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Carrie Chapman Catt's Suffrage Activist

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Carrie Chapman Catt was born on January 9, 1859, in Wisconsin. At a young age she moved to Charles City, Iowa where she attended high school. Catt graduated in three years, setting her on course to Iowa State College, where she earned a Bachelors degree, in 1880. Right out of college, Catt became principal of a high school in Mason City, Iowa, where she quickly moved up the ranks—soon becoming superintendent of the district. After her days as a superintendent, she married Leo Chapman, a newspaper owner. During their marriage she worked for him as an assistant editor for the paper. After Chapman’s death, Catt returned to Charles City. In 1887, her formal work toward women’s suffrage began when she joined the Iowa Suffrage Association. As a …show more content…
In 1895, she became a prominent figure of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). NAWSA, at the time, was largest most powerful women suffrage organization in the United States. Catt wanted to help broaden NAWSA’s scope of influence by using well-organized campaigns. Her leadership allowed other women to become efficient campaigners and helped engage them in direct political interaction. Susan B. Anthony, one of the most prominent figures in the fight for women’s rights, chose Catt to be her successor as president of NAWSA. Catt abdicated her position due to husband's poor health, in 1904. When Catt handed the reigns of the organization over to …show more content…
In the years following her husband’s death, Catt focused her faculties on a global scale. She helped found and chair an International Woman Suffrage Alliance that ran campaigns for women’s justice in New York. Catt also founded the Woman Suffrage Party, which sought a state vote for the women’s vote in 1913 and 1914. Though the campaign did not succeed, Catt's garnered the attention of other suffragist leaders in the United States. In 1915, NAWSA asked her to once again become president of the organization. When Catt returned to the organization, she devised the "Winning Plan.” The “Winning Plan” was an idea formed on the basis of having campaigning and lobbying at the state and federal levels. Catt believed that the movement needed greater state support and passage of local suffrage laws to ensure the ratification of a federal amendment. The “Winning Plan” was adopted as the official policy of NAWSA in 1916, despite other ideas from the more aggressive Alice

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