Chatham & the Suffrage Movement

Founded with a guiding principal of ensuring that women have access to an education equal to that available for men, Chatham University has fostered civic engagement among students, staff, and faculty for generations.  For many members of the Chatham community, that engagement took the form of activism with the women’s suffrage movement, an effort to ensure women’s access to the polls as well as equity in employment, marriage, and property.   

With this digital exhibit, the Chatham University Archives honors the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment and highlights contributions made to the women's suffrage movement by members of the Chatham community.

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On View at the JKM

Explore how alumnae of the Pennsylvania Female College and the Pennsylvania College for women (now Chatham University) fought to achieve suffrage for women through activities across the region, the country, and on the steps of the Pittsburgh City-County Building.  Listed by name in the navigation menu to the right, these alums made speeches, wrote articles, and organized as part of a nationwide effort that led to the constitutional amendment promising access to the voting polls for women.

Consider whether more can be learned about how Chatham alumnae were active in the suffrage movement (either pro- or anti-suffrage) and browse resources about the history of voting rights using the menu on the right or advance using links at the bottom of each page. 

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