Sarah Sophia Chase Platt-Decker (1856 – July 7, 1912) was an American suffragist. Mostly active in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, she also served as the national president of the Federation of Associated Women's Clubs from 1904 to 1908.

Career

Platt-Decker was born Sarah Sophia Chase in McIndoe Falls, Vermont, in 1856. Her father was a strong

prohibitionist Prohibitionism is a legal philosophy and political theory often used in lobbying which holds that citizens will abstain from actions if the actions are typed as unlawful (i.e. prohibited) and the prohibitions are enforced by law enforcement.C Canty ...

and her mother was a descendant of the Adams political family. Her first husband, Charles Bond Harris (1843-1878), died after two years of marriage; the loss of her own possessions when her husband's estate was given to other members of his family inspired her to become an activist for women's rights. In 1884, Platt-Decker moved to

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, where she worked in children and orphans' welfare. She married James Henry Platt Jr. (1837-1894), a widower, physician, former U.S. Congressman and director of the Mineola Children's Home in 1884. They moved to

in 1887. The couple were active in Denver politics, and Platt-Decker led a relief effort for unemployed silver miners and spoke at a political rally during the Denver Depression of 1893. After James Platt's death in 1894, Platt-Decker became the first woman appointed to the Colorado Board of Pardons and served on the Board of Charities and Corrections from 1898 onwards. Petition from the State Federation of Pennsylvania Women for an investigation into the industrial conditions of women

Petition from the State Federation of Pennsylvania Women for an investigation into the industrial conditions of women

Platt-Decker married a third time in 1888, to Westbrook Schoonmaker Decker (1839-1903), a Denver judge who died in 1903. Before his death, she helped to found the Denver Women's Club, served as its first president, and established the Denver Home for Dependent Children. In 1904, she was elected the national president of the

General Federation of Women's Clubs The General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC), founded in 1890 during the Progressive Movement, is a federation of over 3,000 women's clubs in the United States which promote civic improvements through volunteer service. Many of its activities ...

. In her four years as president, she gave hundreds of speeches persuading members to take up the cause of women's suffrage.

Death and legacy

Platt-Decker died in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in 1912 after a bout of kidney disease while attending the General Federation of Women's Clubs convention. An obituary in a Denver newspaper described her as "Colorado's foremost woman citizen and the real leader of the suffrage movement in the United States". Another wrote that she deserved "a great share of the credit that Colorado became the first state in the Union to realize the political rights of women". Platt-Decker was inducted into the

Colorado Women's Hall of Fame The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2020, 170 women have been inducted. History There was a short-lived recogniti ...

in 1990. The Decker Branch Library of Denver Public Libraries is named after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Platt-Decker, Sarah 1856 births 1912 deaths American suffragists People from Barnet, Vermont People from Denver