Women of the Banner State Woman’s National Baptist Convention which was involved in different activist activities and issues such as women’s suffrage.
Library of Congress
Since the 19th century women had been fighting for the right to vote and these protests continued into the twentieth century, culminating in the ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920. The women’s suffrage movement is well-known; however, what many do not realize is that there were multiple women’s suffrage movements happening simultaneously.
African American women were largely excluded from the suffrage movement happening among the white women of America. Due to this, African American women took part in their own suffrage movement all over the country and Baltimore was a particularly active place for the movement. Estelle Hall Young was a huge part of the African American women’s suffrage movement. In Baltimore, she was known to give speeches on equality and suffrage, and she founded one of the earliest known African American suffrage originations in the United States, the Progressive Women’s Suffrage Club. Originally, the club meetings would occur in the leader’s homes; however, the number of women in the club soon grew too large to be able to do this. The club meetings were then held in the Y.W.C.A on Druid Hill Avenue.
Augusta T. Chissell was also an African American suffragist leader in Baltimore City and became the secretary of the Progressive Women’s Suffrage Club. Chissell was also involved in other women’s organizations that promoted leadership skills for women, as well as focused on specific issues such as healthcare and education. After the 19th Amendment passed, Chissell continued her efforts to aid African American women in the voting process by writing a weekly column titled A Primer for Women Voters, which helped to provide information about voting to African American women “for the benefit of women who wish to inform themselves in regard to their newly acquired duties and privileges as voters and citizens.”
There have recently been eleven highway markers created to commemorate the Maryland women’s suffrage movement. These markers are a part of the National Votes for Women trail which spans multiple states, and currently has over one thousand markers across the country. One of the eleven markers in Maryland is placed at the home of Augusta T. Chissell to commemorate her part in the suffrage movement in Maryland.
