Ballot & Beyond

Lucy Fisher Gwynne Branham & Lucy Branham | Mother-Daughter Suffrage Team

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Kathi Santora, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

 Two of the gutsiest Maryland women who fought for the 19th Amendment were Lucy Fisher Gwynne Branham and her daughter Lucy Branham.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and supported by the Maryland Historical Trust. 

The Melvin Family | Rural Suffrage Leaders

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written, and read by Jean Thompson, an independent researcher and volunteer writer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. The library and archives at Goucher College were invaluable for research.

Nannie V. Melvin, a journalist, social reformer, and political activist, is one of the Maryland women credited with planting suffrage club chapters on the Eastern Shore for the Just Government League.  

This episode's researcher and reader, Jean Baker, is also featured on the Ballot & Beyond podcast for her pioneering research and advocacy on behalf of women's history and leadership in the United States.

Elizabeth King Ellicott | Women in Government

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Diane E. Weaver, Ph.D. The reader is Diane Weaver.

Elizabeth King Ellicott was a central figure in the Maryland campaign for women’s right to vote. Her vision of a government that included women was at the center of her commitment toward state and national governmental reform. She was instrumental in changing the perception of women in society. She achieved this largely through her involvement in broadening the scope of women’s organizations and through the movement for women’s suffrage.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher, Evelius & Jones.

U.S. Senator Verda Welcome | True Public Servant

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Ida Jones, Ph.D, University Archivist, Morgan State University in Baltimore. Dr. Jones is the reader. 

Verda Mae Freeman Welcome was an American teacher, civil rights leader, and Maryland state senator. Welcome was the second black woman to be elected to a state senate in the U.S. (Cora Mae Brown was the first in 1952). She spent 25 years in the Maryland legislature and worked to pass legislation that enforced stricter employment regulations and discouraged racial discrimination.

The advocacy, legislation, and historical example of Verda Welcome inspired generations of women and African Americans to pursue public office. Verda Welcome was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 1988. 

Edna Latimer | Hiking for Suffrage

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Judy A. Carbone, President of AAUW-Garrett County Branch and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

Edna Story Latimer was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1878.  She was a staunch suffragist involved in campaigning against President Wilson and national anti-suffrage candidates, as well as one of the organizers of the Maryland Just Government League.  

Latimer is best known for organizing suffragists on multi-state publicity and outreach hikes - for her leadership, she was known as General Edna Latimer within her suffrage ranks.

Clara Barton | Battlefield to Ballot Box

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Audrey Partington. The reader is Kalin Thomas. 

Clara Barton is best known for founding the American Red Cross and nursing wounded soldiers during the Civil War. Lesser known is Barton’s support for reform movements like free schools, abolition, and women’s rights. She worked with Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other leaders of the movement to enfranchise women. 

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher, Evelius & Jones.

Elizabeth Forbes | Jailed for Freedom

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and is being read by Dr. Amy Rosenkrans.

Women from all parts of the state fought to gain the right to vote. Elizabeth Forbes of Harford County was one of those women. While many in her social situation may have preferred to remain at home and quietly participate in local clubs, Elizabeth advocated for woman suffrage on the local, state, and national level. That advocacy even landed her in a Washington, D.C. Jail. Forbes and the other women who served time in jail for the suffrage cause, were awarded a small silver "Jailed for Freedom" pin.  As the only Harford County suffragist who served time in jail, she became affectionately locally known as the “Jailbird.”  

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state's largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to Maryland's public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.

Lilian Reeves Crawford | Local Suffrage Leader

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is written and read by Christine R. Valeriann, founder of the Women’s Equality Day Celebration across Maryland Coalition and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

Inspired by the Suffrage Hikers that came through rural Western Maryland in 1913, Crawford helped organize and lead the Washington County Woman’s Suffrage League. Then in 1916, the organization worked hastily to host the annual Maryland state suffrage convention in Hagerstown - cementing the rural town's role in the suffrage movement. Crawford enjoyed the right and responsibility of voting until her death at the age of 80.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher Evelius & Jones.

Margaret Briggs Gregory Hawkins | Education is Power

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Ida Jones, Ph.D, University Archivist, at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Dr. Jones is the reader. 

Margaret and her active West Baltimore social and civil contemporaries were engaged in social justice and sought to secure the franchise for African American women along with other women for the purpose of reaping the full benefits of citizenship, community improvement, and having a voice in the public square. Her far-reaching active memberships include the Druid Hill Branch of the YWCA, Maryland Training School for Colored Girls, Maryland Training School Board, Civilian Defense Mobilization, DuBois Circle, Progressive Women’s Suffrage Club...and allowed for frivolity and was a member of the Fortnightly Whist Club and a sewing club. 

Margaret was a neighbor to fellow suffragist, Augusta Chissell, also featured on the Ballot & Beyond podcast. Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher, Evelius & Jones.

 

Mary Pickersgill | Star-Spangled Seamstress

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Amanda Shores Davis, Executive Director of the Star-Spangled Banner House.  The reader is Kate Campbell Stevenson, member of the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center Board of Directors and Maryland Women’s Heritage Center Board Cultural Ambassador. 

