Women’s Suffrage
Women’s suffrage is perhaps the most significant achievement of women working together in history. Initially the right to vote was extended only to most white women but, in time, all women in the United States and its territories became eligible to vote. We all know the names of the celebrated leaders of the women’s suffrage movement in the United States: Susan B. Anthony, Ellizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, to name the most prominent. They led the movement, using strategies from lobbying to protests, to publishing newspapers and articles about their work, to numerous addresses at public forums, even before congressional committees. Over a span of close to 70 years, they organized national and local conferences to educate the public about their goals and the benefits of extending the franchise to women. In addition to these famous Americans, there were countless lesser-known women who worked tirelessly, often in the shadows, and without whom the movement could not have succeeded. This month, we wish to introduce a few of these less familiar yet still illustrious women with the intention of further describing their achievements in the coming months. Read on to meet this diverse group of activists to whom we all owe much.
Lesser-known suffragists:
Mabel Ping-Hua Lee (1896-1930) –who at age 16 led a contingent of Chinese American women in the 1912 suffrage parade in New York City, during a time when all Chinese immigrants faced discriminatory laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
Zitkála-Šá (1876-1930) – author and co-founder of the National Council of American Indians. She was an ardent advocate for suffrage for women and Native people. Other Native women suffragists were Caroline Parker Mountpleasant, Susette La Flesche Tibbles, and Louise Herne.
Jovita Idár (1885-1946) – a Mexican American journalist and newspaper publisher who advocated for women’s suffrage and founded the League of Mexican Women. Other Latina suffragists and women’s rights advocates were Adelina Otero-Warren, Luisa Capetillo, and more recently, Vilma Martinez.
Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826-1898) – co-founded the National Women’s Suffrage Association and co-authored the “Declaration of Rights of Women.
Mary Church Terrell (1863- 1954) – founder of the Colored Women’ League of Washington who initially focused her energy protesting lynching but soon enlarged the scope of her civil rights activism to include suffrage for all women.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) – journalist, educator and co-founder of the Alpha Suffrage Club, a black women’s organization in Chicago that fought for the vote.
Dozens of other names can be listed here because the fight for suffrage was long and extremely hard. As we have recently learned, no freedoms can be taken for granted and we must all be vigilant to protect the rights won by those who came before us. May their patience, perseverance and fortitude be a model and inspiration to us all.
Claudette Colvin
Claudette Colvin, a 15 year old teenager, refused to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, less than a year before Rosa Parks. It was on March 2, 1955 that Claudette, an honor student at Booker T. Washington High School in Montgomery stepped on to a City Line bus. She had just studied about the injustices throughout schools in the South. Montgomery’s segregation laws dictated that white people sit at the front of the bus and Black people in the back. There were seats called “no man’s land” between the two groups. Claudette was seated in the “no man’s land” when a group a white passengers boarded the bus. There were no more “up front” seats and the bus driver told Claudette to move to the rear. She refused to comply. Eventually, several police officers boarded the bus but Claudette still refused to budge.
Claudette was dragged off the bus, hand cuffed and charged with assault and battery, disorderly conduct and violating the city’s segregation laws. Most of the charges were dismissed but a juvenile court judge found Claudette guilty of assault and she was made a ward of the State and placed on indefinite probation. For months, she was shunned and isolated from her friends. Some of the parents did not want their children to associate with her.
In an interview years later, Claudette stated, “On that day I felt as though Harriet Tubman was pushing me down on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth was pushing down on the other shoulder. Therefore, history had me glued to the seat.”
The infinite probation hung over her head. Finally, on November, 2021, a Montgomery Juvenile Court Judge expunged Claudette’s record. Additionally, her home city recognized her with a street named after her in her honor. She continued her unwavering belief in justice and human dignity until her death in January of this year, 2026 at 86 years old. She was a beloved mother, grandmother and civil rights pioneer
Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of Washington
In these turbulent times, it is those who command the media who enjoy a kind of celebrity and prominence. Some of this is exaggerated; some is overly orchestrated and disingenuous; some is dangerous and promotes bad behavior and even violence. And some of it is simply brave.
