Women’s Suffrage in Minnesota

In September 1919, the Minnesota legislature ratified the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote.

This change had been a long time coming. As far back as 1858, granting the right to vote to married women was proposed as an addition to the new state’s constitution. This idea was, unfortunately, rejected.

Women moved one step closer to the ballot in 1875 when they were granted the right to vote and run for office- but only for school board and school related issues.

The first statewide suffrage organization was formed in 1881 when the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA) was created by 14 women in Hastings.

The MWSA transformed into the Minnesota League of Women Voters, which is still an active organization devoted to civic engagement nearly 100 years later.

The Scott County Historical Society will be commemorating the anniversary of statewide womens’ suffrage during the upcoming year. To kick things off, we are excited to host historian and author Lois Glewwe. Glewwe is the descendant of the longtime South St. Paul Glewwe family. On August 27, 1920, South St. Paul women, including three of Lois Glewwe’s paternal aunts went to the polls. They were the first women in Minnesota to vote after the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Glewwe will share the story of 21-year-old Marguerite Newburgh, a stenographer at South St. Paul City Hall who the national press identified as the very first woman to vote that morning at 6:00 a.m. when the polls opened. Join us on Thursday, August 8th at 6:30pm for this special event!  Learn more at https://bit.ly/2NIZGYM

Additionally, look forward to a special exhibit on the journey towards womens’ suffrage in Scott County opening in April of 2020. Do you have any artifacts or stories to share relating to the history of women’s suffrage in Scott County? Don’t hesitate to reach out to SCHS at 952-445-0378, or email info@scottcountyhistory.org

Womens’ suffrage was a hotly contested issue in print publications of the early 1900s. Below is the text of an article entitled “Votes for Women: By a Suffragette” about the British and American womens’ fight for voting rights. It was published in the Scott County Argus on April 2nd, 1909:

IIlustration from the Scott County Argus, April 2, 1909

“Votes For Women”: The peer who could have been apprehended uttering those words 100 years ago in England would have been ostracized by society- by men and women alike. But scan the situation today and you will find that we suffragettes have nearly won our battle. Perhaps it seems far from victory for Americans who have been following the the struggle which we have been conducting in our own way, but let me say right here that “votes for women” is in my mind a certainty within a decade. 

The idea has been drive home among the men who are the ruling powers of Great Britain and they cannot help but see the beauty of our arguments. The opening of a vista of light in the stubborn minds of men who construct English law is to the suffragettes a certain indication that if the fight is carried on in the next few years with the same vigorous measures which have marked the pursuit of votes by the feminine British of the past few years our cause is won. 

It is an enlightened age. The woman who spurns the thought of participating in the political activities of her country has not yet reached a plane, according to my belief, where she can possibly appreciate the benefits derived from the ballot. Why do women dislike politics? I answer simply because they believe the political side of a country’s life is the degraded one. They connect politics and votes with drinking, graft, and other evils which, I may say beset the safety of political government today. 

Illustration from the Scott County Argus, April 2, 1909

And, let me ask the woman who does not believe that she should vote. Would not the introduction of the feminine into government affairs serve to cleanse them of the stigma which is too often attached. To mind that would be the result. 

I have said that I would deal impartially in this article and so I am giving “the other hand” of the question. Men have opposed equal rights because they say that the influence a women of evil intentions could throw into a political fight would disrupt organization. I answer: There is now much evil in the manner in which our male citizens are carrying out their policies and it is a certainty that the purifying influences of women would be felt in national questions.

“But women has not the training for a political career”, some of my skeptical friends may declare. True, she has not had the training which has been accorded to the men, but just ow she is not looking for political office, for she is after her primary right- the ballot. Then after that is one the political training will naturally follow with the interest which the woman must take in the affairs of the country which she will necessarily help in deciding. 

I do not suppose that enlightened readers will want me to again go over that thread bare motto, which arises to the uppermost part of the brain of man whenever he is arguing against equal rights, vis., that “women’s place is in the home”. 

Of course woman’s place is in her home. So is a man’s, but that does not prevent either from participating in the decision of who shall govern the rights upon which that home is built. Think it over. Does it? 

It befell me to be a member of the little band of women who, when they asserted their rights verbally in front of the house of commons in February, were dragged into the worst excuse for a court of justice and sentenced to one month in the workshop because they had nerve enough to tell the people of London their ideas on the rights of men and women. 

