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Iowa Suffrage Memorial Commission

 Organization

Biography

The Iowa Suffrage Memorial Commission was organized "to commemorate the efforts of the Pioneer Suffragists and the long procession of workers who helped to secure the final enfranchisement of women." The commission succeeded in having a bas relief in bronze erected in the state capital building in Des Moines; it was unveiled on May 10, 1936. The work was sculpted by Nellie V. Walker, a native of Moulton, Iowa. The commission also worked with Edgar R. Harlan, a state historian, to preserve documentation of the Iowa women's suffrage movement. After its incorporation in 1922, the commission's first president was Lola B. Miller, who served until she moved to California; thereafter she was president emeritus. Mary Ankeny Hunter of Des Moines was president from 1930 to 1936. Carrie Chapman Catt of New York City, Rev. Eleanor E. Gordon of Hamilton, Illinois, and Mrs. H. K. Evans of Corydon, Iowa were named honorary presidents. The commission's headquarters was located in the Historical Memorial and Art Building in Des Moines. The final business meeting of the commission of seven was named to make a cabinet available in the historical building for the preservation of documents relating to the suffrage movement in Iowa. Iowa was the first state to create a memorial of this type.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Iowa Suffrage Memorial Commission records

 Collection
Identifier: IWA0398
Abstract

Commemorated the efforts of pioneer suffragists and the enfranchisement of women.

Dates: 1906-1941

Mary Ankeny Hunter papers

 Collection — Folder 1
Identifier: IWA0097
Abstract

Secretary, vice-president, and then president of the Iowa Suffrage Memorial Commission in the 1920s and 1930s. Hunter was a peace activist, prohibitionist, and Red Cross worker during World War I.



Arrangement

One folder, shelved in SCVF.

Dates: 1940

Additional filters:

Subject
1941-1950 1
20th century 1
Administrative records 1
Archives (groupings) 1
Autobiographies 1