Activism and Social Change, 1845-2015 An Exhibition Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections University Libraries The University of Toledo 2019 Back Cover Front Cover Table of Contents Introduction 1 The Personal is Political: Chapter1 The Women’s Rights Movement 3 Catalog by: “We Shall Overcome”: 2Chapter The Civil Rights Movement 11 Tamara Jones Sara Mouch Lauren White “Nothing about Us, without Us”: 3Chapter One Hundred Years of Disability Rights 19 “An injury to one is a concern to all”: 4Chapter The Labor Movement in the United States 29 The Restless Generation: 5Chapter The Student Protest Movement 39 From Stonewall to Obergefell: 6Chapter Fifty Years of LGBTQ Activism 47 Inside Front Cover Page v Introduction “Protest,” is, at its core, an exhibit about people coming together for a common cause. This exhibit brings together historical materials from across the collections of the Ward M. Canaday Center and unites them around the common theme of activism. The word “activism” might bring to mind protests or demonstrations, but in this exhibit, we are exploring the many ways that Americans have acted together to bring about social and political change: through public marches and protests, through art and writing, through service and scholarship. Today’s 24/7 news cycle and social media make us more aware of ongoing protests than in the past, but Americans have a long history of joining together to advocate for civil rights: from women marching for suffrage, from Black Americans marching for equal rights, to Americans with disabilities marching for the ADA. “Protest” explores this history of American activism through six themes: Women, the Civil Rights Movement, Disability, Labor, Students, and LGBTQ rights. Each subject is accompanied by an essay, meant to give the reader an overview of that particular social movement and how the Canaday Center’s collections reflect these themes. With such a depth of history to cover, our essays serve merely as introductions to their respective topics, rather than comprehensive histories, and we encourage interested visitors to explore our related collections more in depth. Please note: in this exhibit, you will see terms that may seem insensitive, like “crippled” or “handicapped.” These terms have fallen out of modern usage but are presented here in their historical context. The language of identity is ever-evolving, and in preparing this exhibit, we strive to use inclusive, respectful terminology in our essays, although historical sources may differ. We hope you enjoy the exhibit and find it thought-provoking and engaging. Lauren White, Manuscripts Librarian Page i Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 “The Personal is Political”: 1 The Women’s Rights Movement by Tamara Jones Regarding equal rights as the The fight for women’s suffrage was part of a larger “ platform of securing greater rights for women, but by the 1840s, voting rights became the primary natural inheritance of all, focus, as other rights could not be achieved without the franchise. On July 19, 1848, a group of 100 individuals—most of them women—gathered and believing that the best at Seneca Falls, New York. Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the Seneca Falls Convention is famous for Stanton’s “Declaration of interests of humanity may be Sentiments, Grievances, and Resolutions,” which proclaimed “we hold these truths to be self-evident: most efficiently promoted by that all men and women are created equal.” While the Seneca Falls Convention was not the first meeting to address the rights of women, it is one of abolishing these false distinctions the most well-known. Disagreements about the proper method of between the two sexes achieving the right to vote led to the formation of numerous organizations, each with a different philosophy. The National Woman Suffrage . we do hereby unite Association (NWSA), founded in 1869 by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, focused for the purpose of equalizing on changing voting laws at the federal level and was notable in that it was opposed to the 15th Publications produced during the suffrage movement. Amendment, which granted voting rights to sympathetic to the suffragists’ cause. The growing the right of the sexes. African American men but not to women of any ” race. In contrast, the rival American Woman number of women dedicated to improving Suffrage Association (AWSA), founded by Lucy society outside the home prompted the NWSA and AWSA to merge into the National American – Constitution of the Toledo Woman Suffrage Association Stone the same year as the NWSA, supported the 15th Amendment and considered the former Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1890. organization too racially divisive. The group Supporters included such groups as the Women’s also preferred to focus its suffrage efforts at the Trade Union League, the Woman’s Christian