Film: “Generations: American Women Win the Vote”

Generations: American Women Win the Vote (produced by Paula Casey) is the companion DVD to Carol Lynn Yellin and Janann Sherman’s book The Perfect 36: Tennessee Delivers Woman Suffrage. The film covers 72 years of history in just under 13 minutes.

About the film:

For 72 years, from 1848-1920, generations of women—from every state and every party, of every race and every religion—fought for the right to vote. The 19th Amendment was introduced in Congress 42 years before the House and Senate could muster the 2/3 majority to pass it. And that vote was just the beginning of another round of state battles—the final battle for ratification.

This 12-1/2 minute DVD, covering 72 years of suffrage history, describes the struggle the suffragists faced. Would women gain the right to vote before the 1920 presidential election? Which state would be the “perfect 36” to ratify and make the 19th Amendment law? The answer came when Tennessee, the last state that could possibly ratify, convened in special session on Aug. 9, 1920. This final battle to include women in the U.S. Constitution was especially fierce. Suffrage supporters wore the yellow rose while the “antis” countered with red roses. On August 18, the day of the final House vote, 24-year-old Harry Burn, the youngest member of the Tennessee General Assembly, acted on the advice of his mother, and cast the deciding vote granting all American women the right to vote.

You can buy the film and the book through the Perfect 36 website. A preview and the option to buy the film for streaming are available through the Films Media Group website. You can read an excerpt of The Perfect 36 here.

Video-Slideshow: Film’s Role in the British Suffrage Movement

British Film Institute Silent Film Curator Bryony Dixon created this slideshow, which combines text, still images, and video clips from the British suffrage movement, to celebrate the release of the 2015 film Suffragette.

The slideshow includes historical background on the push for women’s suffrage in the UK, but its particular focus is the way in which suffragettes used film—then a silent, nascent medium—to further their cause. As the BFI puts it, Dixon “explores how the BFI’s collections highlight the passion and media savvy of the suffragettes’ struggle, offering a fascinating portrait of British women during this time.”

Dixon examines more than just suffragettes’ use of film, however; she also looks at their portrayal in non-suffragist movies from the era, and the slideshow includes short clips of some of the most famous examples of suffrage in early film, making it a useful—if compact—primary-source guide.

The webpage also contains a short documentary video in which Dixon discusses similar topics.

Examining Depictions of the Suffragette Through the Lens of Mary Poppins

In this article, historian Laura E. Nym Mayhall examines how suffragettes were represented in post-suffrage social and political orders of the 20th century.

Analyzing a statue of the suffrage luminary Emmeline Pankhurst and the character of Mrs. Banks in the film Mary Poppins (perhaps the first representation of a suffragette that recent many Americans of recent generations encountered), Mayhall concludes that the suffragette was repurposed in the post-suffrage period; while the figure of the suffragette had the potential to be “a radical disrupter of the political order,” it instead “serves to consolidate the authority of the nation-state and women’s subordinate place within it.”

The following is the article’s abstract:

Part of a special section on the politicization of mediated, celebrity representations; the histories and processes related to the transformation of female icons; and the global commodification of women. By means of a juxtaposition of readings of the statue of Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the militant British suffrage organization, the Women’s Social and Political Union, and Walt Disney’s 1964 blockbuster film Mary Poppins, the writer contends that the figure of the suffragette, while potentially a radical disrupter of the political order, serves to consolidate the authority of the nation-state and women’s subordinate place within it. She contends that anxieties about shifting configurations of dominance and subordination along the lines of race, class, and gender find expression in a figure removed far enough historically to pose no threat to the existing order yet apparently sufficiently radical to denote progress.

You can read the entire article for free via JSTOR—though you will have to register for a JSTOR account to do so if you don’t already have one.

Women’s Suffrage Teaching Resources from the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress contains a trove of online materials for students and teachers of all grade levels and subjects. The 100-plus teaching-suffrage resources listed on the site—many of which feature primary sources and activities related to them—include:

Additionally, teachers can search by teaching standards to find resources that adhere to various state standards, the Common Core, and more.

