10 Silly Suffrage Snippets from The Wheeling Intelligencer

On March 10^th, 1920, West Virginia became the 34^th state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that recognized every citizen’s right to vote, regardless of sex. Women’s suffrage would officially become legal in the U.S. on August 18^th, 1920. While women’s suffrage was a controversial and hot debate for decades, at the time, The Wheeling Intelligencer heavily supported the suffragists fighting for voting rights. Looking back during the 100^th anniversary year of the ratification of the 19^th Amendment, some of the descriptions of suffragists and arguments both for and against women’s voting rights seem particularly comical to a 21^st century audience.

As we head to polls or order our absentee ballots for this November’s election, here are ten of some of the many funny, ridiculous, and entertaining quotes on women’s suffrage from The Wheeling Intelligencer in the early 20^th century.

1. “Lusty-lunged women held impromptu suffrage meetings at street corners.” – October 16^th, 1920
2. “Woman’s instincts are purer than those of men, and from the very character of her service to the race she is its best friend. The average moral standard is admittedly much higher among women than men.” – May 1^st 1916
3. “There are a great many women who are more intelligent than the average man, and there are a great many men, who, if intelligence were one of the requirements of suffrage, would not be allowed to vote.” – January 25^th, 1905
4. “The men of West Virginia are too chivalrous not to listen to the request of the women for the extension of the suffrage to them.” – May 1^st, 1916
5. “New Zealand reports that her voting women are still beautiful.” – May 1^st, 1916
6. “Municipal politics is largely municipal housekeeping. Men are notoriously bad housekeepers with an appalling indifference to dirt. Dirt means dead children. In our cemeteries are buried thousands of children slain by dirt diseases and each little tombstone is a mute argument for giving the ballot to the women, the natural enemies of dirt.” – May 1^st, 1916
7. “What this country needs is voters who know something about housekeeping.” – May 1^st 1916
8. “If the women run this town I’ll have to leave it.” – January 25^th, 1905
9. For hundreds of years man has been legislating for woman and he has done it badly.” – May 1^st, 1916
10. Recipe for “The Antis’ Favorite Hash in the Equal Suffrage Cook Book: “One pound Truth, thoroughly mangled, one generous handful of Injustice; (sprinkle over everything in the pan); one tumbler acetic acid (well shaken). A little vitriol will add a delightful tang, a string of nonsense should be dropped in at the last, as if by accident. Stir all together with a sharp knife because some of the tidbits will be tough propositions.” – May 1^st, 1916

To learn more about Wheeling and West Virginia’s roles in the women’s suffrage movement, click here. Whether or not you try your hand at an “Equal Suffrage” recipe or are concerned that voting will impact your good looks—do not forget to register and vote this November! Do it in honor of your favorite silly suffrage snippet!

• Emma Wiley, originally from Falls Church, Virginia, was a former AmeriCorps member with Wheeling Heritage. Emma has a B.A. in history from Vassar College and is passionate about connecting communities, history, and social justice.