Frame Size (H x L): 14.25” x 14.5”
Flag Size (H x L): 2.75” x 6.75” and affixed to a 7” staff.

Offered is a scarce suffragette flag with four stars.  It is affixed to a staff and includes the following overprint:

LET IOWA
WOMEN VOTE
Add Another [star] to the
Flag of Free States

It was likely made for the Boone, Iowa Suffragette Parade, held in 1908. 

THE BUILDUP
Iowa joined the Union in 1846, and its first constitution was drafted in the same year.  Its constitution limited the right to vote to white males.  In 1848, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York.  As a result of this meeting, a declaration was drafted and distributed calling for women’s suffrage, right to education, and right to employment.  Initially, the declaration did not gain much attention in Iowa.  But following the Civil War, a new generation of political issues began to surface and the declaration—and specifically its call for women’s suffrage—was among them. 

In the 1870s and 80s, women’s suffrage advocates made various proposals to change the Iowa constitution, but none of them won the passage of two consecutive sessions of the legislature, a necessary requirement to amending the constitution.  A significant roadblock to amending the state constitution was that the right of women to vote became entangled with the right to manufacture, sell, and drink alcohol.  Specifically, those supporting temperance were likely to support women’s suffrage, the thought being that women were allies to their position.  In contrast, those opposed to temperance were likely to oppose women’s suffrage, the thought being that keeping women from voting was critical to maintaining business as usual with respect to alcohol.     

In 1894, the Iowa legislature granted women the right to vote on bond issues, tax issues, and similar matters.  In contrast, it did not grant them the right to vote on candidates running for office.  Such a framework was referred to as partial suffrage.  It was a start, but far from fair. 

By 1908, women nationwide had been fighting for the right to vote for over 60 years.  Most of their fights had taken place via meetings and speeches, but such techniques were failing to generate excitement and new supporters.  Rather, they were echo chambers for those who already supported the movement.  Eleanor Elizabeth Gordon, president of the Iowa Equal Suffrage Association, recognized that traditional methods were no longer effective, and in turn, she partnered with Rowena Edson Stevens, president of the Boone Equality Club, to find a new way to generate excitement and attract new allies.  Their idea was to hold a parade, in 1908 in Boone, Iowa, in coordination with the Iowa Equal Suffrage Association’s convention, headquartered at the Holst Hotel.  By having a parade, the participants, attendees, and onlookers could listen, learn, and enjoy the festivities.  It was thought that the parade would attract new supporters and, indeed, it did.  In fact, the Boone, Iowa Suffragette Parade—thought to be the first of its kind—became a model for suffragette parades across the country.  

THE PARADE  
The parade started at noon on October 29th and over 100 women lined up at the corner of 7th Street and Carrol Street.  Mary Jane Coggeshall, the “Mother of Iowa Suffrage,” led the women, despite earlier reservations that a parade was too radical and un-ladylike.  Accompanied by a local band, the women carried banners and marched east towards the heart of the Boone business district.  Their destination was the intersection of 8th Street and Story Street.  There, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw spoke to the crowd.  Shaw served as the vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, under Susan B. Anthony, from 1892 until 1904, and she served as the president from 1904 until 1915.  Her speech was as follows:

The principles upon which our government rests are the most sublime ever conceived, but the men who framed them have been unable to make practical application of them. They said, 'Governments gain their powers from the consent of the governed,' yet they did not grant to many classes of the govered right to have a voice in the government. One class at a time has been enfranchised. Men voted first because they were church members; second, because they held property, then because they were white. Not until the negro was enfranchised did they vote because they were men.

This is not a republic, because republican government is government by the people. The last step toward making it a republic would be the enfranchisement of the women. Some on e asked Wendell Phillips, 'Isn't Christianity a failure.' 'I don't know,' he replied, 'it has never been tried.' So I reply to the question, 'Is not the republic a failure?' 'I don't know. It has never been tried.'

In Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand women have full suffrage; in Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and the British Isles they have a vote; in Finland they are on absolute equality and 25 women sit on the parliament; in Natal, South Africa, they have been granted the franchise within the year. They have it in some cities of Austria; even in Russia by proxy. I believe in time the men of America will be as just to their women as the men of those countries.

Never has we had in our history a year when we had so much zeal as this year. This is largely due to our English sisters. From the city of New York 19,000 working women have joined the national suffrage association. Fifteen college associations have joined. In New York the young men are about to organize a young men's woman suffrage association. The movement has been endorsed by 550 organizations, including the Federation of Labor, the Letter Carriers' association, the Bricklayers association, etc. Our cause is moving on.

THE FOUR STARS AND ASSOCIATED STATES
The flag offered herein includes four stars, wherein each star represents what the maker referred to as a “free state.”  In 1908, there were four free states and, thus, four earned stars, per the maker’s view: one representing Wyoming, which granted women the right to vote in 1869; one representing Colorado, which granted women the right to vote in 1893; one representing Utah, which granted women the right to vote in 1896; and one representing Idaho, which also granted women the right to vote in 1896. 

In the context of this flag, the maker was hoping that Iowa would be the fifth state to grant women the right to vote and that, in turn, the flag would be deserving of a fifth star.  However, in 1910, it was Washington—rather than Iowa—that was the fifth state to grant women the right to vote. 

In 1916, the Iowa General Assembly submitted a constitutional amendment, to Iowans, to remove the word “male” as a requirement to vote.  The amendment was narrowly defeated, in part due to pro-alcohol voters who were content with the status quo, in part due to Catholic voters who viewed the man as the head of the family, and perhaps in part due to voting irregularities.  In April of 1919, just four months before Iowa ratified the 19th Amendment to the United States’ Constitution, the Iowa General Assembly passed a bill granting women the right to vote in presidential elections.     

Suffragette star counts are extraordinarily rare.  We know of ten or fewer flags having such counts.  The flag offered herein is only the second such example that we have encountered in over a decade of chasing outstanding flags.       

NINETEENTH AMENDMENT
Though initially targeted as a state-by-state movement, it was ultimately recognized that only an amendment to the Constitution would grant all women the right to vote.  Amendments were introduced in 1878 and 1914, both of which were defeated.  By 1918, both political parties were committed to women’s suffrage, in part based on the major role women played in World War I.  As such, in January of 1918 and June of 1919, an amendment was passed by two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate, respectively.  On August 18th, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, giving the two-thirds of state legislators necessary to ratify the amendment.  On August 26th, the Nineteenth Amendment became part of the Constitution, and stated the following:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.  Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Conservation Process: This flag was hand sewn to cotton fabric, and both were hand sewn to a mounting board.  To prevent the black dye in the cotton fabric from seeping into the flag, it was first washed in a standard wash and then in a dye setting wash.  The flag is positioned behind Optium Museum Acrylic.

Frame: This flag is in a special edition Medium Frame. 

Condition Report: This flag is in excellent condition.  It is essentially flawless and the better of the two examples that we have encountered.  

Collectability Level: The Extraordinary – Museum Quality Offerings
Date of Origin: 1908