Mount Holyoke Votes

Republican Convention Flyer, 1900

From 1860 to the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920, Mount Holyoke students held elaborate mock campaigns and elections on campus. This included mock state conventions where they dressed as male candidates, gave speeches, sang political songs, and…

Supporters of the Prohibition Party Marching, 1904

This photo shows Mount Holyoke students marching in support of the Prohibition Party which was nationally headed by Silas Swallow in the 1904 election. The main belief held by the Prohibition Party was temperance—opposition to the sale or…

Mock Ballot, 1904

Mock ballots were used by Mount Holyoke students to vote in campus-wide elections every four years. Just as in the real national election, Roosevelt won the mock election at Mount Holyoke. Unlike Taft and Wilson, Roosevelt was a long-time advocate of…

Prohibition Candidate Campaigning, 1908

Representing the Prohibition candidate, Carolyn Sewall ‘10 is campaigning for a mock presidential election by making a speech on the back of a wagon to a crowd of enthralled listeners. Drawn by two horses, the wagon carries an oversized liquor…

Susie Martin, Class of 1911, Letter to Mother, 1908

In a letter to her mother postmarked October 25, Susie ‘11 mentions attending a mock Republican Convention. She notes that “[a]ll the girls were dressed like men, and had wigs + beards” to impersonate various candidates. Students dressed as…

Mount Holyoke Students Participate in State Convention, 1908

Before Mount Holyoke’s mock national election, where the student representatives from each state would meet to vote, the students held a mock state convention. In a letter at the time, a student explains that at this mock convention, students were…

Program from Women's Suffrage Debate, 1909

Participants of the Mount Holyoke Debate Society agreed that the subject of equal suffrage was relevant for their annual inter-society debate. An unknown observer left penciled comments on the program summarizing each argument. The affirmative…

Mock Ballot, 1912

During the 1912 mock election at Mount Holyoke, presidential candidates Roosevelt, Taft, and Debs received the highest number of votes while almost no students voted for Wilson. The student who owned this particular ballot voted for Taft. An opponent…

Votes for Women Decorative Napkin, n.d.

Little is known about this object. It is possible that it was made as a napkin for a suffragist luncheon but was saved as a souvenir.

Louise Dunbar, Class of 1916, photo album, ca. 1890s-1916

President of the National College Equal Suffrage League as a senior, Louise Dunbar ‘16 often appeared with a sign bearing the text: “SHOW YOUR FAITH IN THE WOMEN OF MASSACHUSETTS: VOTE YES ON THE AMENDMENT ENABLING WOMEN TO VOTE.” Although the…

Jennie Gilbert Gerome, Class of 1911, letter to mother, November 1908

In a letter to her mother written mid-November, Jennie ‘11 gleefully describes leading a parade of her friends through campus dressed as suffragists. The group was clad in identical black gowns and gloves, white stockings, hats, glasses, and…

Jeannette Marks’ dog on Suffrage Day, April 24, 1915

Jeannette Marks, English professor and life partner of Mount Holyoke President Mary Woolley, was a strong supporter of the women’s rights movement. Marks and Woolley had several collies which were popular with students; one is shown here wearing a…

Pro-Suffrage Flyer, 1915

This flyer produced by the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association was handed out on Mount Holyoke’s campus during Suffrage Day on April 24. The progressive message of the flyer demonstrates the changing opinion regarding suffrage among students.…

Hortense Hubbard, Class of 1917, Letter to her parents, April 25, 1915

Although she was unwilling to align herself with the suffragist cause, Hortense wrote home about Suffrage Day, which took place on April 24. She describes the event: “after chapel a girl dressed in white beat a drum and there were all sorts of…

Students at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963

Many college students participated in the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, including 29 students from Mount Holyoke. This photo from the march shows signs with the variety of issues they were protesting for: voting rights,…

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