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Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
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Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
As one of the leading suffragists of the 1900s, Carrie Chapman Catt succeeded Susan B. Anthony as President of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in 1900. After stepping down as President in 1904, Catt focused on international suffrage advocacy before returning to the role of NAWSA President in 1915. Catt lobbied for a federal suffrage amendment until the successful ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. Also in 1920, she founded the League of Women Voters, an organization which still remains today. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| 1900 | Catt becomes President of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association upon Susan B. Anthony’s 80th birthday. |
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| 1902 | Catt founds organization for international suffrage advocacy. |
| 1904 | Anna Howard Shaw succeeds her as the President. |
| 1906 | Catt speaks at Anthony’s funeral. 1913 Catt holds international conference in Budapest, opens a school to train suffragists, and campaigns to stop the hanging of Bessie Wakefield. |
| October 1915 | Catt praises President Wilson after he says he will support suffrage in New Jersey. |
| December 1915 | Catt replaces Shaw as NAWSA President. |
| 1916 | Catt advocates for world peace. |
| 1917 | Catt calls for ratification of Anthony Amendment. |
| February 1920 | Catt founds the League of Women Voters. |
| August 1920 | Catt travels to Tennessee to urge the approval of the Anthony Amendment. Tennessee is the last state needed for ratification. |
