New York State Woman Suffrage Association Badges

The unofficial policy of most suffrage associations seems to have been one of general avoidance of publishing iconographic images of leaders of the movement. Their focus was on message as opposed to celebrity, or what has been characterized by some as “the cult of leadership.” This “ban” was relaxed somewhat as leaders such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton approached old age and death, but generally it held with respect to other famous activists.

The New York State Woman Suffrage Association, however, was generally more relaxed than other suffrage organizations in honoring its pioneers, especially on their convention badges. Here we see, for example, celluloid images hanging from ribbons of Carrie Chapman Catt, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony. A badge depicting NAWSA President, Anna Howard Shaw, is also known. The unidentified button here, picturing one-time president of the Association, Ella Hawley Crossett, may also have been issued by the NYWSA.