Oregon Digital Newspaper Program Menu

As the November 2012 Presidential election draws near, American voters are faced with many issues to deliberate and decisions to be made. Precisely 100 years ago, only American men were allowed to cast their votes for the next president. While women across the country would have to wait until 1921 to be considered eligible voters in national elections, women in Oregon were granted equal suffrage in state elections in November 1912, making this year’s election the Oregon women’s suffrage centennial.

The campaign for women’s suffrage in Oregon began as early as 1870, and the issue was raised on the Oregon ballot six times (1884, 1900, 1906, 1908, 1910, and 1912), more than any other state (Jensen). The most prominent leader of the Oregon suffrage movement  was Abigail Scott Duniway (1834-1915), best known for her suffragist newspaper, The New Northwest, published in Portland, Oregon from 1871-1887.

Duniway was born in Illinois and came to Oregon via the Oregon Trail with her family in 1852. After the long journey, she and her husband settled on a farm in Albany where she opened a millinery shop. As a female business owner, Duniway was frustrated that she was required to pay taxes, yet she was not allowed to vote. Additionally, she heard stories of abuse and disenfranchisement from many other women, and she decided to start campaigning for equal suffrage. Duniway moved her family to Portland in 1871, where she began to publish The New Northwest, advocating for women’s rights, human and workers’ rights, and equal suffrage.

Duniway’s brother, Harvey Scott, was also in the newspaper industry, although he did no favors for his sister. Scott was the editor of the Portland Oregonian from 1866 to 1872, and he generally opposed Duniway’s stance on political, economic, and social issues. The siblings would argue back and forth through their respective newspapers, thus influencing their subscribers either for or against equal suffrage. If it had not been for Scott’s far-reaching editorials in the Oregonian, the issue of women’s suffrage in Oregon might have passed long before 1912.

After years of persistent lobbying and rallying support for equal suffrage across the state and all over the Pacific Northwest, Duniway finally saw her dream become reality. On November 5, 1912, the men of Oregon voted 52% in favor of granting Oregon women the right to vote. At the age of 78, Duniway authored and signed Oregon’s Equal Suffrage Proclamation on November 30, 1912, and she has since been known as “Oregon’s Mother of Equal Suffrage.”

As we cast our votes this year, let us remember that Duniway  and countless women in Oregon, the Pacific Northwest, and across the United States campaigned tirelessly to achieve the equal voting rights that we enjoy today.

Works cited:

Jensen, Kimberly. “Woman Suffrage in Oregon.” The Oregon Encyclopedia. Oregon History and Culture. Portland State University. 2008-2012.

To some, 2012 is just another year, and February 29^th is just another day. But then there are those of us, writer included, who find rare excitement in the 366^th day that exists only once every four years in the Gregorian calendar. Well, that is, once every four years unless the year is evenly divisible by 100 and also not evenly divisible by 400…Confusing? This clip from The Daily morning Astorian helps to explain:

Leap Years spice up the monotony of the common 365 day calendar, providing reasons for celebration and defiance of social norms, at least during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as covered by America’s historic newspapers. Dances and balls were often held in support of the tradition of Leap Year proposals, where women would propose marriage to the mate of their choice (discussed in one of our previous blogs: “Searching for Love in All the Right Pages”), and parties were thrown to celebrate the rare day. Leap Year proposals actually date back to the 17th century, and Leap Year newspaper feature writers still speculate about the tradition today.

Apparently, if a man were to refuse a woman’s marriage proposal on Leap Year day, he would be obligated to give the woman a silk gown and a kiss…but only if she was wearing a red petticoat when she popped the question. Of course, red petticoats, silk gowns, and strict gender roles are now antiquated notions, generally speaking. In today’s society, women can propose marriage, if they wish, on any day of any year, and women around the world now exercise freedoms that were once reserved for men only. For example, starting on February 29^thof this year, the 19^th annual Algarve Cup international women’s football tournament will be held in southern Portugal. The United States women’s national soccer team will be in attendance, among teams from several other countries. Also, modern women across the United States are free to vote in all political elections, and in fact, Oregon women have been eligible to vote since 1912, making 2012 the Oregon women’s suffrage centennial.  The political cartoon below illustrates an interesting relationship between leap year, traditions, and votes for women as perceived in 1920:

Businesses have historically used Leap Year hype for advertising purposes, and consumers were free to celebrate the many sales that were held on Feb. 29^thas well. While several businesses continue to offer deals on Leap Year day, it’s doubtful that we will ever see a 29 cent sale in the 21^st century.

While social traditions and market prices provide interesting food for thought this leap year, it is impossible to overlook the most curious implication of Leap Year day, which applies to all of the people born on Feb. 29^th!  What is it like to technically only have a birthday every four years, if that?

Surely  you could celebrate on Feb. 28^th or March 1^st, but would it be the same? The limited occurrence of February 29^th must make Leap Year birthdays all the more special…

While “Leaplings” or “Leapers” – as people born on Feb. 29^th are often called – do not have a precise birth date anniversary every year, they do have the privilege of being the only people who can join the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies.

One thing is certain: babies born on February 29, 1916 in Lawrence county, Pennsylvania, gained an advantage over the rest of us thanks to their rare birth date:

As the world continues to leap and bound into the future, remember that 100 years ago on Feb. 29^th, people across the nation were celebrating the special day.

What will people be saying about Leap Year 100 years from now? Will they be looking back at our current newspapers to find interesting Leap Year clips? Perhaps we should start some new Leap Year traditions this year to give them something more to think about? Until then, happy birthday to all of the Leaplings out there, and have a happy and safe Leap Year!

~~~

Also, in the spirit and honor of Black History Month, don’t forget that content from the Portland New Age, Oregon’s first African American newspaper, from 1896-1907, is available for searching and browsing online through Historic Oregon Newspapers, and offers a unique perspective on the history of African American culture in Oregon. A brief essay on the history of the New Age can be found here: http://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/history/newage/ .

Search and browse through historic African American newspapers from all states here: http://libguides.marist.edu/AfricanAmericanNews .

The end of every year brings the promise of a better year to come. Many begin to plan out their obligatory, “New Year’s Resolutions,” which usually range somewhere between losing weight to quitting their job and volunteering in Kenya.  No matter how you slice it, people want to start each year from scratch, with a clean slate, and with an opportunity to reach goals that might have been abandoned during the previous year. New Year’s Resolutions stem from all of us wanting to kick old vices to the curb and improve our lives, which explains why so many resolutions are similar and really don’t change much over the years. Take for example this New Year’s cartoon from the Wichita Daily Eagle. Two men vow to quit smoking for the New Year, placing a $50 bet on the resolution.  One of men must smoke, so he takes a small blimp up in the air where his friend will never catch him. But the blimp catches fire when he lights his cigarette, falling to the ground where he is caught in the act by his friend.

And in another New Year’s comic, a man resolves to stop swearing, but from the time he wakes up until he arrives at work he is put in many situations that would provoke him to swear.

Many people, like the characters in these comics, fail to keep their resolutions for very long, so it’s always encouraging to see when people actually succeed at their intentions, as unusual as their resolutions might be.  This gentleman resolved to not cut his hair until a democratic president was elected and has the mane to prove his dedication.

Or this Eugenic couple, who vowed to be physically and mentally fit in order to improve the genetic make-up of the human population.

There is always the hope that the New Year will bring joy and promise to all, no matter what their resolutions may be. From all of us at the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program, Happy New Year!