First Conference of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance was held in 1902 in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

to consider the feasibility of organizing an International Woman Suffrage Association.

Background

In 1902, the National-American Woman Suffrage Association invited all National woman suffrage organizations which existed at that date, to send an accredited delegate to attend a mass meeting which should be held in

Washington, D. C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, to consider the feasibility of organizing an International Woman Suffrage Association.

Meeting

This meeting was held in Washington, D.C., February 12–18, 1902. A silver tray inscribed: "To

Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (; January 9, 1859 Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt ...

from the foreign delegates to the First International Suffrage Conference, Washington, D.C., Feb. 12–18, 1902" commemorated the event. Six national associations were represented, namely: Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden and the United States. Australia had no national association, but sent a delegate, several of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

societies contributing to a fund which was raised to assist her in paying the expenses of the long and costly journey from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to Washington. Where no suffrage associations had as yet been formed, National Councils of Women and American Consulates were consulted, in the effort to find representative women who sympathized with the movement for the enfranchisement of women. As a result of such correspondence, one delegate each attended from Chile, Russia and Turkey. Many reports upon the civil, educational and industrial status of women were secured. Some of these possessed high historical value. All such reports, in abridged form, together with the transactions, were printed and preserved. This meeting voted to form an international union of national woman suffrage societies; but in order that each association entering into such alliance, should have opportunity to approve the basis of organization before it should be finally adopted, it was agreed to form a temporary organization only, without dues, and to complete the work at a second meeting which should be held in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, in June, 1904.

Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...

was made Chairman of the temporary committee; Dr. jur.

Anita Augspurg Anita Theodora Johanna Sophie Augspurg (22 September 1857 – 20 December 1943) was a German jurist, actress, writer, activist of the radical feminist movement and a pacifist. Biography Augspurg was born the youngest daughter of the lawyer ...

, Vice-Chairman;

Florence Fenwick Miller Florence Fenwick Miller (sometimes Fenwick-Miller, 1854–1935) was an English journalist, author and social reformer of the late 19th and early 20th century. She was for four years the editor and proprietor of The Woman's Signal, an early and i ...

, Treasurer; and

, Secretary. By the vote of the Washington meeting, each organized country was asked to name a committee of three, which should act as official correspondents for that country. Ten countries were thus united with the temporary association: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the US. Such committees acted in the capacity of mediums of communication between the International Committee and the association represented. Through them, a constitution in which was embodied the complete plan for organization, was submitted to each National Suffrage Association, and delegates to the Berlin meeting were to come with the advice and instruction of their respective societies.

Notable people

Florence Balgarnie Florence Balgarnie (19 August 1856 – 25 March 1928) was a British suffragette, speaker, pacifist, feminist, and temperance activist. Characterised as a "staunch Liberal", and influenced by Lydia Becker, Balgarnie began her support of women's ...

Gudrun Løchen Drewsen Gudrun Løchen Drewsen (1867–1946) was a Norwegian-born American women's rights activist and painter. A competent organizer and strategist, she was one of the founders and principal figures in New York's Norwegian Suffrage League. She contribute ...

Vida Goldstein Vida Jane Mary Goldstein (pron. ) (13 April 186915 August 1949) was an Australian suffragist and social reformer. She was one of four female candidates at the 1903 federal election, the first at which women were eligible to stand. Goldstein wa ...

References

Citations

Attribution

* *

External links

First International woman-suffrage conference
via hathitrust {{Suffrage 1902 conferences 1902 in Washington, D.C. Events in Washington, D.C. Women's suffrage Women's conferences Progressive Era in the United States 1902 in women's history Women in Washington, D.C.