Mary Barr Clay: Voice of Influence
Kentucky women were also involved in national efforts to win the vote. The correspondence of Mary Barr Clay (1836-1924), an important leader in Kentucky’s movement, documents engagement at the national level. Under Clay’s leadership, Kentucky was the first state in the south to organize suffrage associations. She was the first Kentuckian to become president of a national suffrage organization, serving as president of the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) from 1883 to 1884. Among Clay’s correspondence at the Filson are a series of letters from national leaders, including such famous advocates of the cause as Lucy Stone, Alice Stone Blackwell, and Susan B. Anthony.
Letters from Lucy Stone
In her letters, Lucy Stone, founder of AWSA, urged Mary Barr Clay to attend the organization’s 1883 meeting: “I trust you will be with us . . . all the more do I desire this because it is more than probable you will be elected president for next year.” Clay saved the letter and later added an annotation to the envelope: “telling of the proposal to make me Pres. of American which was done in 1884.”
Stone valued Clay’s national contributions through AWSA, but also valued her as a leader at the state level and as a potential speaker at annual meetings. Lucy Stone’s daughter, Alice Stone Blackwell, also considered Clay a vital organizer for Kentucky, writing in 1888 to advise her of a potential recruit: “I have just heard that Miss Breckinridge, who graduated a few days ago from Wellesley . . . is much interested in woman suffrage. You ought to try to secure her as a member of the Kentucky W.S.A.”
Letters from Susan B. Anthony
Clay also maintained correspondence with Susan B. Anthony, leader of the National Woman Suffrage Association. Clay arranged for Anthony’s 1879 visit to Kentucky and scheduled her speaking engagements. Anthony wrote that she looked forward to the trip and outlined her dining preferences, which included simple food—a baked apple, bread, and milk—as well as a “cup of genuine Kentucky coffee (not bourbon whiskey).”
Anthony’s letters also speak to the friendship between the two women. She encouraged Clay’s continued studies at Ann Arbor in 1880, writing that she hoped Clay would “study law or medicine, whichever you feel that you have most talent for. Kentucky will need good women in both professions.” Like the Stones, Anthony also saw Clay as one of Kentucky’s leaders. She informed Clay of her efforts to publish a history of woman suffrage and solicited Clay’s contribution to a section about Kentucky women.