The mental agonies which we women were compelled to undergo were compensated in the good which was done the cause, or we were the martyrs of our division of the great band of women which is fighting for the ballot. 

True, the magistrate was good enough to give us places in “jail” which were better than those to which the ordinary drunkard is sentenced, but the care we received was not such that our lived in the confinement of the “jail” was by any means comfortable. Yet we refused to allow ourselves freedom. 

Men have laughed at our methods of going about the acquirement of our right to the ballot. 

A male friend of mine said to me: “Why do not you women go after suffrage peaceably without the attempt at making your point felt by the use of brute strength?”

Think of it, sisters and brothers. He called our efforts the utilization of “brute strength”. I laughed outright when he chose to term our fight under that caption. 

Perhaps he gained his idea from the fact that our vigorous prosecuting of the fight has been styled “rioting” by the sensationalist press. But in my mind, it cannot be called that for to my knowledge, none of the women came to blows with their enemies in this fight. IT seems to me that what “brute strength” has been used was on the other side. 

Brains have been used to a greater extent then you might imagine. It was a cunning mind among our leaders who thought out the plan to talk to leaders of Parliament by having two women chain themselves to the guard in the balcony. Just that little incident gave England the idea that the fight was a determined one. 

Illustration from the Scott County Argus, April 2, 1909

Modern advertising methods were used to circulate general knowledge of the March demonstration and certainly if we believed that the power of brawn is needed to win this struggle we would not have gone about it in that manner. We could have hired hoodlums to make a far more startling argument in the line with the use of brute strength. 

Another manner of unique advertising was the airship episode which unfortunately ended disastrously. The craft, upon the side of which a great banner hung bearing the slogan “votes for women” traveled in the direction opposite to that for which it had been steered, but the moral effect upon the public was good 

Though it is not generally known, there are great minds behind this campaign and through them eventual success is sure. Every day new moves are planned, and the members of parliament who are opposed to our creed little know where to look next for an outcropping of the emblem which bears our little legend “equal suffrage”. 

Male members of the British nobility are to be figured upon if the selfish would defeat us, and that is why I say I believe I have good reason to argue that within a decade our fight will be won. Are there not in England among the male population minds of far lesser caliber than those of the women who believe they should vote? There is no doubt of it. Yet we, who have a greater grasp of the political side of life in his majesty’s domain are denied the privilege. Is our condition not like that which you Americans fought back in 1776: taxation without representation?

From reading the cable news from America in the daily newspaper here in London I learn that several states of our former colonies have bestowed upon their women the right to cast ballots in rendering decisions as to state and city officers. If the offspring of England shall have so far progressed as to recognize that the feminine branch of the human race deserves a say in the affairs of men is it not time for the mother country to cast from her back the black cloak of unequal suffrage? 

There is a suffrage lesson in America and well may England profit by it. The thought that voting is unwomanly is as obsolete as the old stage-coach system, to my mind and some day the eyes of our country will be opened to that fact. We women have simply formed ourselves into a band of leaders and we hope soon to see our way clear to the voting booth. 

Our struggle commenced in humble little mass meetings in the street. The success of these resolved itself into the desire to do greater things and today you Americans who read the newspapers are viewing a fight which is nearing the mountain top of victory. 

An Irishman in Scott County

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the Scott County Historical Society! Today we had the pleasure of visiting ProAct-New Options in Shakopee to share a little Scott County Irish history and help them celebrate the holiday. We would also like to celebrate with a blog post by profiling one of Scott County’s  early Irish citizens.

The 1800s were a rough time for Irish farmers. Few families actually owned their land, instead owing money and crops to British landlords. In the case that a family did own their plot, a law of subdivision was in place requiring that all land was required to be divided equally between living sons at the time of a parent’s death. This led to increasingly small plots, often insufficient for a family to earn a living. Many Irish farmers eked out their lives in abject poverty.

The response to these conditions was potatoes. Potatoes packed a lot of calories into a small package, required minimal upkeep, could be grown in small areas, and could be stored throughout the winter. Growing potatoes allowed a family with limited time and resources a hearty food source. By 1840, roughly half the population of Ireland lived almost entirely on potatoes.

