Suffrage Memorabilia
"Votes for Women" Streamer
Melville Otter, a student at Louisville Girls’ High School, preserved memorabilia from the cause as the movement approached its pinnacle. In November 1915, she attended British feminist Ethel Snowden’s lecture at the Masonic Theater in Louisville. Otter was an usher at the event and wore a “Votes for Women” streamer, which she later pasted into her memory book. In addition, a string of thirteen “Votes for Women” buttons pinned on a ribbon that probably also belonged Otter, most likely worn as a necklace.
Business Women's Club Ribbon
This “BWC” ribbon, in the colors of the women’s suffrage movement, was most likely worn by a member of the Business Women’s Club. Many women became politically engaged through their involvement in women’s clubs. This ribbon was probably worn at one of the BWC’s suffrage meetings: perhaps in 1901 when leader Laura Clay visited the club or in the 1910s when voting rights for women became a popular (and divisive) cause.