This document provides background information on the women's suffrage movement in Texas, led by Jane McCallum and the Petticoat Lobby coalition in the 1920s. It discusses key terms like suffrage, suffragette, and lobby. It provides brief biographical details of Jane McCallum, noting that as head of the Petticoat Lobby she helped lobby Congress to pass suffrage in Texas. It discusses some of the arguments used by suffragists to argue for women's right to vote, facing opposition from those who felt it would disrupt traditional gender roles and social order. The document outlines some of the milestones in the national suffrage movement before focusing on McCallum's role in achieving suffrage in Texas
2. Vocabulary
Suffrage-The right to vote, especially in a political election
Suffragette-A woman advocate for female suffrage
Petticoat- Women used to wear them under long skirts
Lobby-A group of persons who work for or conduct a campaign to
influence members of Congress (Legislative branch of government)
3. Jane McCallum Texas Suffragette
• Click to read a brief introduction to Texas Suffragette
Jane McCallum.
• 1. What coalition (a group of different organizations)
did Jane McCallum head up in the 1920s?
• Can you name at least five accomplishments made by
the Petticoat Lobby?
• Due to her successes in helping lobby Congress to pass
suffrage in Texas; she was appointed to a high level
government position. Jane McCallum served as one of
Texas’s few female _____________________________.
4. Listen to Audio of Texas Originals,
then answer the Turn and Talk
question
• On June 28, 1919, Jane McCallum wrote in her diary,
"Somehow I felt too thankful to be jubilant (happy). We
have a great responsibility and I pray God we may meet it
squarely and successfully.“
• Turn & Talk: What do you Jane McCallum was celebrating on
June 28, 1919? In June 1919 a woman suffrage amendment was
sent to the states for approval. The Texas House
passed the amendment on June 23 and the Texas
Senate on June 28.
5. How did we get to suffrage?
1848 Seneca Falls Convention
Declaration of Sentiments
“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.”
Turn &Talk:
1. How long did it take for suffrage to be achieved after the Seneca
Falls Convention?
2. What is the difference (two words) between the quote from the
Declaration of Independence and the quote from the Declaration of
Sentiments?
6. What did some of the men believe?
• Women had long been unable to vote, and many people, including many women, thought that the
status quo (the way things had always been) should not be disturbed.
• Custom and tradition held that government was for men and that women had no need for the ballot
because men would protect them.
• Many men and women believed that participation in politics would, it was thought, make women
coarse and crude and would cause them to neglect (ignore) their homes and their children.
• In the minds of many Texans woman suffrage was more than a political issue. It was a dangerous threat
to the social order.
• Suffragists believed that the vote would allow women to function more effectively in their traditional
roles. As mothers, teachers, businesswomen, and workingwomen, they would use the ballot in behalf
of better schools, playgrounds, parks, public health, sanitation, working conditions, and an improved
life in general.
7. Turn & Talk:
What arguments are
being used (by the
Texas Equal Suffrage
Association) in order
to convince Texas
Men that Texas
Women
deserve equality?
9. Music video and Reflection
Reflection question:
How and why did Texas
Suffragettes such as Jane
McCallum work to get Texas to
pass the 19th Amendment and
allow women to participate in
Texas civics (politics)?
10. Your final product
• You will create a poster for a museum
exhibit that celebrates a famous
American Suffragette.
• Use the internet on the laptop to
further your research on one of the
following American Suffragettes who
came before Jane McCallum (of Texas).
Sojourner Truth
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Susan B. Anthony
Lucretia Mott
• Your poster should include:
– A title
– A picture
– 3 Facts about the person you
select; please write in complete
sentences.
A. What is this woman famous for?
B. How did she help to achieve women’s
suffrage? What did she do to help the
women’s right’s movement?
C. What is her biggest accomplishment
in your opinion?
– Make sure you focus on how
these women helped all
American women achieve the
right to vote.
