Margaret W. Campbell
Margaret W. Campbell (January 16, 1827-November 5, 1908) was an American women's suffrage advocate.
Personal life
Campbell was born in Hancock County, Maine, on January 16, 1827.[1][2] She attended the district schools there.[1] She moved to Iowa in 1857, locating in Linn County.[1] During the American Civil War, she was active in soldiers' aid societies.[1][2]
Suffragist
As early as 1850, her attention was called to the subject of women's suffrage by reading the proceedings of the first Woman's Rights Convention held in Worcester, Massachusetts.[1][2] She soon became a firm believer in the reform but did not enter the field as a worker until 1863.[1] It was at this time made her first public speeches in the suffrage cause, writing also on the subject for the newspapers.[1]
In 1869, she was sent as a delegate to the convention of the
As she toured the country working for the cause, her husband, a painter, often painted portraits to cover their expenses.[2]
Massachusetts
In February 1869, she attended a suffrage convention at Springfield, Massachusetts, where a number of the national leaders were among the speakers.[1] Here Campbell made an eloquent address which attracted general attention.[1] At one point in her life, she lived in Springfield.[2]
In 1870, Campbell was a delegate to the state convention of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association.[1] She organized women's suffrage societies in Berkshire, Essex, Hampden, Plymouth, and Worcester Counties.[2]
Iowa
In November 1879, Campbell settled in Iowa and continued active in the suffrage cause, taking part in all of the state campaigns.[1] She was four years president of the State Suffrage Association and for two years corresponding secretary.[1]
Michigan
She worked with American Woman Suffrage Association to attempt toamend the Michigan Constitution to allow women to vote, in 1874 but it was defeated, 136,000-40,000.[5]
Colorado
In 1875, it became increasingly likely that the United States Congress would admit Colorado as the 38th state.[6] Campbell moved to the territory, spending much of 1875 and 1876 trying to convince the Colorado constitutional convention to give women the right to vote.[7] On January 10, 1876, she helped organize a women's suffrage convention at Unity Church in Denver.[6] It was timed to coincide with the convention drafting a constitution for the territory, and was publicized with pamphlets placed on the desks of territorial legislators and delegates to the constitutional convention.[6] The convention established the Territorial Woman Suffrage Society, the precursor to the Non-Partisan Equal Suffrage Association.[6]
The convention did not grant women the right to vote, but it did agree to hold a referendum on the issue in 1877.
Other states
Campbell spent much of 1872 in Maine, organizing the Maine Women Suffrage Association.[2] She then spent two years organizing in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado.[2] She then returned to work in New England before focusing her attentions on Iowa, Indiana, and Nebraska.[7]
Later years and death
In 1901, she removed to Joliet, Illinois.[1] She died there in 1908, with the funeral services held at the home of her son, George.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Gue, Benjamin F. (1903). History of Iowa from the earliest times to the beginning of the twentieth century. The Century history company. pp. 41–42. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Berenson 2018, p. 63.
- ^ Berenson 2018, p. 65.
- ^ a b "Club Events". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. November 13, 1908. p. 5. Retrieved February 9, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Berenson 2018, pp. 63–64.
- ^ a b c d e Wroble, Susan (January 24, 2020). "Non-Partisan Equal Suffrage Association". Colorado Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Berenson 2018, p. 64.
Works cited
Berenson, Barbara F. (9 April 2018). Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers. History Press.