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Home » Resources » Abolition and the Suffrage Movement

Abolition and the Suffrage Movement

Black Lives Matter. And our goal is to create a unified and inclusive commemoration so everyone learns all aspects of suffrage history. We hope that amplifying all of these stories will inspire everyone – men included – to appreciate and exercise their right to vote. - Suffrage100MA Founder & President Fredie Kay

Black Lives Matter yesterday, today, and tomorrow and Suffrage100MA is committed to uplifting the stories of the Black suffragists who contributed and sacrificed so much throughout the year. Please read our community letter in solidarity with Black Lives Matter to learn more about that commitment.

Welcome to Abolition and the Suffrage Movement

We hope the profiles and stories below inspire you to carry on the legacy of interconnectedness between suffragists and abolitionists by registering and exercising your right to vote, urging others to do the same, and recommitting to the ongoing movement for racial and gender equity. 

Help Herstory Live On by Sharing

Please help this important history live on by sharing what you read -- and what you think about it -- on social media.

Black suffragists with a Massachusetts connection

Check out these profiles of Black suffragists who lived, worked, learned, or spoke in Massachusetts!

  • Maria Louise Baldwin (1856-1922)
  • Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin
  • Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)
  • Florida Ruffin Ridley (1861-1943)

Maria Louise Baldwin (1856-1922)Josephine St. Pierre RuffinFrances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911)Florida Ruffin Ridley (1861-1943)

"Black Suffragists" museum display panel collection

Click here to view the "Maria Louise Baldwin" museum display panel

Maria Louise Baldwin

Click here to view the "Frederick Douglass" museum display panel

Frederick Douglass

Click here to view the "Josephine S. Pierre Ruffin" museum dispay panel

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin

Click here to view the "Sojourner Truth" museum display panel

Sojourner Truth

Click here to view the "Harriet Tubman" museum display panel

Harriet Tubman

Click here to view the "Ida B. Wells" museum display panel

Ida. B Wells

"Abolitionist Allies" museum display panel collection

Click here to view the "Abby Kelley Foster" museum display panel

Abby Kelley Foster

Click here to view the "Matilida Joslyn Gage" museum display panel

Matilda Joslyn Gage

Click here to view the "Sarah and Angelina Grimke" museum display panel

Sarah and Angelina Grimke

Click here to view the "Lucretia Mott" museum display panel

Lucretia Mott

Click here to view the "Ernestine L. Rose" museum display panel

Ernestine L. Rose

Click here to view the "Lucy Stone" museum display panel

Lucy Stone

Click here to view the "Julia Ward Howe" museum display panel

Julia Ward Howe

Click here to view the "The Road to Seneca Falls" museum display panel

The Road to Seneca Falls

"Division in the Movement" museum display panel collection

While many suffragists welcomed people of color into the cause and supported abolition, the suffrage movement was not immune to racism, including segregation at or exclusion from events and political strategies that favored expediency to equality.

In our collection of 30 museum display panels featuring suffragists and their history, six are Black and eight panels about white suffragists include specific mention of supporting abolition. There are also three panels that reference instances of racism in the movement; they are not intended to represent all aspects of the racial dynamics of the suffrage movement, but they offer a glimpse at the racial and political tensions between the suffrage and abolition movements.

Click here to view the "Elizabeth Cady Stanton" museum display panel

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Click here to view the "Carrie Chapman Catt" museum display panel

Carrie Chapman Catt

Click here to view the "Frances Willard" museum display panel

Frances Willard

We hope these profiles are a starting point to learn more -- and have hope that more people will grow as did Carrie Chapman Catt who, "Despite vicious attacks from segregationists... opposed efforts to restrict the 19th Amendment to white women only and increasingly opposed racial discrimination in her later years."

Educators: Please check out our 1000 Classrooms Initiative and Resources for other suffrage history materials.

Remond Family Suffrage Marker Unveiling in Salem

June 3, 2022 By Michelle Juralewicz

REMOND FAMILY WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE MARKER On Thursday, June 23, 2022, Suffrage100MA and Hamilton Hall unveiled an historic women’s suffrage marker honoring the legacy of extraordinary activists, the Remond Family at Hamilton Hall in Salem. The marker celebrates the Remond Family’s suffrage and abolition work and encourage passers-by to learn more, and is one of five new Massachusetts […]

Filed Under: Abolition and the Suffrage Movement, Events, Featured, Homepage Slider

Florida Ruffin Ridley

January 30, 2022 By Kevin Gilnack

Biography Florida Ruffin Ridley was the daughter of one of the first Black judges in Massachusetts, George Ruffin, and Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, a suffragist, journalist, and prominent civil rights activist in Boston and nationally. Along with Maria Baldwin, Ridley was one of the first Black women teachers in the greater Boston area. Working with […]

