Huntsville's Pioneer Suffragists

Huntsville's Pioneer Suffragists. . Ratified in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteed women the right to vote. The Twickenham Town Chapter, NSDAR honors the history of Huntsville's pioneer suffragists, who met here at the home of Alberta Chapman Taylor (1853-1912)., A daughter of Alabama Gov. Reuben Chapman, Taylor became active in the women's suffrage debate in the 1890s while living in Colorado. There, she came to know national suffrage leaders, including Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt. Returning to Huntsville in 1894, Taylor helped form the city's Women's Equal Suffrage Association, among the first such groups in the state. The group later joined with others under the banner of the Alabama Woman Suffrage Association. The following year, she arranged for Anthony and Catt to add Huntsville as part of their southern lecture tour. Taylor presided over the state association's convention in 1900. She died in 1912, before women secured the vote., Joining Taylor in the cause were her sisters Julia Chapman Clanton (1845-1910) and Ellelee Chapman Humes (1865-1920). Humes served as founding vice-president of Huntsville's suffrage association and as vice-president of the state association in 1916. A founding member of the Twickenham Town Chapter, NSDAR, Humes died two months before ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment., Virginia Tunstall Clay-Clopton (1825-1915) was president of Huntsville's Women's Equal Suffrage Association from its founding until her death. She served as president of the state association from 1896-1900. Virginia Clay (1862-1911) and her sister, Susanna W. Clay (1858-1928), were editors of the Huntsville Democrat. Through this publication they encouraged the cause of women's suffrage, writing supportive articles, editorials, and advertising meetings., In 1901, Clay-Clopton, Alberta Chapman Taylor, Julia Chapman Clanton, Ellelee Chapman Humes, were among more than two dozen Madison County women who petitioned the delegates of the state constitutional convention to extend the vote to propertied women. In 1913, although in her eighties, Virginia Tunstall Clay-Clopton served as president of the Huntsville chapter of the newly formed Alabama Equal Suffrage Association. In 1915, that organization forced the first vote in the Alabama legislature on the topic of women's suffrage., Although few of Huntsville's pioneer suffragists lived long enough to vote themselves, their efforts on behalf of the cause helped make “votes for women” a constitutional guarantee. In commemoration of the centennial of ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Twickenham Town Chapter, NSDAR honors their commitment.