46 | AUGUST 6 • 2020 

Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

Michigan’s Jewish 
Suffragette
T

he Michigan primary elections were 
held this week. There were 20 women 
seeking an opportunity to run for 
Congress in November. Hundreds of women 
ran for local and state offices. 
And many of these women, now 
and over the years, are Jewish.
I mention this fact in the 
context of an anniversary. This 
month marks 100 years since the 
ratification of the Nineteenth 
Amendment to the United States 
Constitution. When it was rat-
ified on Aug. 18, 1920, women 
finally gained the right to vote. 
The struggle for women’
s suffrage was a long 
one. When the Constitution was itself ratified 
in 1788, many American citizens could not 
vote, including women, white males without 
property and African Americans. 
The 1848 Seneca Falls Woman’
s Rights 
Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, is 
often cited as the beginning of the Women’
s 
Suffrage movement; that is, an organized effort 
to gain women the right to vote. There were 
activists before this time, but the Seneca Falls 
Convention was a landmark meeting organized 
by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 
From this point in time until 1920, women 
organized, held parades, hunger strikes and 
other activities. By doing so, they often faced 
ridicule and verbal abuse, sometimes physical 
attacks, and arrest and jail terms. 
In Michigan, the first prominent suffrag-
ette was Jewish. In March 1846, two years 
before the Seneca Falls Convention, Ernestine 
Rose made two speeches in the State Capital. 
Granted, Rose spoke after the House Sessions 
had ended for the day so no one knows how 
many male representatives attended, but Rose 
is due great credit for her courage and deter-
mination. 
I found a number of stories about Rose 
in the William Davidson Digital Archive of 
Jewish Detroit History. For example, she is 

cited, along with Uriah Levy, Louis 
Brandeis and Lillian Wald, in the Aug. 
27, 1976, issue of the JN in a story 
titled “Four Great Personalities in 
U.S. Jewish History.” The Polish-
born Rose was also a dedicated 
abolitionist before the Civil War 
and is often considered the first 
“Jewish feminist.”
From the 1840s to the early 
years of the 20th century, wom-
en’
s suffrage grew into a formidable force. 
Thousands upon thousands of women, 
famous and unknown, would con-
tribute to the movement. By 1912, 
nine western states had passed 
laws allowing women to vote, but 
Michigan still lagged behind.
Gov. Chase Osborn took a bold 
step in 1912 and asked that the 
Michigan House and Senate work on 
an amendment to the state constitu-
tion “for giving and insuring the right 
of [full] suffrage to the women….” But 
the effort failed. 
In 1918, however, Michigan’
s voters 
decided upon the issue. I found some 
interesting pages regarding the election 
in the Archive, including an editorial 
in the Nov. 1, 1918, issue of the Jewish 
Chronicle that promoted women’
s suf-
frage. It concluded that “He who opposed the 
movement has not sensed the true meaning of 
American democracy.” Well, the Chronicle and 
Michigan voters were on the right side of his-
tory, and the state amendment passed. 
Since then, women have voted, run for office 
and helped shape Michigan and America. This 
is indeed an anniversary to celebrate. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation 

archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.

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Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair
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