“Montrose Morris” posts a great piece on Brownstoner about the anti-suffragette movement and its roots in Brooklyn Heights in the early 20th century:
Brownstoner: I take voting seriously for a lot of reasons, and don’t hold my ability to do so lightly. It was hard won, both as an African-American, and as a woman. Women won the right to vote in the United States less than 100 years ago, through the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1920. This amendment also guaranteed every American citizen of proper age the right to vote, regardless of race or gender, and is one of the most important amendments to the Constitution. Advocating for women’s voting rights had been around since the early 1800’s, but an amendment to the Constitution wasn’t introduced to Congress until 1878. We all learned about Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the American Women’s Suffrage Movement in school, and these women are now among the most revered in American history for their tireless efforts in the cause of getting women the vote. Women in politics today are part and parcel of everyday life now, so we don’t even think that anyone would have been against it. But there was a vocal minority to women’s suffrage in the late 19th century, and some of the loudest voices against it were right here in Brooklyn Heights.
