Louisa K. Fast (born 15 January 1878) was an American
suffragist
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
and international activist.
Early life
Louisa was born in Canton, Ohio to Melanchton Luther Fast and Maria Louisa Kuhn. Louisa's father died one month before she was born, and her mother died three weeks after she was born. When her parents died, she became a ward of
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
, who was a friend of her parents. He was governor of Ohio at the time. Kinley took care of her until Louisa became of age, and kept in contact with her even during his presidency. Fast graduated in 1898 from Smith College. She went to France during World War I as part of Smith College's relief unit, and she worked to rebuild the countryside.
Activism
Fast became involved with the League of Women Voters in 1920. At the time, the organization had just been formed. Through the organization, she traveled around Ohio advocating for women's groups to organize and form local chapters of the League of Women Voters. In 1923, she got a job working with the International Relations Branch of the League of Women Voters and worked with
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 ...
to develop conferences. In 1935, she helped plan the 1935 Istanbul-based conference of the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship.
Legacy
Fast was inducted into the
Ohio Women's Hall of Fame
The Ohio Women's Hall of Fame was a program the State of Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services ran from 1978 through 2011. The Hall has over 400 members. In 2019, the Hall's physical archives and online records were transferred to the ...
in 1980, in the category of Women's Suffrage and Cultural Activism. She also has a park named after her in
Tiffin, Ohio
Tiffin is a city in and the county seat of Seneca County, Ohio, United States. Developed along the Sandusky River, which flows to Lake Erie, Tiffin is about 55 miles southeast of Toledo. The population was 17,963 at the 2010 census.