Bio of Carrie Chapman Catt--Intro and Chapter 1

Chapter 18 (Final chapter)

 Carrie Chapman Catt died at her home in New Rochelle, New York in 1947.  She was 88 years old.

            The great cause of peace to which she had devoted the last part of her life was more successful after her death than during her lifetime.  The two terrible wars of the first half of the twentieth century were not repeated during the second half.  Although there are still small wars, and adults and children suffer and die in some of the poorer countries of the world, it has become almost certain that none of the advanced and powerful countries will ever again go to war against each other.  In that sense, Carrie and the others who worked and struggled for peace have accomplished part of their goal.

            The League of Women Voters, which Carrie founded to continue working for reform after the suffrage battle had been won, is over 85 years old.  The League helps and encourages people to be active, informed and intelligent citizens.  It sponsors debates among political candidates and presents educational programs on many subjects.  Open now to men as well as women, the League carefully studies important issues, decides what it thinks should be done, and works to improve conditions on the local, state, national and international levels.

            Almost every country now recognizes the right of women to vote.  The International Woman Suffrage Alliance, which Carrie helped to start and served as president for twenty years, is now known as the International Alliance of Women.  Together with member organizations in many countries, the IAW is still helping women to advance toward true equality in government, business and education.

            The many miles that Carrie traveled, the speeches she made, the conferences she organized, the letters, articles and books she wrote, and especially the careful plans that she made and led millions of women and men to carry out, all of these resulted in important organizations that continue to work for the goals that Carrie believed in.  But the most lasting product of her life’s work can be found in the words of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States:

     The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

            When the day comes that a woman is sworn in as President of the United States, when half of the Senators and Representatives, half of the governors and mayors, half of the state legislators are women, Carrie Chapman Catt and the other suffrage leaders will be remembered for all they did to bring the United States and the world closer to true democracy.