Unfortunately, this extensive cultivation of a single crop left Ireland’s potatoes vulnerable to Phytophthora infestans, commonly known as “blight”. In 1844, Irish newspapers began mentioning concern due to a disease that had attacked potatoes in the United States and elsewhere in Europe. By 1846, three-quarters of the potato harvest was lost to blight. Ireland’s level of dependence on the potato was such that by 1849, the potato blight left over 1 million people dead from starvation, or related illnesses.

The response of the English government to the famine was lackluster, and many Irish began looking for a way out. Thus began a period of mass migration from Ireland to the United States. It is estimated that between 1820 and 1930 around 4.5 million Irish arrived in America.

Jeremiah Hayes

One of these Irish immigrants was Jeremiah Hayes. He was born around 1830 on a farm on the outskirts of the village of Milltown, in County Kerry Ireland, 30 years after Ireland officially became a British state. In January. He recalled his childhood in Ireland in an article published by the Belle Plaine Herald on January 14th, 1926, noting a storm that had hit his family’s farm when he was “a pretty small lad”

“I remember that wind all right. There has never been anything like it since. It would blow the hair right off your head. I can remember my father and mother propping the door, and a terrible time they had of it too. No one was killed in  in our neighborhood, but a good many cows and pigs were lost, and there was a lot of property damage”

Hayes also recalled living through the potato famine

“The potato crop had been good in ’45, but the next year when the crop failed and the pits containing last year’s harvest were opened, the walls of the pits caved in and it was found that dry rot had ruined them. They didn’t have any relief organizations in those days. Little aid could be obtained from England and from famine and disease people died like flies”

Hayes held on through the potato famine, and grew to adulthood. Along the way he met and married Ellen Hayes and the two tried to make a living on the family farm. In 1860 he decided that his prospects on the farm were “none too bright” and he decided to come to the United States.

Following two cousins, Hayes settled in Faxton, then a flourishing village not far from Belle Plaine. Jeremiah Hayes described life in Faxton:

“There were great times in that community in those days. They worked hard but they enjoyed themselves. There were several saloons and most of the stores had a whiskey barrel where drinks could be bought for five cents. There were dances in which Irish jigs were features, and sometimes there were fights. The boys were full of life and fun and naturally a little rough at times, but beyond a few black eyes and bruised noses little damage was done”

For three years, Jeremiah worked digging drainage ditches and saved his money. Eventually, he was able to bring his wife from Ireland to join him in the United States. The two settled on a small farm in St. John’s parish.

Jeremiah Hayes took pride in what he saw his is rough-and-tumble Irish roots. A huge fan of boxing, Hayes told the Belle Plaine Herald on January 24th, 1926 that “There was always a lot of good Irish names to be found among the boys at the prize ring”, and said of his youth “You see, they boys fought it out and shook hands afterwards. There was no long arguments and no sidestepping like we have nowadays. A man had to be able to stand up and take care of himself and it was the making of lots of them”.

Ellen Hayes passed away in 1891 from consumption. Jeremiah Continued to farm until 1921, when he moved in with his daughter in Belle Plaine. In his old age, Jeremiah Hayes was known for his jigging ability. He performed at American Legion meetings, and for the Twin City Auto Show, with favorite tunes including the Fisherman’s Hornpipe, Liverpool Hornpipe, and the Scottish Reel. He did not think much of Jazz, what he called “modern music”.

In his old age, Jeremiah Hayes left some advice behind for future generations on the pages of the Belle Plaine Herald “Young folks have too good of a time nowadays. A little hard work would do ‘em good”.

Hayes passed away on August 27, 1927 in Belle Plaine. Though his story, like all stories, is unique, he represents one of the largest mass-migrations of refugees in American history. Today, we celebrate those stories on St. Patrick’s day.

Written by Rose James, SCHS Program Manager

The Land Before Cars

Automobiles and roads are often taken for granted in modern life. The number of people who can remember a time without cars or an interstate highway system are sadly dwindling. This period in history is at the twilight between living memory and historical artifact. Despite the abundance of cars and roads today it was only a little over a century ago that people were riding in a wagon to town, and making their way across rough dirt and gravel roads. The first record of a car in Shakopee is from 1901, and automobiles in general did not start to become popular until the 1910s when they entered mass production.

