Margaret Fay Whittemore

Margaret Fay Whittemore (1884–1937) was an American suffragist.

Margaret Fay Whittemore
Margaret Whittemore, 1925
Born(1884-05-14)May 14, 1884
Chicago, Illinois
DiedDecember 2, 1937(1937-12-02) (aged 52–53)
Santa Barbara, California
NationalityAmerican
OccupationSuffragist
Campaign in Oregon "We Demand an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution Infranchising Women."

Life

Margaret Fay Whittemore was born on May, 14, 1884 in Evanston, Illinois.[1] She was the granddaughter of Quaker Suffragist Eliza Seaman Leggett.[2]

Whittemore was an active suffragist. In 1912 she joined the Equal Suffrage League of Wayne County. She joined the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage (CU) in 1914 and then became a member of the National Woman's Party (NWP).[2]

In 1915 Whittemore organized state branches of the Congressional Union in California, Michigan, and Ohio. Her sister-in-law, Marjorie Miller Whittemore, became head of the Michigan branch of the subsequent National Woman's Party.[2]

Through the NWP Whittemore was involved in advocating for federal suffrage in the western states of Washington,[3] Oregon,[4] and Idaho. In 1917 she was arrested and spent three days in jail along with several other suffragists for picketing the Wilson administration in front of the White House.[5] In 1918, she was head of the Idaho election campaign where she was unsuccessful in the campaign to persuade Idaho Senator William Borah to support the vote for the suffrage amendment.[6]

In 1922, after women had won the right to vote, Whittemore continued her activism, specifically she and Mabel Vernon drove from Indiana to California, supporting women candidates running in the 1924 elections. In 1925, Whittemore became one of five vice-presidents of the National Woman's Party.[2]

Whittemore died in Santa Barbara, California on 2 December 1937.[2]

Further reading
  • Irwin, Inez Haynes (1921). The Story of the Woman's Party. New York: Harcourt, Brace.

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Margaret Fay Whittemore.
  1. Whittemore, Margaret Fay. "Find A Grave". based on original passport application document.
  2. Keating, James. "Biographical Sketch of Margaret Fay Whittemore". Biographical Database of Militant Suffragists, 1913–1920. Alexander Street Documents. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  3. "Campaign in Oregon-- Margaret Fay Whittemore, Mary Gertrude Fendall, Pendleton, Oregon, Sept 23, '16". Library of Congress. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  4. "Margaret Whittemore campaigning in Oregon in white on platform". Library of Congress. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  5. Stevens, Doris. "Jailed for Freedom". see Appendix 4: Suffrage Prisoners. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  6. "Margaret Fay Whittemore (b. 1884)". Turning Point Suffragist Memorial. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
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