Advocate of Equal Suffrage, Women Smoking and Drinking, Campaigned in Civil War Days

The Marietta Daily Times, April 7, 1938

During the period of the Civil War, campaigners for equal suffrage continued active and pioneer crusaders for "women's rights" appeared frequently before audiences in Marietta.

Among editors here there was a wide divergence of opinion at the time as to the conduct of and the justification for the war between the states. President Lincoln was not without his detractors. But there was harmonious accord on at least one proposition. Only the male of the species was qualified to conduct affairs of business, industry and government. Only the lords of creation should partake of political pie.

Away back in the early fifties there was a "bloomer" epidemic apparently starting, of all places, in Philadelphia. At first a sensation actuating near-violence by hoodlum mobs, the movement spread even to Marietta. A local editor comments at the time:

About Bloomer Costume

"The bloomer costume has become so common as to attract but little attention. But why are not the waists loosened? The dress is not made conducive to health by merely shortening the skirts. Off with the corsets - or the health argument in favor of the costume loses much of its power."

This man, and others, lived to regret their lack of prophetic vision. It appeared a trivial petticoat rebellion, at most. In a decade they were to learn that the phenomenon was not without portentous significance.

Files of many newspapers in Marietta and nearby cities reveal items dealing with the spread of the feminist movement in the early sixties. Invading crusaders invariably were women. Here is the editorial hail and farewell of one Marietta paper to one such who held forth in the court house on the night of December 5, 1864:

Called "Brainless Creature"

"On Monday night, a brainless, senseless creature, clothed in female apparel (doubtless a female, though we could not vouch for that) delivered a ranting, roaring Women's Rights harangue at the Court House in this city. Our reporter having been absent, we are unable to give a synopsis of this piece of femme de nonsense; but we learn that she 'spread it on' pretty muchly! - asserting the right of females to take part in elections, fill public offices, and do all other things which men may of right do, and declaring it to be the height of man's ambition to chew tobacco, smoke cigars and drink whiskey."

Audience Unsympathetic

"We do not know that she announced herself in favor of doffing petticoats and donning breeches, but see no reason why she should not have done so. The audience was an unsympathizing one, and manifested disapprobation in various ways, doubtless thinking such dubious characters better qualified for pinning up three corners of a diaper than instructing them in the rights to which females are entitled.

"Of course the lecturer was affronted and left in high dudgeon, declaring that she 'had always heard Marietta was a selfish place.' May the good old city continue to be selfish!"