The period from 1854 to 1869 marked the beginning of the suffrage movement in Iowa. Suffrage activity before the Civil War was sporadic. Iowa had gained statehood in 1846 and was still very much a pioneer state.
Many future suffragists settled in Iowa during the 1850s. In 1854, Frances Dana Gage (1808-1884), a women’s rights advocate from Ohio, visited southeastern Iowa to lecture on women’s suffrage.
IWA. Printed Works Collection.
IWA. Printed Works Collection.
This book of Readings and Recitations contained a collection of state and national suffrage poems, songs and essays published in 1892 in Des Moines. Such collections may have been sent out by a national suffrage organization and modified to appeal to audiences in particular states.