Want to find your own teachable primary sources? Check out the Selected Suffrage Images from the Library of Congress archive.

Film: “A Lively Affair,” (1912)

A Lively Affair (2012) is an early silent comedy film poking fun at suffragettes (the production company and the director of the film are not identified, though experts suggest it is a Warner Bros. or Selig Co. film). The film is an attack on suffragettes and their husbands. The women all act like men (playing poker, fighting, ignoring their children, etc.) and their husbands are all emasculated men who take care of running the home. Instead of really addressing the aims of the suffragettes, the film makes fun of them—thus marginalizing their concerns.

This short film is recently restored and included in the compilation Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, 1900-1934 — a set of four DVDs about social issues and reform. The second disk (where you’ll find A Lively Affair) is about women’s issues in particular.

 

Humanities New York Resource Guide: NYS Women’s Suffrage Centennial

This 31-page document (click the button below to download it as a PDF) contains myriad useful resources for those interested in teaching—or learning—about the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote in New York State. It may also be of use to those already familiar with the topic, as it offers an admirably condensed overview of the various events that both public and private organizations will be staging over the course of 2017 in celebration of the centennial (see the document’s “Centennial Calendars of Events” section starting on p. 6).

The guide’s Educator Resources section contains a range of teaching materials, variously aimed at elementary school, junior high, high school, and even undergraduate students. These include:

The guide also contains a wealth of resources in addition to those meant just for teachers, including lists of books and films pertaining to suffrage and women’s rights, conversation starters, tips on how to host a speaker or a traveling exhibition, and research support. 

From the guide, a description of the organization that put the project together:

Humanities New York is bringing the people, places and ideas of the women’s suffrage movement to life. As of May 2017, Humanities New York has invested over $344K in Centennial-themed activities that explore the diversity of individuals and ideas that contributed to this grassroots movement. In particular, Humanities New York has supported projects that connect contemporary concerns (civil rights, gender diversity, equality, and civic engagement) to the history of women’s suffrage.

Film: Votes for Women (1912)

This seminal short drama—which silent-film historian Kevin Brownlow has called “the first important suffrage film”—was written and produced in cooperation with prominent suffragists, several of whom also appeared in cameo roles.

Similarly to 80 Million Women Want—?, the film’s plot involves suffragist characters who, having discovered classic Progressive Era injustices like political corruption and child labor, seek to right a wrong by recruiting powerful, clueless men to their cause.

Notably, Votes for Women, 80 Million Women Want—?, and other notable suffragist films of the era feature female characters and their fiancés or other romantic partners. This is no coincidence, but rather an attempt by suffragists to refute the common anti-suffrage argument that giving women the vote would pit couples against one another or otherwise upend traditional heterosexual relationships.

This excerpt comes from the book Celluloid Mavericks: A History of American Independent Film, by Greg Merritt (portions of which can be read for free via Google Books):

Suffrage leaders themselves stepped in front of the cameras for two independent productions. Hull House cofounder and winner of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize, Jane Addams, stars with activist Dr. Anna Shaw in … Votes for Women (1912), directed by Hal Reid. The parable presents the two suffragists converting a US Senator to their cause by first persuading his fiancée to join them. It concludes with footage of an actual Manhattan suffragist parade.

Some historians believe that—as is the case with many early silent movies—Votes for Women has been lost to time, while other experts believe it survives (Denise Lowe says as much in An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930, for instance).

Unfortunately, we have so far been unable to locate any archival footage from the film. But you can read a lengthier description of the film and its history here, via the SF Silent Film Festival Blog; here, via Founding Feminists; and in Karen Ward Mahar’s book Women Filmmakers in Early Hollywood, portions of which you can read for free via Google Books.

You can also read a more contemporaneous article about Votes for Women in the April-June, 1912 issue of The Moving Picture World, via Archive.org.

