try to get nearer together & to understand each other's ideas on the race question & solve it together." (Wikipedia)"Now that we have the vote let us remember we are no longer petitioners. We are not wards of the nation, but free & equal citizens. Let us do our part to keep it a true & triumphant democracy." (Wikipedia) "Suffrage knows no bias of race, color or sex." (Wikipedia) "Everybody counts in applying democracy. And there will never be a true democracy until every responsible & law-abiding adult in it, without regard to race, sex, color or creed has his or her own inalienable & unpurchasable voice in government." (cattcenter.iastate.edu)"
— Carrie Chapman Catt
Professional Life
Field of Study: Social Reform Activist
Institution/Corporation: Iowa State University; League of Women Voters; International Alliance of Women; Pi Beta Phi
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degrees: University of Wyoming (1921) Smith College (1925) Moravia College for Women (1940) Iowa State University (1921); Membership: National American Woman Suffrage Association (President 1900-04 & 1915-20), Crescent Literary Society, Pi Beta Phi, Provisional Council Against Anti-Semitism (1938), National Committee on the Cause & Cure of War (1924), International Women suffrage Alliance, League of Women Voters, Iowa State Suffrage Association
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1933 American Hebrew Medal; 1923 named 1 of the 12 Greatest Living American women, League of Women Voters; 1926 featured on the cover of Time magazine; 1930 Pictorial Review Award; 1940 Woman of the Year Award, American Women's Association; 1940 Gold Medal Pioneer Award, General Federation of women's Clubs; 1941 Chi Omega Award; 1975 Iowa Women's Hall of Fame; 1982 National women's Hall of Fame; 1992 The Iowa Award, Iowa Centennial Memorial Foundation; 1992 named 1 of the 10 Most Important women of the Century, Iowa Centennial Memorial foundation; 2013 honored on the Women of Achievement Bridge in Des Moines Iowa; 2020 named a Valiant Woman of the Vote, National Women's History Alliance; 1933 Iowa State Alumni Association Merit Award for Distinguished Service
Achievements: her Winning Plan to gain the right to vote for women had four components: 1), the states where women had presidential suffrage would lobby their state legislatures to send resolutions to Congress in support of a federal amendment,2) women living in states where they might secure suffrage by state action would attempt to secure it, 3) suffragists in most states would advocate for presidential suffrage, and 4) Southern states would advocate for primary suffrage; campaigned for the 19th amendment (Women's right to vote); 1885 was superintendent of schools in Mason City Iowa, the 1st female to hold the position; 1923 published "Women Suffrage & Politics: The Inner Story of the Suffrage Movement" with Nettie Rogers Shuler; helped organize the 1st suffrage convention in Iowa; helped organize the International Congress of Women in 1915 at The Hague;
as a child wanted to be a doctor
father was reluctant to send her to college so he only contributed for part of her tuition requiring her to work to pay the reaining fees
joined Crescent Literary society in college but only men were allowed to speak expemporaneously at meetings but she demanded the same right & was eventually granted them
started an all-female debate club & advocated for women's participation in military drills at college subsequently initiated the drills on her own
was the only female in her college graduating class
her 1st husband died of typhoid approximately 18 months after they married leaving her a young widow
became involved in the suffrage movement in the late 1880s
retired after the passage of the 19th amendment & devoted herself to efforts at peace
in the late 1880s her views were xenophobic drawing criticism in later years but her views changed when she became involved in suffrage, cmapaigning for the right to vote for all women regardless of color
was outspoken in her opposition to discrimination in the 1920s to the time of her death
1935 the Turkish government issued a stamp to honor her work
1936 was honored by President Franklin Roosevelt at the White House for her peace activism
was a long-time friend of Eleanor roosevelt
various awards are named after her
her childhood home in Charles city Iowa is now a museum dedicated to her & the history of the women's suffrage movement & is managed by the National 19th Amendment Society
numerous plaques & markers across the US honor her
her estate was bequeathed to Iowa Atate University with the exception of 6 volumes of photographs & some memorabilia that were donated to Bryn Mawr College
for her 1890 marriage to George W. Catt, she had a prenuptual legal contract allowing her 4 months of free time each year to work exclusively for women's suffrage
she took off working for suffrage in 1904 to nurse George when he became ill & after he died in 1905, he left her wealthy enough to devote herself to reform activities until she died
as a child she of 13 she questioned why her mother did not have the same right to vote as her father
often said she was born a suffragist
sold some of her sapphire jewelry to help start the League of Women Voters