Courtesy the National Museum of American History () Colors: Purple, White, and Gold Purple, white, and gold flag of the Congressional Union, which later became the National Woman's Party. Saxon’s trials and tribulations were part of the stories the women published in newspapers across the country about their travels.
Named Saxon after the brand of car that they were driving, the cat became their unofficial mascot. Along the way, the women were given a little black cat. Setting out from New York City, these two women stopped in cities and towns across America, speaking on street corners, in people’s homes, and other meeting places to talk about the importance of women’s suffrage. In April of 1916, Nell Richardson and Alice Burke started a cross-country road trip. In the United States, there was also some reclaiming of the cat as a symbol of suffrage. Postcards, posters, and cartoons showed cats in purple, green, and gold demanding access to the ballot. In England, suffragists reclaimed the cat. Some people believed that if women participated in politics, men would be left at home to raise the children. The cat symbolized a loss of the man’s masculinity. A number of American cartoons showed men at home with a cat, taking care of the children. The cartoons implied that women’s suffrage was just as absurd as cat suffrage because women (and cats) were incapable of voting.Ĭlipping from The Sunday Oregonian newspaper from Jdepicting suffragists Alice Burke and Nell Richardson with Saxon the cat.Ĭats were also used symbolically in some American anti-suffrage ads. Anti-suffrage artists used these animals symbolically in their cartoons.Īnti-suffrage organizations in Britain used cats to try to make the point that women were simple and delicate. Men were often associated with physically active animals like dogs. They often played sports or did other forms of physical exercise. Men, on the other hand, were expected to be outdoors. Middle class, white women were expected to stay in the home. In the popular mainstream culture of the suffrage era, women were associated with animals perceived as passive, like cats. The 1915 Massachusetts referendum failed, and women did not get the vote in Massachusetts until the passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. On Suffrage Blue Bird Day (July 19, 1915) as many as 100,000 of these tin bluebird signs were displayed across the state. The Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association chose the bluebird as their symbol leading up to a 1915 state referendum on women’s access to the vote. Courtesy the National Museum of American History () Animals: Bluebird
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