state level. Temperance Union, and the National Consumers The women’s suffrage movement received a boost League. A few years after the creation of the in support in the late 1880s and early 1890s, as NAWSA, Colorado, Utah, and Idaho granted women women across the country became involved in the the right to vote (in 1893 and 1896, respectively). progressive, temperance, and other movements. These three states joined Wyoming (1869) as the These advocates for change were also increasingly first to allow women’s suffrage. “The Personal is Political”: The Women’s Rights Movement 5 Page 4 Page 5 By 1910, however, the momentum had stalled. groups was the Toledo Woman Suffrage Association Avenue, the home was created for women who had control meant that they could also limit the size As a result, the NAWSA increased its efforts, (TWSA). Founded in March of 1869, its goal was to been forced into the workforce. of their families. Many women, however, did not and between 1910 and 1914, several more states— secure voting rights for women in its namesake city. adhere to this ideal, which created tension between Washington, California, Arizona, Kansas, Oregon, Sarah S. Bissell, one of the group’s co-founders, was The TWSA had other interests as well. The traditionalists and those of a more liberal bent. Legislative Committee asked its members to be and Illinois —had passed laws granting women the an associate of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Over time, the ideals of firebrands such as Susan aware of any legislation concerning women and right to vote. When Carrie Chapman Catt resumed and Susan B. Anthony (who twice met with the B. Anthony and Margaret Sanger fell largely silent, girls as well as mothers’ pensions and women’s the presidency of NAWSA in 1915, she embarked Association in Bissell’s Toledo residence). Other as media once again began to promote the ideal of minimum wage. In 1914, they joined the Housewives on an aggressive campaign to secure the vote in early leaders included Kate Sherwood (wife of the happy homemaker. This ideal persisted after League in boycotting impure milk. They also began several, primarily nonwestern, states. Congressman Isaac Sherwood) and Emma Ashley World War II ended, despite millions of “Rosie (wife of Congressman James Ashley). to employ strategies that were more reminiscent the Riveters” proving that women were capable of The relentless efforts of NAWSA and other of a new ideology regarding the role of women in working in male-dominated fields. Because men organizations gained strength in 1917, when In contrast to the earlier, more militant NWSA, society: that of the New Woman. While the New returning from the war needed work, however, President Woodrow Wilson urged Congress the TWSA’s efforts to gain support for women’s Woman was not committed to full equality between women were pushed out of the factories and to pass a voting rights amendment. The suffrage focused on raising money through bake the sexes, she did want to participate in the male once again told that marriage, motherhood, and following year, on January 10, 1918, the House sales and theatrical performances about suffrage. spheres of business and politics rather than confine homemaking were woman’s natural role. of Representatives passed a voting rights The proceeds from these activities were then used herself to hearth and home. The TWSA manifested amendment, but the Senate failed to follow suit. to purchase flowers and buttons in addition to the ideals of the New Woman through various Despite the stability and unprecedented prosperity After the end of World War I, Congress again took pamphlets, the latter of which were distributed to activities. They engaged with labor unions, who that characterized much of the post-war era, many up the measure, with the House again voting its both men and women as a means of educating them in turn included women’s suffrage as part of their women were not satisfied as homemakers. They approval on May 21, 1919. The Senate followed about why it was important to grant women the right legislative platforms. Members wrote to politicians were educated, but could not find an outlet for on June 14 of that year. Seventy-two years after to vote. The TWSA preferred such tactics because at the local, state, and federal level. TWSA members their intellects due to the limited expectations the Seneca Falls Convention, women across the its members still largely—though not entirely— also spoke at a suffrage parade held in Washington, placed on them. Many women had given up their United States had the right to vote when the 19th subscribed to the Victorian-era ideal known as the D.C. on March 3, 1913. dreams in order to marry and raise a family. At the Amendment was ratified on August 26, 1920. Cult of Domesticity, which dictated that a woman’s same time, housekeeping was usually a full time sole preoccupation was the home and family.