Fanny Marie Irvin (January 15, 1854 - September 26, 1929) was librarian of the Idaho State Law Library, and assisted in drafting several important legislative acts. She drafted a resolution to Congress from the state of Idaho endorsing women's suffrage, and campaigned for the passage of the

Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States and its U.S. state, states from denying the Suffrage, right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recogni ...

, granting the right to vote to women.

Early life

Irvin was born on January 15, 1854, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, the daughter of Colonel Charles Henry Irvin (1832-1906) and Isabella Anne Harraden (1835-1909) and granddaughter of Rev. Thomas Irvin, for more than 50 years a vicar of

Ormesby Ormesby is a village and area split between the unitary authority areas of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. Demographics The Ormesby ward, including Overfields and Ormesby Hall, ...

, Yorkshire, England. She studied law for two years in the

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of northw ...

, but was forced to abandon her studies a year before completion when the illness of her father in

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

led her to move there.

Career

She was very active and influential in constructive state politics. She was assistant and State Law Librarian from 1911 until her death. In this role, she assisted in drafting several important laws, such as the Parole Law, Idaho Humane Law for the protection of children and animals, the law which placed State Institutions, Schools and Children's Home under the State Auditing Department; she drafted a resolution to Congress which was passed by the State Legislature, endorsing

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

, and lobbied for the passage of the Constitutional amendment. She was president of the Boise Humane Society and of the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

Council, and in addition was a member of the Boise Tuesday Musical Club and the Saturday Fortnightly Club. She founded the Good Will camp for children, and was active with the relief work of the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Personal life

Fanny M. Irvin lived in New York City, New Mexico, Chicago, Washington, D. C, and then moved to Idaho in 1906, living at 1017 East Jefferson St., Boise. She died on September 26, 1929, and is buried at Pioneer Cemetery, Boise.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irvin, Fanny M. Activists from Buffalo, New York People from Boise, Idaho 1854 births 1929 deaths Members of the League of Women Voters Librarians from Idaho 20th-century American women librarians Librarians from New York (state) 20th-century American librarians