Edith Clark Cowles (1874 – 1954) was an American suffragist. She was one of the founders of the

Equal Suffrage League of Virginia The Equal Suffrage League of Virginia was founded in 1909 in Richmond, Virginia. Like many similar organizations in other states, the league's goal was to secure voting rights for women. When the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratifie ...

Biography

Cowles was born on August 27, 1874 in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana. She was the sister of

Adele Goodman Clark Adele Goodman Clark (September 27, 1882 – June 4, 1983) was an American artist and suffragist. Early life Clark was born in 1882 in Montgomery, Alabama to Robert Clark, a railroad worker originally from Belfast, and Estelle Goodman Clark, a J ...

. In 1903 she married Julius Deming Cowles with whom she had one child. They lived in Brooklyn where she taught kindergarten, having previously completed a training course in Richmond, Virginia. The couple eventually separated and perhaps divorced. Cowles had family in Richmond and was probably involved with the formation of the

in 1909 under the auspices of the

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...

. In 1914 Cowles permanently settled in Richmond. She served as executive secretary and press secretary for the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia from 1916 through 1920. She was especially active, along with Ida Mae Thompson in the running of the Richmond office when the president,

Lila Meade Valentine Lila Meade Valentine (born Lila Hardaway Meade; February 4, 1865 – July 14, 1921) was a Virginia education reformer, health-care advocate, and one of the main leaders of her state's participation in the woman's suffrage movement in the United S ...

, was ill. After the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 Cowles became active in the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia's successor organization, the Virginia

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

. She was on the board of directors and also the executive secretary and publicity director. Cowles contributed large portions of the chapter on Virginia to ''

History of Woman Suffrage ''History of Woman Suffrage'' is a book that was produced by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Ida Husted Harper. Published in six volumes from 1881 to 1922, it is a history of the women's suffrage movement, primar ...

'', published in 1922. In 1923 Cowles helped found the

Lewis Ginter Major Lewis Ginter (April 4, 1824 – October 2, 1897) was a prominent businessman, financier, military officer, real estate developer, and philanthropist centered in Richmond, Virginia. A native of New York City, Ginter accumulated a considerabl ...

Library at the Ginter Park Community House. She was the executive secretary of the Community House for over 20 years, also serving as librarian. Cowles died on December 8, 1954 in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowles, Edith Clark 1874 births 1954 deaths People from New Orleans American suffragists