It was not uncommon for people to walk from one place to another, unless they were going between towns. Farmers had wagons they could use to get around and in the towns, carriages were more common. Consider snow falls in those times for a moment. Pictured is a crew shoveling snow off the road in Shakopee. Imagine how long it would take to clear roads, or even haul the snow out of the way. Today, snow plows have thousands of pounds behind them and a motor capable of providing far more power than a horse could muster.

The idea of modern conveniences and services are seldom thought of as they were in the past. For example, this photograph of a Fire Department from Belle Plaine shows a team of horses pulling a massive water tank. Today, a bright red truck would fly down the road and hook into a hydrant system. This is one of several major services that is seldom thought of a product of the modern road system and engines. Emergency services were more practical in town and cities than out in the country. Water tanks on wagons were used when away from the towns, but they were limited and did not have a very large volume to the tanks.

As cars became more plentiful, and roads went from gravel to paved, the world became more connected. It is difficult today to consider living our lives without hopping on some highway and zooming at 70 miles an hour. It has been a little more than a century since the lives of Scott County moved at one horse power.

Fire at the Camp!

Last week the Scott County History Blog profiled the National Youth Administration Camp that was located outside of Shakopee in the late 1930s and early 1940s. With hundreds of young people living in one place, the camp was bound to be a hotbed of stories and misadventures. One incident in particular was profiled in the Shakopee Argus-Tribune on February 27th, 1941. Two days before the camp had been hit by a massive fire. The Argus-Tribune reported the basics of the fire, but allowed the bulk of the story to be told through a letter that “Ted”, a camp enrollee wrote home to his parents:

“Dear Mom and Dad:

“I know you’ve read all about it so there probably isn’t much left for me to tell.

“I was in bed when the siren blew, for the fire was discovered after lights-out. Nevertheless, I managed to be one of the first ones there., We used our hand extinguishers until enough fellows came to form a bucket brigade, but we knew it was out of control. While the fellows kept fighting some of us tried to salvage our tools and equipment until the heat became unbearable. You cam imagine our relief when the Shakopee Fire Department arrived, but our hopes were short lived, for the tanks of welding gas began to explode and it was impossible to stay. Chaska and Jordan also arrived with their equipment and we were able to pump water from the river yet the most we could do was keep the flames from the hanger and other buildings nearby. While we worked, we saw our welding shop go; practically helpless we watched the flames roar through the machine shop; we stood b as the firemen battled them through auto mechanics, where the fire was finally brought under control leaving but one wall standing.

“If you could have seen it in the morning; where the machine shop had stood, only the scarred heavy metal lathes, grinders, shapers and milling machines remain.  Two twisted cars and a wall are all that is left of the auto shop. Except for a few torn takes which held the welding gas, nearly everything is ashes.

“Of course we all felt pretty bad but words of encouragement began to lea from Cap Whelan’s office. Later at a meeting we learned that new machines and equipment were to be shipped immediately. We were also happy to hear that we have been offered equipment and shops by the businessmen of Shakopee to be used until our courses are reestablished.

” Fortunately our new welding unit was still in the storeroom, so it will be installed in a new larger shop

” Since the aviation classes can be held in Minneapolis, the auto mechanics and body and fender courses will be setup in the large space which was the hanger. Sheet metal drafting and blue print reading will be taught here at the project, while the actual work experience will be gained, for the time being, in a shop at Shakopee

“The people of Shakopee have been really swell. It seems that nearly everyone has tried to help. Besides the businessmen’s generous offers, we are are grateful to Chief Ring and his volunteer fire department

“I know you’ve all been worried. You’ll be glad to hear there were no serious accidents, a  few boys were scratched and our caretaker, Pat Hardegan was struck below the knee by a piece of tank when it exploded.

“Well, we’re all happy that things have turned out so well, and that everything will soon go on as usual

“Don’t bother to write, for I have my leave to come home for the weekend

Your loving son, Ted”

From New Deal to Navy: The National Youth Administration Camp in Shakopee

During the Great Depression Scott County, like numerous counties across the nation, was faced with the problem of homelessness. One road to relief was the construction of five “transient camps”, profiled in last week’s Scott County History blog post. These camps were an effective, but short lived solution. The administrative center of these camps was located just outside of Shakopee. Originally constructed in 1934, the Shakopee camp was emptied by 1938.  It was determined that the facility would have new life as a NYA, or National Youth Administration camp.

