Ida Crouch-Hazlett (born Ida Estelle Crouch, c. 1870 – 1941) was an American political activist prominent in the

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

movements. Crouch-Hazlett is best remembered as a prominent orator and organizer for the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...

during the first two decades of the 20th century. In 1902 Crouch-Hazlett became the first female candidate for

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

from Colorado when she ran for a seat in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

Biography

Early years

Ida Estelle Crouch was born c. 1870 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the daughter of two college-educated schoolteachers.Gary M. Fink (ed.), "Ida Crouch-Hazlett," ''Biographical Dictionary of American Labor.'' Revised edition. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1984; pp. 167-1687. Crouch grew up in

Monmouth, Illinois Monmouth is a city in and the county seat of Warren County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,902 at the 2020 census, down from 9,444 in 2010. It is the home of Monmouth College and contains Monmouth Park, Harmon Park, North Park, Warf ...

, where she attended elementary school, before enrolling in the

Monticello Seminary Monticello Seminary (also Monticello Female Seminary), founded in 1835, was an American seminary, junior college and academy in Godfrey, Illinois. The campus was the oldest female seminary in the west, before it closed in 1971. The buildings are n ...

Godfrey, Illinois Godfrey is a village in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,982 at the 2010 census. Godfrey is located within the Riverbend portion of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Geography Godfrey is located at (38.948097 ...

. She was an 1888 graduate of Illinois State Normal School (an institution that would later become

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

) at Bloomington and later did course work at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where she studied economics,Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole, ''The American Labor Who's Who.'' New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pp. 51-51. and the Chicago School of Social Sciences following completion of her training as a teacher at Illinois Normal School. Crouch was married at a fairly early age to N. Hazlett, who died not long thereafter. After graduation, Crouch-Hazlett ran for local school board on the ticket of the

Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement. It is the oldest existing third party ...

Mari Jo Buhle Mari Jo Buhle (born 1943) is an American historian and William R. Kenan Jr., William J. Kenan Jr. University Professor Emerita at Brown University. Early life and education Buhle was born in 1943 as Mari Jo Kupski. She graduated from North Chi ...

, ''Women and American Socialism, 1870-1920.'' Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1981; pg. 215. Following that unsuccessful attempt, she held a series of positions as a teacher of

elocution Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, an occupation that helped her to craft her skills as an

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14th ...

. In 1894, Crouch-Hazlett turned to

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

, working as a

newspaper reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. Crouch-Hazlett worked for newspapers in Chicago,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and

Leadville, Colorado The City of Leadville is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorad ...

, and

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. She continued to work as a journalist through 1900. While in Colorado Crouch-Hazlett was first exposed to the bitter

class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

between

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

and mine-owners, which further shaped her political views.

Political career

Crouch-Hazlett's first foray into politics came in 1896, when she was named a national organizer for 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 ...

(NAWSA). Crouch-Hazlett was one of the NAWSA's professional organizers who toured the length and breadth of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

during the unsuccessful 1896 election campaign, joining such stalwarts of the movement as

Susan B. Anthony Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to so ...

Carrie Chapman Catt Carrie Chapman Catt (; January 9, 1859 Fowler, p. 3 – March 9, 1947) was an American women's suffrage leader who campaigned for the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave U.S. women the right to vote in 1920. Catt ...

, and

Anna Howard Shaw Anna Howard Shaw (February 14, 1847 – July 2, 1919) was a leader of the women's suffrage movement in the United States. She was also a physician and one of the first ordained female Methodist ministers in the United States. Early life Shaw ...

. Crouch-Hazlett continued on the staff of the NAWSA until 1901, touring the country for the organization and conducting public lectures building public support for women's right to vote. Shortly after the start of the 20th century, Crouch-Hazlett began to see the fight for

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

as a central component of the struggle of women for equal rights and she made advancement of the socialist movement a central part of her political efforts.Buhle, ''Women and American Socialism, 1870-1920,'' pg. 241. She joined the fledgling

(SPA) around the time of its formation in 1901 and thereafter became one of its most prominent female voices. In 1902, Hazlett became the first female candidate for U.S. Congress in the state of Colorado when she ran for the

on the Socialist ticket. After the 1902 campaign, Hazlett continued without pause taking her oratorial skills on the road on behalf of the Socialist Party as one of its national organizers. Crouch-Hazlett spent the better part of the next two years, holding public lectures and thereby attempting to help build state and local organizations for the new political party. She remained one of the SPA's touring national organizers through 1904. Crouch-Hazlett was a delegate of the Socialist Party of Colorado to the 1904 National Convention of the Socialist Party and a Socialist Party of Montana delegate to the 1908 Convention. Following her time as a Socialist Party traveling lecturer, Crouch-Hazlett settled down as an organizer for the Socialist Party of Montana, an organization at the time of about 450 dues-paying members active in 25 "locals."Jerry W. Calvert, ''The Gibraltar: Socialism and Labor in Butte, Montana, 1895-1920.'' Helena: Montana Historical Society Press, 1988; pg. 30. Hazlett was named editor of the Socialist Party of Montana's newspaper, ''Montana News,'' in December 1905.Montana Historical Society
"Montana News (Lewistown, Mont.),"
Chronicling America, chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ One historian has called Crouch-Hazlett "a most different administrator" of the party newspaper, noting that she preferred to play the role of "roving reporter" and leaving the technical and administrative details of newspaper production to her close political associate, State Secretary

James D. Graham James D. Graham (1873-1951), was a Scotland, Scottish-born American trade union leader and socialism, socialist politician. Graham is best remembered as the longtime leader of the Montana Federation of Labor (MFL) and the Socialist Party of Monta ...

