The California Equal Suffrage Association (CESA) was a political organization in the state of California with the intended goal of passing women's suffrage.

Founding

In 1870 the California State Woman Suffrage Society or California Woman Suffrage Association was founded by

Laura de Force Gordon Laura de Force Gordon (née Laura de Force; August 17, 1838 – April 5, 1907) was a California lawyer, newspaper publisher, and a prominent suffragette. She was the first woman to run a daily newspaper in the United States (the ''Stockton Daily ...

. The California Woman Suffrage Association changed its name from California Woman Suffrage Association to California Equal Suffrage Association in 1896 to appeal to male sympathisers. The California Equal Suffrage Association (CESA) was headquartered in northern California and was founded by suffragist Elizabeth Lowe Watson. It was incorporated in 1904. The original name of the organization was The California Woman's Suffrage Association. Part of the reason for rebranding the organization was to reach out to men for support of the suffrage cause. The CESA would actively seek out the support of men. Activists affiliated with this organization lobbied for women's suffrage from automobiles and produced goods for purchase such as playing cards and postcards.

Political work

Suffragist Gail Laughlin traveled the state in November 1904 campaigning on behalf of suffrage and spreading the word about this organization. Historian Gayle Gullett noted that the Los Angeles Times referred to the attendees as "several hundred assertive-appearing women." In 1905 the organization distributed pamphlets promoting the suffrage cause in the California Senate chamber. In September of that year they held their state convention. Attendees included

Caroline Severance Caroline Maria Seymour Severance (1820–1914) was an American abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fu ...

, Mary Sperry, Anna Bidwell and

Ellen Clark Sargent Ellen Clark Sargent (Massachusetts, 1826–1911) was an active American women's suffragist. She was influential in advocacy for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which sought to give women the right to vote. Early life ...

was designated an honorary president of this organization in 1905. Suffragist Lillian Harris Coffin created a central committee for the CESA in 1906. Berkeley attorney Mary McHenry Keith also served as president of the CESA.

Prominent members

* Lillian Harris Coffin * Mary Gamage * Minora Kibbe{{Cite web, title=San Francisco Call 17 May 1904 — California Digital Newspaper Collection, url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19040517.2.107.8&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22California+equal+suffrage+association%22-------1, access-date=2021-05-11, website=cdnc.ucr.edu * Gail Laughlin * Alice Park *

Presidents of the CESA

* Mary Sperry President of the CESA in 1900-1907 * Elizabeth Lowe Watson, President of the CESA in 1910-1912 * Mary McHenry Keith, President of the CESA in 1912-1920

References

Women's suffrage in California Women's suffrage advocacy groups in the United States Defunct political advocacy groups in the United States Non-profit organizations based in California Organizations established in 1870