COLLECTION GUIDES

1894-1920

Guide to the Collection

browse digital content

Representative digitized documents from this collection:

Restrictions on Access

Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).

The Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women records are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@10ybbs.com.


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of records of the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women, including Executive, Education and Organization Committee minutes; secretary's and annual meeting reports; miscellaneous correspondence; lectures; and printed material. Also included are an institutional history, legislative history of suffrage movement, and other papers relating to the activities of the founders.

Historical Sketch

The Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women was founded in May 1895 by Mrs. J. Eliot Cabot, Mrs. C. E. Guild, Mrs. Henry O. Houghton, Elizabeth Johnson, Cornelia Baylis Lowell, Kate Gannett Wells, and Margaret Green Whitney. Prior to the formation of the Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women, the organized women's opposition to the suffrage movement in Massachusetts consisted of an anti-suffrage committee formed in 1882. Its primary function was to obtain signatures for "remonstrances" against "the imposition of any further political duties upon women." These "remonstrances" were circulated to offset the petitions of the suffragists.

In 1890, The Remonstrance, the official organ of the anti-suffrage movement in Massachusetts, was first published by the anti-suffrage committee. It appeared annually until 1908, when it was issued quarterly. In 1914, its title was lengthened to The Remonstrance Against Woman Suffrage.

The Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women eventually changed its name to the Women's Anti-Suffrage Association of Massachusetts. By 1915, the association had nearly 37,000 members and was headquartered in the Kensington Building, Boylston Street, Boston. The activities of the members (as summarized by the president) were to: 1) furnish material to the press; 2) publish leaflets and pamphlets; and 3) work with the Men's Anti-Suffrage Committee in organizing rallies, furnishing speakers, maintaining anti-suffrage shops in Boston and other cities, and carrying on publicity work.

Collection Description

This collection consists of administrative records, minutes of various committee meetings, lectures and reports, correspondence, material concerning the organization's history and the legislative history of the suffrage movement, and a small number of miscellaneous printed items. There are also transcripts of lectures by Talcott Williams, Felix Adler, and Emmeline G. Pankhurst. There is also an English translation (in manuscript) of Frauenstimmrecht (Woman Suffrage) by Fr. Sigismund, Leipzig, Dieterichsche Verlagsbachhandlung, T. Weischer, 1912.

Acquisition Information

This collection was a gift from the estate of Mrs. Randolph Frothingham, May 1946.

Restrictions on Access

Use of the originals is restricted. This collection is available as color digital facsimiles (see links below).

The Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women records are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@10ybbs.com.

Other Formats

The collection is also available as color digital facsimiles and on microfilm, P-815, 5 reels.

Detailed Description of the Collection

I. Volumes, 1899-1913Digital Content

NOTE: Loose items are digitized at their original location.

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 1Digital Content

Reports of the Executive Committee, 1899-1903 (Vol. 1)

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 2

Loose items removed from Reports of the Executive Committee, 1899-1903

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 3Digital Content

Reports of the Executive Committee, 1903-1908 (Vol. 2)

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 4Digital Content

Reports of the Executive Committee, 27 Mar. 1908-10 Feb. 1911 (Vol. 3)

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 5

Loose items removed from Reports of the Executive Committee, 27 Mar. 1908-10 Feb. 1911

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 6Digital Content

Reports of the Executive Committee, 1911-1913 (Vol. 4)

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 7

Loose items removed from Reports of the Executive Committee, 1911-1913

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 8Digital Content

Reports of the Education Committee, 1899-1908

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 9Digital Content

Journal of the Organization Committee, 1900-1909

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 10Digital Content

Secretary's Book, 1901-[1910]

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 11

Loose items removed from Secretary's Book, 1901-[1910]

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 12Digital Content

Journal of the Mass. Anti-Suffrage Association, 1902-1904

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 13

Loose items removed from Journal of the Mass. Anti-Suffrage Association, 1902-1904

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 14Digital Content

Woman Suffrage by Prof. Dr. Fr. Sigismund (139 pages in manuscript)

Carton 1SH 14X2 %Folder 15

Loose items removed from Woman Suffrage by Prof. Dr. Fr. Sigismund

II. Loose papers, 1894-1920Digital Content

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 1Digital Content

Histories of the organization, 1906-ca. 1919

Legislative history of the suffrage movement, 1896-1917Digital Content

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 2Digital Content

Timeline of legislation by state, transcripts, reports, notes, etc., 1896-1915

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 3Digital Content

Address to the Legislative Committee, transcripts of hearings, 1901-1905

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 4Digital Content

Letters to committees of the Mass. Legislature, transcripts of hearings, etc., 1904-1914

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 5Digital Content

Transcript of hearing on Resolution 130 before the Committee on Suffrage, 1917

Executive Committee meeting minutes, 1901-1920Digital Content

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 6Digital Content

1901

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 7Digital Content

1902

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 8Digital Content

1912-1913

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 9Digital Content

Jan.-17 Apr. 1914

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 10Digital Content

22 Apr.-Dec. 1914

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 11Digital Content

Jan.-May 1915

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 12Digital Content

June-Dec. 1915

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 13Digital Content

1916

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 14Digital Content

1917

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 15Digital Content

1918

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 16Digital Content

1919

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 17Digital Content

1920

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 18Digital Content

Education Committee meeting minutes, 1896-1899

Education and Organization Committee meeting minutes, 1909-1919Digital Content

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 19Digital Content

1909-1910

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 20Digital Content

1911

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 21Digital Content

1912

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 22Digital Content

1913

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 23Digital Content

1914

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 24Digital Content

1915

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 25Digital Content

1916

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 26Digital Content

1917

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 27Digital Content

1918-1919

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 28Digital Content

Anti-suffrage committee materials, 1894

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 29Digital Content

Miscellaneous correspondence, 1895-1910

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 30Digital Content

Felix Adler lectures, 1897

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 31Digital Content

Preamble for meetings, 1897; lists of meetings, 1915

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 32Digital Content

Mrs. Pankhurst meeting, 1909 (transcript of lecture)

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 33Digital Content

Talcott Williams address, 1911

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 34Digital Content

Press work, 1911-1914

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 35Digital Content

Votes by district, 1915

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 36Digital Content

Organizer's reports, 1918-1919

Printed material, 1895-1915Digital Content

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 37Digital Content

By-laws, 1895-1910

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 38Digital Content

Lists of members, 1905-1915

Carton 2SH 14X1 +Folder 39Digital Content

Broadsides, petitions, notices, etc., 1895-1910

Preferred Citation

Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women records, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Cabot, J. Eliot, Mrs.
Guild, Mary L.
Houghton, Helen.
Johnson, Elizabeth.
Lowell, Cornelia Baylis.
Wells, Kate Gannett, 1838-1911.
Whitney, Margaret Green.
Pankhurst, Emmeline, 1858-1928.
Sigismund, Fr.
Williams, Talcott, 1849-1928.

Organizations:

Women's Anti-Suffrage Association of Massachusetts.

Subjects:

Women--Suffrage.
Women's rights.
Women--Societies and clubs.
Massachusetts--Politics and government--1865-1950.