Suffrage Rally at this year’s Apple Festival

The referendum in 1915 was a pivotal campaign in the effort for New York State women to gain the vote. To achieve this goal the State Constitution would need to be changed, something that could only be done every 20 years. In Tioga County this campaign had started in 1912 with a young suffrage worker drumming up support from the back of an automobile.

One month before the election, the largest and most elaborate mass meeting to date was held on Oct. 5, 1915 at the Tioga Theatre. The speakers were Mrs. Philip Snowden, vice-president of the National Union of Suffrage Societies in Great Britain and Lt.-Governor W. Y. Morgan of Kansas. 

Mead’s Orchestra was engaged to play inside the theatre; Howe’s Drum Corps was retained for a parade in the streets. Of special interest was a parade of “13 small girls” in white dresses. Each had a yellow and black “Votes for Women” sash and each carried a placard with the name of a suffrage state. The Owego Gazette described the parade as “highly effective”. The girls took their place on stage with their placards.

As Mrs. Snowden took the stage, her initial remarks could not help but mention that these were “terrible times”; no doubt referring to the devastation that World War I was causing. Still the cause of suffrage kept up her energy and resolve in which she had spoken no less than 200 times, both in this country and in England. Using the words of Lincoln that “government of the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” was a concept that applied to both genders having the right to vote.

After the speeches, ushers took up a collection for the cause. These were all young ladies who wore “Votes for Women” sashes. In spite of this three-year campaign, the suffrage vote was negative, both in Tioga County and New York State.

To honor the efforts of the women who worked so tirelessly to gain the right to vote, the Girl Scout Troops of Newark Valley, Berkshire, and Richford will be re-enacting the march that took place at this year’s Apple Festival. Each girl will be dressed in white carrying a Vote for Women sash and a placard representing a state or territory where women had achieved suffrage. The parade will begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7 and Sunday, Oct. 8. The Scouts will then proceed to the Main Stage for a few remarks.

Fortunately the women of New York did not have to wait another 20 years to change the State Constitution. Another referendum was allowed two years later. When the polls closed on Nov. 6, 1917, suffrage had passed by 114 votes in Tioga County. Although the upstate vote tally was still in the negative, a surge in pro-suffrage votes from downstate made New York the 15th state to grant full suffrage to women. The plurality was over 100,000. It was a pivotal state in the campaign because it was the most populous state in the nation and the first state in the east to vote in favor. The momentum that this provided for the national campaign would help with the passage of the 19th amendment that was officially ratified in 1920.

Please come celebrate this pivotal event in women’s history by attending this year’s Apple Festival on Saturday, Oct. 7 and Sunday, Oct. 8 at the Bement-Billings Farmstead, one mile north of Newark Valley. 

For more information about the Festival, visit www.nvhistory.org.