Carrie Lane Chapman Catt
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 43° 26.714 W 093° 21.268
15T E 471317 N 4810320
Iowa historical marker located at Welcome Center along I-35 in northern Iowa
Waymark Code: WM1Z50
Location: Iowa, United States
Date Posted: 08/07/2007
Views: 86
Carrie Lane Chapman Catt
(1859 - 1947)
Mrs. Catt began her career as a leader of the women's suffrage movement
while Superintendent of Schools and newspaper editor in Mason City, after
attending elementary and secondary school in Charles City, and Iowa State
College in Ames. In 1886 she organized a house-to-house survey which
showed that all but 10 Mason City women favored enfranchisement, a statistic she
often cited in her later work. She became Secretary of the Iowa Woman
Suffrage Association and organized campaigns in several other states during the
1890s, winning the vote for women in Colorado and Idaho, but losing in others,
notably Iowa.
In 1900 Mrs. Catt was elected President of the National Woman Suffrage
Association, a post she held until 1904, and from 1915 to 1938. She also
founded the International Woman Suffrage Alliance, lectured throughout the
world, and after ratification of the 19th Amendment, founded the League of Women
Voters. Mrs. Catt held offices in the women's rights movement for 51 years
and received numerous foreign and domestic awards, including Woman of the Year
in 1940. ~ text of marker