Men and the Movement

In this letter in the American Suffragette, James H. Brady explains that throughout his term as governor, he noticed that women with the right to vote and government positions benefited his state, and that he believes it would do the same for the nation.

This picture of the May 6th, 1911 suffrage parade in New York City shows men marching in support of the suffrage movement. Besides these men, the parade consisted of at least 3000 women.

Former governor of Idaho James H. Brady, mislabeled here as James H. Grady, who declared his support of the women's suffrage movement in a letter published in the American Suffragette.

Many suffragists knew that because men were the ones with political power, it might be necessary that they have the assistance of men in their fight for an equal suffrage amendment. There were many men, however, who did not need any persuasion to accept that the equal suffrage amendment was necessary. One such man, James H. Brady, was once the governor of Idaho, where women gained the right to vote in 1896. He explains in his letter in the American Suffragette that Idaho has women in county and state government positions who do their job as well as any man could and he is positive that the same would be true if women were granted suffrage nationwide. Another large group of men joined women for the 1911 suffrage parade in New York City.

Along with women’s organizations like the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association as well as national organizations, some men formed their own. Among these were the Men’s League for Woman Suffrage, which had 20,000 members by 1912. As it was impossible for women to vote and participate in politics in many states prior to the 19^th amendment, the support of men was instrumental to finally granting women the right to vote.