Harriot Stanton Blatch and the Winning of Woman Suffrage

Rating:
Summary: An able biography of a leading figure in women's history
Review: This is a must-read for anyone with a serious interest in women's history in general and the woman suffrage movement in particular. Blatch bridged the generations from the founders of the women's rights movement, including her mother Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to the younger radicals such as Alice Paul. Blatch was instrumental in the New York State suffrage campaign that came to fruition in 1917 and that led to the ultimate victory on the national level in 1918-1920. She was a leader in progressive causes both in England (where she lived for many years after her marriage) and later in the U.S.

Dubois captures well both the public and private sides of Blatch's life. Of particular interest, of course, is Blatch's relationship with her formidable mother. Blatch's public career was both an homage to her mother and an exploration of ways in which Blatch could be her own person. It was her unique triumph to help to realize the goal of political emancipation that Stanton strove for but did not live to see.