NAWSA Artist Designed Post Cards

Opponents of suffrage often attempted to portray the topic of the female franchise as one that threatened the traditional fiber of society with revolutionary upheaval, embodying a radical departure from American culture. To counter that offensive, supporters of suffrage, including some commercial publishers, delineated scenes involving children acting out the issues.

Such an approach provided an overlay of innocence to a topic that otherwise could involve acrimonious debate. A boy and girl decked out as Uncle Sam and Miss Columbia suggested that suffrage was patriotic; another pair of innocents, raising a Votes for Women banner, pointed out that the issue would not necessarily separate men from women, but could properly and justly unite them. A girl telling a boy who seeks to kiss her, “Suffrage First,” was a subtle reminder to men that women would not reengage in their traditional roles with men until suffrage was achieved. In both England and America, famous women artists and illustrators donated their work to the cause; here the drawings were done by Emily Hall Chamberlin and Rose O’Neill, creator of the Kewpie Dolls.