The National Association Opposed to Women Suffrage (NAOWS) was founded in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

by women opposed to the suffrage movement in 1911. It was the most popular

anti-suffrage Anti-suffragism was a political movement composed of both men and women that began in the late 19th century in order to campaign against women's suffrage in countries such as Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. T ...

organization in northeastern cities. NAOWS had influential local chapters in many states, including

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

History

The National Association Opposed to Women Suffrage (NAOWS) was established by Josephine Jewell Dodge in

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in 1911. Dodge had the first meeting at her house and women came from New York and surrounding states. Dodge was currently the president of the

New York State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage The New York State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NYSAOWS) was an American anti-suffrage organization in New York. The group was made up of prominent women who fought against the cause of women's suffrage by giving speeches, handing out m ...

(NYSAOWS). Dodge resigned from NYSAOWS to take over as president of NAOWS. Shortly after formation, state branches of NAOWS began to form. Headquarters in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, were opened in 1913, giving the organization a front in both New York and the U.S. Capital. Like other anti-suffrage organizations, NAOWS published a newsletter as well as other publications, containing their opinions on the current political issues of the time. The newsletter of the association was called ''Woman's Protest'' (later renamed '' Woman Patriot'' in 1918). Dodge also toured the country, spreading anti-suffrage views to other states. Josephine Dodge, the founding president, was replaced in 1917, by Alice Hay Wadsworth, wife of U.S. Senator James W. Wadsworth, Jr. from New York. Upon amendment to the

New York State Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

granting women the right to vote, the focus of the NAOWS shifted from the state level to the federal level. The organization also began to see more men join NAOWS than before. The headquarters were moved solely to Washington D.C. and they merged with the Woman Patriot Publishing Company. The organization disbanded in 1920 as a result of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Delaware Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

The Delaware Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (DAOWS) was formed in 1914.

Mary Wilson Thompson Mary Wilson Thompson (October 30, 1866 – April 2, 1947) was a Delaware civic leader. As leader of the Delaware Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, she is credited with the Delaware General Assembly's failure to ratify the 19th Amendment, ...

served as the president. Thompson's influence on politics was effective at preventing the initial ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

Prominent Georgia women, Eugenia Dorothy Blount Lamar and Mildred Rutherford, formed the Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (GAOWS) in Macon, Georgia in May 1914. GAOWS was affiliated with the national group. Both Lamar and Rutherford were involved in

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

memorial work. Rutherford's influence with the Confederate daughters of Georgia helped raise the profile of GAOWS and the group quickly grew to 2,000 members. For women who supported the idea of the

Lost Cause The Lost Cause of the Confederacy (or simply Lost Cause) is an American pseudohistorical negationist mythology that claims the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was just, heroic, and not centered on slavery. Firs ...

, suffragists represented a change to traditional class and

gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...

s in the South. Anti-suffragists in Georgia linked women's suffrage to the Reconstruction era. They were also concerned with keeping power out of the hands of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

women who were seeking equal rights. GAOWS was also concerned with keeping political power out of the hands of poor white women. Members of GAOWS testified in front of the Georgia General Assembly against women's suffrage. After Georgia rejected the Nineteenth Amendment, Lamar went to other states to campaign against the amendment's ratification.

Maine Association Opposed to Suffrage for Women

The Maine Association Opposed to Suffrage for Women (MAOSW) was formed in 1913. By 1917, almost 2,000 members joined the group.

New Jersey Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

The New Jersey Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NJAOWS) was formed on April 14, 1912. Many members of NJAOWS were wealthy and involved in "patriotic, heritage organizations" like the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Anti-suffragists in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

linked women's suffrage with anti-patriotism. Many did not want to see traditional roles in the community change. Members of NJAOWS were also worried about socialism and immigrants voting.

South Dakota Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

In 1916, a

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

affiliate of NAOWS was created and led by Mrs. Ernest Jackson and Mrs. C. M. Hollister. The group started publishing a newspaper called the ''South Dakota Anti-Suffragist'' and campaigned against upcoming suffrage referendums in the state.

Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

In March 1916, the Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (TAOWS) was created as a chapter of NAOWS in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

with Pauline Wells as the president. The chapter in

also connected the increase in African Americans voting to women's suffrage and they stoked fears of "domination by the black race in the South." They also believed that women's suffrage was linked to "

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, sex antagonism,

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

, anarchy and

Mormonism Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of ...