A resident of Baltimore for more than fifty years, Mary Young Pickersgill was a successful businesswoman and an outspoken advocate for the working women of the city.  Mary Pickersgill’s greatest contribution to Maryland and to the entire United States was as a flag maker during the War of 1812.  The Star-Spangled Banner made by Mrs. Pickersgill became the inspiration for Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became the national anthem of the United States in 1931.  Today that flag resides in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from the Maryland Historical Trust and Gallagher Evelius & Jones.

Harriet Tubman | Abolitionist & Suffragist

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is adapted from a biographical sketch of Harriet Tubman written by Dr. Kate Clifford Larson. Dr. Larson is a scholar and the author of the Tubman biography, “Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero.” The reader is Jean Thompson, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

Best known for her heroism on the Underground Railroad, abolitionist Harriet Tubman also was an advocate for women’s rights and equality. When interviewed at the turn of the 20th century, Tubman noted that she had been a member of “Miss Anthony’s organization,” the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. She remained in contact with many white suffragists but championed the activism of black women leaders in responding to the racism they confronted in the predominantly white National Woman’s Suffrage Association. Near the end of her life, Tubman encouraged a fellow suffragist, “tell the women to stand together..." Tubman died in 1913, seven years before women got the vote.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state's largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes. 

Dr. Lillian Welsh | Academic Voice for Suffrage

This episode of Ballot & Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Tina Sheller, assistant professor of Visual and Material Culture at Goucher College. The reader is Tina Sheller. 

During the early years of the twentieth century, the leadership of newly-established women’s colleges played a pivotal role in advancing the cause of women’s suffrage.  At the Woman’s College of Baltimore, soon to be known as Goucher College, faculty took an active role in advocating for women’s suffrage and influenced students to join the movement.  One of the leading suffragists among the faculty was Lilian Welsh.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher, Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust. 

 

Quaker Women of Sandy Spring | Education & Equality

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Pamela Young. The reader is Allison Weiss, Executive Director, Sandy Spring Museum.

Sandy Spring, Maryland, was settled in 1727 by Quakers who strongly valued education and social justice. Many were active in social movements promoting peace and the abolition of slavery. Quakers believe in equality of all persons, so women are considered equals to men. With this emphasis on human equality, education, and justice, it is not surprising that Sandy Spring fostered activism for women's suffrage. In  1889, a local women's suffrage association was organized and went on to serve as a hotbed of suffrage activity emanating out of the rural Montgomery County community.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state’s largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.
 

Madeleine Ellicott | By Women, For Women

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Diane E. Weaver. The reader is Dr. Diane Weaver.

Madeleine Ellicott’s lifelong goal was to improve the lives of women and children and to secure equal rights for all human beings. She fought alongside thousands of women in pursuit of women’s right to vote. She firmly believed that only equal suffrage could right the wrongs against women. After the successful passage of the 19th Amendment, Ellicott's compassion and activism for women's political equality continued to shine bright and make change. She was the founder and twenty-year president of the Maryland League of Women Voters. 

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

Florence & Bertha Trail | Sisters in the Struggle

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and is being read by Dr. Amy Rosenkrans. 

The Trail Sisters worked diligently to win the vote for Maryland’s women.  Their writing, speeches, and constant activism did not end when the battle was won.  Both sisters continued to be active in the community.  Bertha was elected President of the Frederick County Republican Club in 1920 where she spearheaded the registration of new women voters.  

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

 

DuBois Circle | Inspired Fighting Against Injustice

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Beverly Carter, Archivist of the DuBois Circle, and read by Reverend Canon Sandye A. Wilson, President of the DuBois Circle.

In 1906, a distinguished group of women in Baltimore, Maryland was handpicked to organize an auxiliary group to work with and support the activities of Dr. W. E. B. DuBois and the members of the local branch of the Niagara Movement, in their fight to address the social, political and economic injustices faced by African Americans. The DuBois Circle continues to address issues relating to the fulfillment of America’s promise of equity, justice, and freedom.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

 

 

Mary Risteau | Early Elected State Delegate

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Kathi Santora, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

In 1922, just two years after the 19th amendment empowered women with the right to vote, Harford County citizens elected Jarrettsville resident Mary Eliza Watters Risteau to the Maryland House of Delegates. 

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

Billie Holiday | Voice of Protest

This episode of Ballots and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was edited from the Maryland Archives biography by Kalin Thomas, a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.   It is read by Larzine Talley, musician who frequently performs Billie Holiday’s music and sings in her style.

In just a short lifetime, Baltimore-raised Holiday became one of the nation’s most famous African American jazz musicians. In 1938, she joined Artie Shaw’s Orchestra, forming one of America’s first racially integrated bands. Her talent helped her break the segregation rules of Jim Crow, as she enjoyed access to some of the best labels, orchestras, and song choices throughout America and Europe.  

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

Margaret Brent | Colonial Suffragist

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Audrey Partington. The reader is Kalin Thomas. 

Two hundred years before the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, Margaret Brent became the first woman in the American colonies to request the right to vote.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

Edith Houghton Hooker | Dynamic Suffrage Driver

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Diane E. Weaver, Ph.D. The reader is Diane Weaver.

