The Woman Voter’s Manual

“This book is set forth to meet the evident desire of the American woman to know more about her government.” – Introduction

This important book was published in 1920 (based on an edition copyrighted in 1918) by The Century Company to inform newly enfranchised women across the United States on various elements of politics and elections. Authors S.E. Forman and Marjorie Shuler offer a succinct overview of popular government, citizenship rights, branches of government, taxation, political parties, public finance, and more. An introduction by noted suffragette Carrie Chapman Catt adds gravitas and legitimacy to the work.

There are two interesting visual elements included within the volume. A pie chart noting Important Legislation in the United States Affecting Women and Children shows, at a glance, state-by-state dispositions (good or bad) for laws regarding child labor, compulsory education, minimum wage, age of consent, and more. Opposite the first page of text is a black and white Victory Map of 1917 showing the status of female suffrage from coast to coast. This image first appeared in Carrie Chapman Catt’s, The Woman Citizen.

The movement for women’s suffrage in the United States began in earnest with the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, where activists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony first organized for voting rights. After decades of campaigning, protests, and state-level victories, the nationwide right to vote was finally secured with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. The struggle did not end there, however, as many women of color—especially Black, Indigenous, Asian American, and Latina women—continued to face legal and practical barriers to voting well into the mid-20th century.

Sources: Cornell University Library; Crusade for the Vote;