Sara Bard Field (September 1, 1882 – June 15, 1974) was an American poet,

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

, free love advocate,

Georgist Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—includ ...

, and Christian socialist. She worked on successful campaigns for women's suffrage in Oregon and Nevada. Working with Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, Field drove across the country from California to Washington, D.C., to present a petition containing a reported 500,000 signatures demanding a federal suffrage amendment to President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

. She was known as a skilled orator and became a poet later in her career, marrying her long-time partner and mentor, poet and lawyer C.E.S. Wood.

Early life and marriage

Sara Bard Field was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, on September 1, 1882, to Annie Jenkins (''née'' Stevens) and George Bard Field. Her mother had a Quaker background and her father was a strict

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

. Their family moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, in 1885. Sara graduated from Detroit Central High School in 1900. She married minister Albert Ehrgott, a man twice her age, in September 1900. She traveled with Ehrgott through India to

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. She gave birth to a son, Albert Field, in 1901 and sustained injuries from childbirth. She returned to the United States in 1902 and the family settled in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

. Ehrgott relocated to a parish in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, in 1903. The pair were influenced by the

Christian socialism Christian socialism is a Religious philosophy, religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe cap ...

and

Georgism Georgism, in modern times also called Geoism, and known historically as the single tax movement, is an economic ideology holding that people should own the value that they produce themselves, while the economic rent derived from land—includ ...

movements. Sara started a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

and

soup kitchen A soup kitchen, food kitchen, or meal center is a place where food is offered to Hunger, hungry and homeless people, usually for no price, cost, or sometimes at a below-market price (such as coin Donation, donations). Frequently located in Low i ...

there and came to the attention of Progressive Cleveland mayor Tom L. Johnson. Her sister, Mary Field, introduced her to lawyer

Clarence Darrow Clarence Seward Darrow (; April 18, 1857 – March 13, 1938) was an American lawyer who became famous in the 19th century for high-profile representations of trade union causes, and in the 20th century for several criminal matters, including the ...

. Sara gave birth to a daughter, Katherine Louise, in 1906. Field's son died in an automobile accident while she was driving in October 1918. She suffered a breakdown from which she never completely recovered.

Western Suffrage Activism

Following the birth of their daughter, the Ehrgotts moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, in 1910. Sara was introduced to C.E.S. Wood by Clarence Darrow. The two became friends and she was hired to be Wood's assistant, offering critiques of his work. Their friendship grew into a love affair. She joined the Oregon College Equal Suffrage League and continued the work of

Abigail Scott Duniway Abigail Jane Scott Duniway (October 22, 1834 – October 11, 1915) was an American women's rights advocate, newspaper editor and writer, whose efforts were instrumental in gaining Women's suffrage in the United States, voting rights for women in ...

, campaigning for suffrage throughout Oregon. She toured the state giving speeches during the summer of 1911 and that fall she worked as a reporter for the ''Oregon Daily Journal'', covering the trial of the McNamara brothers, who had bombed the ''Los Angeles Times'' building. She toured Oregon again during the summer of 1912 and her marriage began to crumble. During 1913–1914, she established residency in Nevada in order to pursue a divorce and used her time there to campaign for women's suffrage in Nevada. Over the objection of her husband, she was granted a divorce in November 1914, reverting to her maiden name. Ehrgott was awarded custody of their children and moved to

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. Field moved to San Francisco to be close to her son and daughter. Field became involved in the national movement for women's suffrage and became a member of the

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National Woma ...

's Congressional Union and later the

National Woman's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NWP ...

. Field participated in suffrage activities at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition (or World's Fair) in San Francisco, where suffragist leader

Alice Paul Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American Quaker, suffragette, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the foremost leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the Unit ...

selected Field and California suffragist Frances Jolliffe to drive across the country to hand-deliver to President Woodrow Wilson a petition of signatures gathered demanding a federal suffrage amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Field, Jolliffe, and two Swedish women (Ingeborg Kinstedt and Maria Kindberg) left San Francisco on September 16, 1915, in a celebratory kick-off event at the Panama-Pacific International Expo. Jolliffe left the car in Nevada, because of illness, but rejoined the group on the East Coast. Suffragist and Congressional Union (CU) organizer Mabel Vernon traveled by train ahead of the envoys and organized parades, receptions, and meetings with local politicians, all in an effort to garner publicity for the road trip and the suffrage cause. The trip was reported in the CU's weekly journal, The Suffragist, as well as in local and national newspapers. The suffrage envoys completed their journey on December 6, 1915, and presented the petition to President

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Field spoke at the Chicago convention of the National Woman's Party in 1916, and on behalf of Anne Henrietta Martin during Martin's bid for the U.S. Senate from Nevada. Field also suggested the suffragist slogan "No votes, no babies!" In the summer of 1917, Field stayed in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

, where she helped millionaire socialite Alva Belmont write her memoirs. In February 1921, Field represented the NWP in presenting a women's rights statue to the U.S. Congress, a statue currently on display in the Capitol Rotunda.

Later life and poetry

Field began living with lawyer and poet Charles Erskine Scott Wood in San Francisco after 1918. His wife refused to grant him a divorce. Field focused on her poetry and the couple hosted local artists at their home such as Genevieve Taggard, Benny Bufano, Ralph Stackpole, Llewelyn Powys, and George Sterling. Wood was wealthy and the couple were patrons of the arts and supported political causes, including the pardon of Tom Mooney and a birth control clinic. In 1923 Field moved with Wood to a estate named "The Cats" in

Los Gatos, California Los Gatos (; ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franc ...

. The house was built in 1925 on a 34-acre property, with an entry way featuring a wrought iron gate flanked by two large white cat sculptures, named Leo and Leona. The sculptures were made by sculptor Robert Paine, and an image of them is featured on the seal of the town of Los Gatos. Field's first collection of poetry, ''The Pale Woman'', was published in 1927. She followed the collection with the epic poem ''Barabbas'' in 1932. ''Barabbas'' earned her a gold medal from the Book Club of California. Her second collection of poetry, ''Darkling Plain'', was published in 1936. Following the death of his wife, Wood married Field in 1938. Wood died in 1944 and in 1955, Field moved near her daughter in Berkeley. Field died from arteriosclerotic heart disease on June 15, 1974.

Selected works

* * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Sara Bard 1882 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers Activists from Ohio American Christian pacifists American feminists Suffragists from California American women poets American women's rights activists Members of the College Equal Suffrage League Female Christian socialists Free love advocates Georgists National Woman's Party activists Poets from Oregon Proponents of Christian feminism Writers from Cincinnati Writers from Portland, Oregon Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area