How one responds to recent public actions of the Right Reverand Mariann Budde, Bishop of Washington, depends on one’s own beliefs and predilections, or perhaps one’s political leanings. But regardless of one’s views, Mariann Budde provokes each person to examine his or her own values and religious beliefs. During Women’s History Month, the members of the God’s Diversity Committee invite you to think about the Rev. Budde and how she, as a courageous woman, a religious leader, an inspiring author, and a social justice warrior, speaks to you.
Mariann Edgar was born in 1959 in Summit, New Jersey. She received a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Rochester in 1982, a Master of Divinity in 1989 and a Doctor of Ministry in 2008 from the Virginia Theological Seminary. She married Paul Budde in 1986 and they have two sons.
Prior to entering divinity school, Budde worked in urban ministry in Arizona and Honduras. She was ordained in 1989. Her first assignment was as assistant rector at Trinity Episcopal Church in Toledo, Ohio. In 1993, she was called as rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she served for 18 years. In 2011, she was elected the ninth bishop of Washington and its first female diocesan bishop. She was consecrated at the Washington National Cathedral on November 12th of that year.
During her time in Washington, D.C., Bishop Budde has become an outspoken advocate for many social justice issues. One of her early initiatives was the removal of the Cathedral’s stained-glass windows honoring Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. She commissioned a new installation by Kerry James Marshall, a painter, sculptor and professor of design. The four new panes, entitled “Now and Forever,” were installed in 2023 and honor African Americans’ struggle for Civil Rights.
Bishop Budde came to the nation’s attention in June 2020 during the protests after the killing in George Floyd. She objected to the use of force by the police and National Guard to remove protestors from Lafayette Square so President Trump could use St. John’s Church as a background for his photo holding a bible. As reported in the New York Times of June 4, 2020, Bishop Budde strongly criticized the President’s actions as well: “Mr. Trump used sacred symbols to cloak himself in the mantle of spiritual authority, while espousing positions antithetical to the Bible that he held in his hands.” She gave a benediction on the second night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, and prior to the 2024 presidential election, she joined other Christian leaders and theologians in signing an open letter opposing authoritarian rule and promoting constitutional principles and protections.
Perhaps her boldest and most controversial act was her homily during the National Prayer Service, a traditional interfaith prayer service held for at the National Cathedral on the day after the presidential inauguration. The theme of her sermon was a call for unity and mercy in keeping with Christ’s teachings. Her final plea was directly addressed to President Trump when she asked him to “have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.” She specifically mentioned the gay, lesbian, and transgendered people who fear for their lives. She then mentioned the undocumented, “the vast majority of immigrants who are not criminals,” but people who “pay taxes and are good neighbors, and are faithful members of churches, mosques synagogues, gurdwaras and temples.” (https://sometheologica.com/theology/bishop-buddes-plea-mercy/).
As expected in these contentious times, many praised her message and many condemned it. But to Bishop Budde, it was a simple, gentle request for mercy made on behalf of the powerless to the most powerful leader in whom so many in our country have put their trust. One can also view her homily as her own ongoing personal effort to be brave, a quality which she explores in her inspiring book, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith, (Avery, 2023) and in which she shares her beliefs that we can all build courage “in small choices, persistence, and a willingness to risk failure.”
A prayer during Women’s History Month
Dear Lord, we pray for divine guidance, for equal rights, justice and empowerment. We ask for wisdom in leadership. We pray for the protection of voting rights, a basic privilege long denied to women and always in need of protection and strengthening, not just for women but for all people. We pray for the recognition of women’s inherent dignity and for gender equality in all faith traditions, in government, and in leadership. We pray for strength for all reformers, open hearts for leaders, and a society that values women and all its people equally. We pray that all voices may be heard and all have an opportunity to contribute to justice and peace. Amen.