For more on suffrage in the early years of the silver screen, see Kay Sloan’s documentary Suffragettes in the Silent Cinema.

Film: 80 Million Women Want—?

While not quite propaganda, this classic 1913 silent film (also—and perhaps more commonly—known as “What 80 Million Women Want”) had a clear political message: Allow women to vote—doing so might just clean up politics.

The film stars Ronald Everett as Will Travers, a struggling young lawyer, and Ethel Jewett as his plucky fiancé, Mabel West. When Will gets involved with corrupt district leader Boss Kelly (George Henry), he finds himself falsely accused of shooting the crooked Boss. With most of the town’s dirty politicians thoroughly wrapped around Boss Kelly’s finger, it’s up to Mabel to clear her betrothed. Luckily, she’s well placed to do so: At the behest of the New York Women’s Political Union, whose leadership Boss Kelly infuriated by denouncing suffragists to the press, Mabel has already infiltrated the Boss’s racket by posing as a secretary. Without giving away too much of the plot, Mabel clears Will’s name and brings down a corrupt politician along the way.

Though it featured big-name appearances by suffragists Emmeline Pankhurst and Harriot Stanton Blatch (the real-life president of the New York Women’s Political Union), critics often pan the film, criticizing its garbled plot, its uninspired cinematography, and the fact that the story’s connection to its titular suffragist cause is oblique and unconvincing.

Whatever its aesthetic shortcomings, “80 Million Women Want—?” offers a valuable window into how the suffrage movement tried to market itself to the cinema-going public, and it includes actual footage of suffrage rallies.

The film can be difficult to find, but a DVD version is available via Amazon.com (Potential viewers should note that the quality of the restored film is marginal). You can access the film via a college or public library account through the Kanopy films website (you can check if you have access through the site directly by clicking the “watch now” button). Public and college libraries may also have access to the film through other streaming subscription services. You can check WorldCat to see if there is a library with access to the film near you.

You can view several discrete clips from the movie in the video below.

For more on suffrage and the silver screen, see Kay Sloan’s documentary Suffragettes in the Silent Cinema.

Film: “Suffragette,” 2015

Suffragette is a 2015 historical drama set in the suffrage era in the UK:

In early 20th-century Britain, the growing suffragette movement forever changes the life of working wife and mother Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan). Galvanized by political activist Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep), Watts joins a diverse group of women who fight for equality and the right to vote. Faced with increasing police action, Maud and her dedicated suffragettes must play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, risking their jobs, homes, family and lives for a just cause.

The film used Pankhurst’s quote “I would rather be a rebel than a slave” in its marketing materials, sparking debate about the intersection between racism and feminism (this op-ed by Ana Stevenson analyzes the controversy in a historical context).

The New York Times calls Suffragette “stirring and cleareyed—the best kind of history lesson.” Read the full review here.

For an interesting commentary on the differences in media coverage of the British and American suffrage movements related to this film, see this blog by Elisabeth MacNamara of the League of Women Voters of Georgia.

To learn about the six real-life women that inspired the film, see this article by Sara Kettler. 

The film can be purchased to watch on Amazon Video and YouTube. 

The official trailer for Suffragette is below:

 

Op-Ed: The Suffragettes Were Rebels, Certainly, But Not Slaves

This editorial by Dr. Ana Stevenson, published on The Conversation, discusses the media controversy surrounding the 2015 film Suffragette and its use of the Emmeline Pankhurst quote, “I’d rather be a rebel than a slave.” Promotional material for the film, which stars Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan, used Pankhurst’s words, sparking debates about racism, feminism, and historical context.

In the piece, Stevenson presents a history of antislavery and women’s rights and links this history to current discourse about intersectionality and the film. She argues that “to understand the suffragettes, we need to consider what they said and why they said it; to view them as the fallible products of their time as well as the radicals they were.”

The official trailer for Suffragette can be found below: