| GOLDEN YELLOW SUFFRAGETTE RIBBON, MADE FOR CARRIE CHAPMAN CATT'S "WOMAN SUFFRAGE PARTY" OF NEW YORK CITY, circa 1912-17 |
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| Web ID: | ws-142 |
| Available: | In Stock |
| Frame Size (H x L): | 10" x 4.75" |
| Flag Size (H x L): | 6" x 1.25" |
| Description: | |
| Suffrage movement badge, consisting of a small yellow pinback that reads “WSP” in artfully designed black script, in combination with a golden yellow ribbon upon which wide, black, Roman style letters, in all caps, each oriented horizontally, though in vertical sequence, read: “Woman Suffrage Party.” Made sometime between roughly 1912 and 1917, though the size of the pinback (5/8”) is of the most common variety, the ribbon itself, at approx. 6 x 1.25 inches, is large among those produced in the American Suffragette movement that include somewhat generic text. Most ribbons of generous size, by contrast, have verbiage that identifies a specific town and state, as well as other text that limits the audience of interested buyers to a specific gathering and/or local. While the latter may foster academic interest, and while they may appeal to a collector who wishes to assemble a large group of geographically or event-oriented ribbons, the former garner widespread appeal that generates a much larger potential audience. Though specific to one organization, it was a prominent one, led by one of the most famous American Suffragettes in New York, the epicenter of the eastern movement, and name is as easily comprehended as “Woman Suffrage” or “Votes for Women.” Founded in 1909 as the "Woman's Party," and changing its name soon thereafter, the WSP was formed by Carrie Chapman Catt at something called the "Convention of Disfranchised Women." Held at Carnegie Hall, the event, sponsored by Catt's Interurban Suffrage Council, brought together a host of local suffrage groups, organizing them into a new political machine. The following record of the initial meeting of the WSP was recorded in The News-Palladium under the heading: "Suffragists Party a Reality, Born at First Political Convention of Disfranchised": New York, Oct. 30. [1909]--The woman's party is no longer a theory but a reality, and Mrs. Carrie Chapman-Catt is its chairman. It was born at the first political convention of disfranchised women last night in Carnegie Hall, with all the prestige that could be imparted by the brains, wealth, and beauty of the movement to obtain the ballot for women. The whole tone of the rally, under the auspices of the Interurban Suffrage Council, was kept within conservative limits as a tacit protest against the Pankhurst meeting and the militant methods involved. It is understood that so fixed was the determination of Mrs. Clarence Mackay, chairwoman of the platform committee, to keep the demands reasonable and dignified that she refused to permit the insertion of two planks which verged on sensationalism or suggested partisanship. It was on this score that the "white slave" question was untouched and that the platform, which Mrs. Mackay read, asked such action as concerns women's position as a civic and national factor. With the help of Mary Garrett Hay, Catt organized the WSP like the Democratic Party, with representatives from each assembly district. Organizers in many other states and cities soon followed, organizing on a local level so that every election district was covered. 804 delegates were sent to the original meeting, and by 1915, when the suffrage issue came to a vote for the first time in New York State, WSP membership was 100,000 strong. The vote was lost in that year, but passed just two years later, in 1917, and New York became the first eastern state to give women the right to vote. Golden yellow was the customary color of the suffrage movement in America, a tradition that began with the first actual campaign to give women the right to vote. This took place in 1867 in Kansas, the first state to hold a referendum on the issue. It was here that suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Stanton first focused their efforts, wearing sunflowers—the state flower—as a show of support, adorned with yellow ribbons. As great emblem for both the rising sun and growth, use of the color spread to other states and was adopted on nearly countless objects of the campaign for years to come. Mounting: For 25 years we have maintained our own textile conservation department, led by a master’s degree level graduate from one of the nation’s top programs. We take great care in the mounting and preservation of flags and related textiles and have preserved thousands of examples. The ribbon has been hand-stitched to a background of 100% cotton twill, black in color, that has been washed and treated for colorfastness. The two-part frame consists of modern, black, convex molding with fancifully pressed decoration, to which gold-painted, 19th century molding was added as a liner. Spacers keep the textile away from the glass, which is U.V. protective. Condition: There is some splitting with associated fabric loss, the most significant of which is near the top. There is very minor fading of the black text. |
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| Collector Level: | Intermediate-Level Collectors and Special Gifts |
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| Earliest Date of Origin: | 1912 |
| Latest Date of Origin: | 1917 |
| State/Affiliation: | New York |
| War Association: | |
| Price: | Please call (717) 676-0545 or (717) 502-1281 |
| E-mail: | info@jeffbridgman.com |
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