." Like their parent organization, TAOWS had local chapters in major Texas cities. TAOWS fought against the

Texas Equal Suffrage Association The Texas Equal Suffrage Association (TESA) was an organization founded in 1903 to support white women's suffrage in Texas. It was originally formed under the name of the Texas Woman Suffrage Association (TWSA) and later renamed in 1916. TESA did ...

who were pushing for Texas women's right to vote in Texas primary elections in 1918. In April 1919, headquarters were moved to Fort Worth. In 1919, TAOWS successfully campaigned against a state measure for women's vote which was defeated by 25,000 votes in May. However, in June 1919, Texas passed a suffrage amendment, allowing women to vote and the TAOWS stopped fighting against women's suffrage.

Virginia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

A group, the

Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (VAOWS) formed in Richmond in March 1912 and affiliated with NAOWS. Jane Rutherford served as the president of VAOWS. Local branches in different cities formed by 1913 and the organization distributed anti-suffrage literature. In 1915, VAOWS helped raise money for the Belgian Relief Fund during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. By May 1917, VAOWS had doubled in size and continued to grow through 1918. Around 8,000 women had signed up with the anti-suffrage cause in Richmond by 1919. Like the Texas Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage, VAOWS also suggested that

race riots An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more contending ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's positi ...

, the black vote and women's suffrage were connected. In a sponsored editorial published in ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch'' on September 2, 1919, VAOWS exclaimed, "Race riots will increase if there is more politics between the races and if women are mixed up in politics!" One anti-suffragist in Virginia said it would be harder to keep Black women from the polls than Black men saying that Black women were "exempt from fear and physical consequences." VAOWS also threatened that if women were given the vote, it would lead to

. Linking socialism to women's suffrage brought class issues into the debate on the vote for women. Virginia had already worked to disenfranchise Black voters, poor white voters, and Republicans in 1902. VAOWS worked to make sure that this supremacy over the poor and over differing political ideologies was maintained. VAOWS appealed to state's rights as a means to oppose federal oversight of their voting practices.

Political views

One of NAOWS' publications included a pamphlet, ''Some Reasons Why We Oppose Votes for Women'', which, as the title suggests, outlines some of the reasons why they are opposed to women suffrage. They believed it was irrelevant to the success of the country, as stated in their pamphlet:

Because the great advance of women in the last century— moral, intellectual and economic— has been made without the vote; which goes to prove that it is not needed for their further advancement along the same lines.

The National Association Opposed to Women Suffrage opposed women's right to vote because they said that the majority of women did not want the right to vote, and because they believed that the men in their lives accurately represented the political will of women around the United States. NAOWS submitted pamphlets like these to the general public as well as directing them to government officials so that political figures would see that women opposed the then-unratified nineteenth amendment. They did this in order to counteract the rhetoric of the suffragettes of the time. According to the NAOWS and the state-based organizations that it inspired, voting would severely and negatively affect the true submissive and domestic state of the feminine. These organizations were championed by women who thought themselves the prime examples of true womanhood—quiet, dignified, and regal. They looked with disdain at the outward protests of suffragettes. NAOWS wanted to appeal to conservative and traditional members of their community, including other women and religious figures. They positioned themselves as being in opposition of "the militant suffragette" and militant or "hysterical" tactics. NAOWS also believed that women's involvement in politics would interfere with their "civic duties for which they are peculiarly adapted." NAOWS believed that women were equal to men, but had different duties and "functions".

Quotes from ''Some Reasons Why We Oppose Votes For Women''

"We believe that political equality will deprive us of special privileges hitherto accorded to us by law." " e oppose suffrageBecause it means simply doubling the vote, and especially the undesirable and corrupt vote of our large cities." " e oppose suffrageBecause our present duties fill up the whole measure of our time and ability, and are such as none but ourselves can perform."

Notable members

* Josephine Jewell Dodge *

Ida Tarbell Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857January 6, 1944) was an American writer, investigative journalist, biographer and lecturer. She was one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and pione ...

* Alice Hay Wadsworth *

Kate Douglas Wiggin Kate Douglas Wiggin (September 28, 1856August 24, 1923) was an American educator, author and composer. She wrote children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel ''Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,'' and composed collections of children's ...

Minnie Bronson Minnie Bronson (September 12, 1863, New York - October 28, 1927 Cattaraugus County, New York) was an American anti-suffragist activist who was general secretary of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. Biography Minnie Bronson ...

References

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