Filed Under: Abolition and the Suffrage Movement, Featured Suffragists

Maria Louise Baldwin

September 13, 2021 By Kevin Gilnack

Maria Louise Baldwin

Biography Born in Cambridge, MA, Maria Louise Baldwin overcame racial prejudice to become an acclaimed teacher, principal and school master with a 40 year career, and was active in the civil rights, suffrage and women’s rights movements. Baldwin was the only Black woman to serve as principal of a school in New England at that […]

Filed Under: Abolition and the Suffrage Movement, Featured Suffragists

Sarah Mapps Douglass

September 9, 2021 By Kevin Gilnack

Biography Sarah Mapps Douglass (1806-1882)! An educator, abolitionist, writer, and public lecturer, Douglass was born to active abolitionists. In 1831, Douglass helped found the Female Literary Association (FLA), a group of African American women dedicated to improving their skills and sense of community. She was one of the FLA’s leaders, and the FLA was the […]

Filed Under: Abolition and the Suffrage Movement, Featured Suffragists

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin

August 31, 2021 By Kevin Gilnack

Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin

Biography  An African-American suffragist, publisher, journalist, and civil rights leader, in 1893 Ruffin founded the Woman’s Era, the first national newspaper published by and for African-American women. After the civil war, Ruffin served on several charities to support Southern Blacks, later participating in multiple clubs and service organizations in Boston. In 1893, with Ida B. […]

Filed Under: Abolition and the Suffrage Movement, Featured Suffragists

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

September 25, 2020 By Kevin Gilnack

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

Biography In the 1860s, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was a free, Black, young woman working as a teacher in Pennsylvania when her home state of Maryland passed a law stating that ANY African American who returned to Maryland would be sold into slavery. This prompted the already ambitious educator to devote herself as an organizer […]

Filed Under: Abolition and the Suffrage Movement, Featured Suffragists

Ida B. Wells

February 22, 2018 By Alice Janigro

Ida B. Wells 1862-1931 “I think Ida B. Wells should be remembered as an African-American woman who battled both racism and sexism at a time when it was extremely dangerous to speak out… She used her gift of writing, speaking and organizing to help shed light on injustice.  She was extremely brave and held steadfast […]

Filed Under: Abolition and the Suffrage Movement, Featured Suffragists

Sojourner Truth

January 6, 2017 By Alice Janigro

Sojourner Truth c.1797-1883 Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Baumfree) was both an abolitionist and a champion of the women’s rights movement, exposing the important intersection of gender and race. As one of the only black women of the time who spoke for women’s rights, she is most well known for her “Ain’t I a Woman” speech […]

Filed Under: Abolition and the Suffrage Movement, Featured Suffragists

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Suffragists Support #StopAsianHate

March 2021

Dear Suffrage100MA Community,

Suffrage100MA stands with the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Community and grieves for the eight victims recently murdered in Georgia, six of whom were women of Asian descent.  Carry the victims in your hearts, light candles for them, learn about their lives:  Daoyou Feng, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Paul Andre Michels, Soon Chung Park, Ziaojie Tan, Delaina Yaun and Young Ae Yue.

The words of this song from the 1949 musical “South Pacific” are more applicable than ever:

You’ve got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You’ve got to be taught
From year to year,
It’s got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

“You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” was a highly controversial song, but thankfully, ultimately included in the show. The song was written to address racism against Asians and all people.  The character Lt. Cable, a Caucasian man who has fallen in love with an Asian woman, is distressed by the prejudice against interracial couples and racism in general, sang the song after saying the words “…racism is not born in you! It happens after you’re born…”

James Taylor recorded the song in Nov. 2020.

We must work to end the racism that is “…drummed in your dear little ear…”

In 2020, hate crimes against Asian Americans are up almost 150 percent.  Discrimination against the Asian community has existed in this country since Asians arrived in the late 19th century.  Asians faced discrimination against dignity and equality, and were denied citizenship and the right to vote until the middle of the 20thcentury. After the 19th Amendment was adopted extending the vote to women, discriminatory laws prevented Asian Americans, Native Americans and African Americans from voting for decades and today the crisis for voter accessibility is growing.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, “In a backlash to historic voter turnout in the 2020 general election, and grounded in a rash of baseless and racist allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities, legislators have introduced well over four times the number of bills to restrict voting access as compared to roughly this time last year. Thirty-three states have introduced, prefiled, or carried over 165 restrictive bills this year (as compared to 35 such bills in fifteen states on February 3, 2020).”

Suffrage100MA is committed to increasing accessibility to the ballot and inspiring voters to exercise their right to vote by sharing the history of those who fought bravely, sometimes losing their lives, for decades and across centuries, to secure the vote.  Let us each recognize the power and importance of voting to express one’s voice

On behalf of the Suffrage100MA Board of Directors –
With deep appreciation to all of you for being on this journey with us,

Fredie Kay
Founder & President, Suffrage100MA