National Youth Administration Recuitment poster, 1941. Work Projects Administration Poster Collection (Library of Congress).

The National Youth Administration was a New Deal program launched in 1935. Similar to work-study programs for college students today, the NYA paid a grant stipend for part-time work to young people between the ages of 18 and 25. Some of this work was in the educational sector, helping out with administrative and maintenance tasks at academic institutions. Other projects provided on-the-job training in fields such as forestry, agriculture and construction. The goal was to provide meaningful paid work to young people that would teach on-the-job skills, giving beneficiaries an eventual leg up in the job market. An added aim was keeping young people from flooding the already strained traditional labor market.

The National Youth Administration Camp outside of Shakopee was a unique affair. It combined the work-study goals of traditional NYA jobs with the housing  of the former transient center. The Shakopee Argus-Tribune announced the development of the camp on March 31st, 1938. It described the goals of the program thusly: “…a practical education center for deserving young men between the ages of 18 and 25… it is not like the CCC [Civilian Conservation Corps] in that it is non-military. Boys enter on a six-month tenure. They will work a half day and study a half day and draw a small wage. The program is not one primarily of employment but one in which willing youths may be aided educationally”. An official bulletin printed in the April 7th Argus-Tribune formally stated “The primary purpose of this project is not to directly prepare young men for employment but to make possible exploratory experiences in various fields which may lead to self-maintenance and which will better qualify young men for worthwhile home and community life”. The educational opportunities listed were agriculture, auto mechanics, carpentry, welding, forestry, and shoe repair.  Basically, the camp provided a vocational liberal-arts education.

Headline announcing the construction of Shakopee’s NYA Camp. From the Shakopee Argus-Tribune, April 7, 1938. SCHS Collections

The camp was limited in who it served. Only males could enroll in the program, and they must “be certified as in need by an approved public relief agency”. Each enrollee drew $30.00 per month, $20 of which provided for room and board, and $10 for the boys and their families. The youths were housed in rough-cut cabins and provided with food in a mess hall, recreational facilities and medical care.

As time passed, opportunities at the camp expanded.  On March 20, 1939 the Shakopee Argus-Tribune reported that the camp was producing a radio program entitled “Tangled Lives”. Each week the program presented a dramatized enactment of a problem performed by NYA enrollees. Problems ranged from “Should I apply to College” to “Physical Disability”. After the performance, a team of experts would assemble to share possible solutions with listeners.

On September 1st, 1939 Hitler invaded Poland and, at least in Europe, World War 2 begun. While the US did not officially join the conflict until 1941, rumblings of war could be felt In Shakopee’s NYA camp. On September 14th, 1939 the Shakopee Argus-Tribune announced a $200,000 allocation to train camp youth in airplane mechanics through a program under the supervision of Col. Victor Page. In August of 1940, the camp youth began construction of two seaplane bases that would, upon completion, be shipped where they were needed. The work at the camp was focusing more and more on national defense.

Administrative building of the Shakopee NYA camp. The building was originally Murphy’s Inn, and was located on the site of what is now The Landing. SCHS Collections, 1938

On July 1st, 1941, nearly 5 months before US entry into WW2, the enrollment at the Shakopee NYA camp was suddenly bumped to the staggering number of 544. The order to increase enrollees came from the Office of Production Management in Washington, and specified that the new recruits be trained in defense production. Along with quarters for the new boys, a machine shop and facilities for training in radio operation and communication were added.

By 1942 the United States was firmly entrenched in war. On February 12th, 1942 the Shakopee Argus-Tribune announced that authority over the NYA camp would be formally transferred to the US Navy, who planned to use the facility to train recruits as Navy machinists.

After the end of World War 2 ownership of the camp lands was transferred to the Shakopee Public Schools. The rustic cabins that housed NYA and Navy recruits became rental properties, housing Scott County families until the early 1960s. Interested in visiting the old NYA camp? The ruins of Murphy’s Inn- first the Administration building of the transient camp, then the center of the NYA camp- are currently part of The Landing, a historic site in the Three Rivers Park District.

Written by Rose James, SCHS Program Manager