Mary Jane Coggeshall papers

Collection

Identifier: IWA1331

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The Mary Jane Coggeshall papers measure 1 linear inch. They consist of one photocopied 1895 letter from Coggeshall to a Mrs. Hoopes, as well as a biographical resource on Coggeshall compiled by Cynde Fanter and records of a 2022 Iowa Women of Achievement Award honoring Coggeshall.

Dates

Creation: 1895
Creation: 2021 - 2022

Creator

Coggeshall, Mary Jane Whitely, 1836-1911 (Person)
Fanter, Cynde (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright not held by donor; thus, copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge the Iowa Women’s Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/

Biographical / Historical

Mary Jane Coggeshall came to Iowa from Indiana in 1865 with her husband John Milton Coggeshall and their children. From her home in Des Moines, Coggeshall was active in the cause for women’s suffrage on a state and national level. In 1870, she became a charter member of the Iowa Woman Suffrage Association (later known as the Iowa Equal Suffrage Association.) She served as the editor of its newspaper, The Women’s Standard, and as the Association’s president in 1890 to 1891 and 1903 to 1905. For the cause of women’s suffrage, she addressed Iowa House and Senate committees, and served on the board of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She marched in Boone, Iowa’s 1908 suffrage parade (one of the first in the United States), and Carrie Chapman Catt called her “the mother of woman suffrage in Iowa.” Coggeshall died in 1911 and was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame in 1990.