. Her time traversing the massive state of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

in this period involved Crouch-Hazlett closely with the

Western Federation of Miners The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into s ...

. Her association in the labor movement also had a certain participatory element, as during the course of her life, Hazlett was herself a member of the

Knights of Labor Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...

and the

American Labor Union The American Labor Union (ALU) was a radical labor organization launched as the Western Labor Union (WLU) in 1898. The organization was established by the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) in an effort to build a federation of trade unions in th ...

, ultimately unsuccessful rivals of the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...

. Beginning in 1908, the Montana Socialist Party was divided by a bitter factional split, pitting Graham and party editor Crouch-Hazlett on one side and

Lewis Duncan James Lewis Duncan (1892 – 8 April 1960) was a Canadian politician and lawyer. Early life Duncan was the son of a physician and grandson of a Presbyterian minister. He studied at the University of Toronto and in Paris and won a silver medal a ...

, the future Socialist mayor of

Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

, on the other. Driven by Local Butte, the 1908 State Convention of the Socialist Party of Montana appointed an auditing committee headed by Duncan to closely inspect the organization's books.Calvert, ''The Gibraltar,'' pg. 33. Duncan proclaimed the state party's books to be in "wretched condition" and led Local Butte in organizing a call for the resignation of Graham and Hazlett. While Graham was amenable, Crouch-Hazlett refused to accede to this demand, so in the spring of 1909 the Duncan-dominated State Executive Committee expelled both Graham and Hazlett from the party's ranks and formally terminated the organization's connection with the Lewistown-based ''Montana News.'' Graham and Crouch-Hazlett were accused of the misappropriation of party funds by the Duncan faction, and the matter ended up in the courts. The Unitarian minister Duncan also made morals allegations against Crouch-Hazlett, charging that she had been "living openly in an adulterous and licentious relationship with a former member of the Lewistown local." Back of these factional fisticuffs in addition to financial and personal disagreements there lay a policy difference. Local Butte was at this time warmly supportive of

Big Bill Haywood William Dudley "Big Bill" Haywood (February 4, 1869 – May 18, 1928) was an American labor organizer and founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Party of A ...

industrial unionism Industrial unionism is a trade union organizing method through which all workers in the same industry are organized into the same union, regardless of skill or trade, thus giving workers in one industry, or in all industries, more leverage in ...

, and the syndicalist

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...

, going so far as to endorse Haywood as a potential candidate for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

, while Crouch-Hazlett in ''Montana News'' stressed the historic refusal of the Socialist Party to directly intervene in trade union matters.Calvert, ''The Gibraltar,'' pg. 34. in 1910, with ''Montana News'' broken by the factional warfare and party membership down by 45 percent, Crouch-Hazlett again resumed her role as a professional organizer for the Socialist Party of America. She dedicated the bulk of her time to organizing efforts in the American South from 1914 to 1916. Crouch-Hazlett moved to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

during the latter part of the decade and ran for

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

in the 1st District of

Kings County, New York Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

on the Socialist ticket in 1920."Ida Crough (sic.) Hazlett,"
Political Graveyard, politicalgraveyard.com/ Crouch-Hazlett ended her career as an organizer on behalf of the Socialist Party in 1921. During this final year, Crouch-Hazlett was at least once

kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...

by a band of members of the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

, who transported her hundreds of miles before leaving her in a deserted area. This experience did not break Crouch-Hazlett's commitment, but it did nonetheless coincide with an end to her tenure as a Socialist Party organizer. Membership in the SPA plummeted during the early part of the 1920s, following its splitinto rival Socialist and Communist organizations at its

1919 Emergency National Convention The 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party of America was held in Chicago from August 30 to September 5, 1919. It was a seminal gathering in the history of American radicalism, marked by the bolting of the party's organized lef ...

. With dues collections drastically diminished, the party was forced to curtail the number of its paid

functionaries An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

due to ensuing budgetary difficulties, forcing Hazlett to seek other means of support. Crouch-Hazlett visited England, arranging beforehand with British labor activist

Jessie Stephen Jessie Stephen, Order of the British Empire, MBE (19 April 1893 12 June 1979) was a twentieth-century British suffragette, labour activist and local councillor. She grew up in Scotland and won a scholarship to train as a teacher. Family financ ...

to have her letters typed whilst there.

Death and legacy

In 1925 Crouch-Hazlett enrolled at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in an effort to earn a

Doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

. She died in May 1941. Her papers reside among the Social Democratic Party Papers of the

Milwaukee County Historical Society The Milwaukee County Historical Society, also known as MCHS, is a local historical society in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Founded in 1935, the organization was formed to preserve, collect, recognize, and make available materials related to Milwau ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

Footnotes

Works

"Women in the Socialist Movement,"
''Montana News'' ewiston June 1, 1904, pg. 1. * "Mrs. Hazlett Brutally Treated at Spokane," ''The Socialist'' eattle whole no. 344 (September 21, 1907), pg. 1. * "The Socialist Movement and Woman Suffrage," ''Socialist Woman,'' vol. 2 (June 1908), pg. 5.
"Finale!" (poem)
''The New Review,'' vol. 1, no. 9 (March 1, 1913), pg. 276.

Biography

Early years

Political career

Death and legacy

Footnotes

Works

Further reading