Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government.

“Votes for Women! The Woman’s Reason Because…” [Broadside.]

Boston: The Libbie Printing Co., [n.d., ca. 1915-1919]. Probably printed ca. 1915-1919. The Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government (BESAGG) campaigned for women’s suffrage between 1901 and 1920. In 1915, a state constitutional amendment that would have given women the right to vote in Massachusetts failed, and this broadside may have been printed in the wake of the failure. Uniform toning due to paper quality. Creased in the middle. With a small chip missing from one edge and a bit of discoloration at one edge. Small open tear (about 1”), not affecting legibility. Housed in a modern black wooden frame (10 x 12”). Two small pieces of tape (about ”) on verso. A very good copy of a scarce and fragile item. Green paper sheet printed in black. Broadside, 7 x 9 ”. Item #17617

The broadside presents ten arguments for why women should have the right to vote, including “because women have to obey the laws just as men do, they should vote equally with men” and “because women pay taxes just as men do, thus supporting the government, they should vote equally with men.” Other arguments include the fact that over five million women worked industrial jobs at the time, so they deserved a voice in improving workplace legislation; and that “mothers need every help in making their children’s environment good.”.

The BESAGG was founded by Maud Wood Park, Pauline Agassiz Shaw, and Mary Hutcheson Page. Shaw also founded the College Equal Suffrage League, and both organizations targeted younger women who were more aggressive in their tactics. The BESAGG took inspiration from the Pankhurst in England and hosted impromptu public demonstrations, recruited members from their workplaces in factories, and sold pro-suffrage newspapers on the street with newsboys. The organization also successfully campaigned for the defeat of two anti-suffrage state senators in Massachusetts. In 1920, the organization became the Boston League of Women Voters.

Price: $650.00