Edith Houghton Hooker was a critically important and arguably an essential figure in the Maryland campaign for women’s suffrage. Without her drive and dynamism, we would have little awareness of the commitment of Maryland suffragists to achieve the right to vote.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

Catherine Sweet | Foiled Early Voter

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written and read by Judy A. Carbone, President of AAUW-Garrett County Branch and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

Catherine Sweet may have remained unknown to history if it were not for a front-page article published in The Sun of Baltimore, Maryland, on May 8, 1896.  The article was about the first municipal election in the town of Loch Lynn Heights in Garrett County, Maryland.  Catherine almost was the first woman to vote in a municipal election in the state, but in the end, that distinction was not to be hers.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

Emilie Doetsch | Lawyer & Journalist

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was written by Tina Sheller, assistant professor of Visual and Material Culture at Goucher College. The reader is Tina Sheller. 

Emilie Doetsch was a suffragist, lawyer, journalist, and political activist, who participated in the famous Suffrage Army march from New York to Washington, D.C. in February 1913 as a “war correspondent” for a Baltimore newspaper.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

Laura Byrne | Serving Suffrage With A Smile

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, was researched by Dan Materazzi, authored by Paulette Lutz and Executive Director Shawn Gladden of the Howard Co. Historical Society.  It was read by Elizabeth Bobo, First Female County Executive in Maryland and longtime history, voting rights and gender equity advocate.  She is also the Howard Co. Year of the Woman liaison and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

On the local level, Mrs. Bernard J. Byrne, also known as Laura Laurenson Byrne, led the fight for Women’s Suffrage in Howard County along with her daughter Laura Byrne Hickok. As the President of the Howard County Just Government League, Laura Byrne worked tirelessly to inform and educate all women of Howard County regardless of race, religion, or political persuasion.  Often traveling all over the county, when most of the roads were dirt or gravel, she visited the ladies on the farms who did not get into town frequently or did not have access to newspapers. In 1911, the Evening Sun in Baltimore reported the Suffrage Movement in Howard County to be flourishing. Most of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Howard County took place between 1910 and 1920.     

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland and PreserveCast with support from Gallagher Evelius & Jones and the Maryland Historical Trust.

Reverend Doctor Pauli Murray | The Will To Thrive

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is written and read by Christine R. Valeriann, a long-time board member of the Baltimore chapter of the National Organization for Women and a volunteer with the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

The Reverend Doctor Pauli Murray was ahead of her time and a pioneer in the areas of civil rights, feminism, labor, the law, academia, gender, and religion. Fifteen years before Rosa Parks, Murray was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a Virginia bus. Twenty years before Greensboro, she organized a sit-in to desegregate a restaurant. And 40 years before the language of intersectionality, she was invoking the race-sex analogy to describe black women’s positionality within the law.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state’s largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to Maryland’s public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.

Ellen Newbold La Motte | Activist & Adventurer

This episode of ballot beyond contributed by the Maryland Women's Heritage Center. Was written and is being read by Dr. Amy Amy Rosenkrans. 

Ellen Lamont's entire life could be considered a high adventure. A Delaware socialite. She chose to become a nurse, writer, activist, and world traveler. She went to England to document the activities of the suffragette movement.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state’s largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to Maryland’s public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.

Sadie Jacobs Crockin | Visionary Jewish Suffragist

This episode of Ballot & Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women's Heritage Center, is adapted from a biographical sketch of Sadie Jacobs Crockin written by scholar Barry Kessler. The reader is Sally T. Grant, granddaughter of Sadie Crockin.

A life well-summarized by the Jewish Museum of Maryland: "As a woman, an American, and a Jew, Sadie Jacobs Crockin championed many causes.  Throughout her life, she brought women together in organizations that empowered diverse Americans to participate fully in civic life.  Crockin exemplified the college-educated, progressive “New Woman” of her day who joined women’s club for self-improvement and to effect social change.  Under her leadership, the Baltimore chapter of the League of Women Voters helped women exercise their newly won right to vote.  She was the founding president of the Baltimore chapter of Hadassah, the first Zionist women’s organization.  Once she had firmly established these and other organizations locally, Crockin achieved statewide prominence as an advocate for social justice and women’s rights."

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state’s largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to Maryland’s public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.

Mrs. Edward H. Harris, Sr. | Suffragist By Any Name

This episode of Ballot and Beyond, contributed by the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, is written and read by Christine R. Valeriann, founder of the Women’s Equality Day Celebration across Maryland Coalition and a volunteer with Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

As president of the Just Government League of Allegany County in rural Western Maryland, Mrs. Edward Harris led the organization at a critical time, through two of the most seminal moments in Maryland’s suffrage history. Her activism is well-documented, but in typical fashion for the time, she is always referred to as either Mrs. Edward Harris or Mrs. Edward H. Harris, Sr., and never credited under her own name, which was possibly Ellen. Under any name, she deserves her due as one of Maryland's leading suffragists.

Ballot & Beyond is powered by Preservation Maryland, the state’s largest and oldest non-profit dedicated to Maryland’s public history, built heritage, and cultural landscapes.