Vermont Women Voters in 1920

In honor of the centennial of the ratification of the 19th amendment, the VHRP encouraged Vermonters to research the women who were registered to vote in their town in 1920.  In some cases, the names of those who actually voted are known, but that is the exception.  In most cities and towns, the extant records tell us the names of the women who were administered the Freeman’s Oath in the weeks leading up to the general election, indicating their intention of voting.  Other sources, many of which are freely available online, can be plumbed to learn more about these women.   

During Archives Month 2020, a small group of genealogically inclined researchers did just that, scrolling through the 1920 census enumerations to locate the names and families of the 144 women of voting age identified as “Negro” in the Vermont census.  To date, this project has researched the family histories of about 40 women.  One was found listed in the Town Record Book as having taken the Freeman’s Oath, indicating that she intended to vote:  Mary M. Rogers of Brattleboro.  

The women’s suffrage centennial might be over, but the research is ongoing and the VHRP will provide a central place for gathering the results of these local projects.  Please be in touch with your questions – and your research! 

Online resources 

• Materials on UVM’s Center for Digital Initiatives site (CDI) “Women’s Suffrage in Vermont,” including tallies of registered voters by town. 

• The 1920 census is freely available on Ancestry.com  and FamilySearch.org. Scroll down to “Browse” and drill down through state/county/town to get the entire enumeration for your town. 
• Vermont newspapers on newspapers.com and Vermont vital records on ancestry.com are available for free to Vermont residents if you set up a free myVermont.gov account. 
• Findagrave.com and other types of records on Ancestry.com or Familysearch.org can be helpful. 
• Women and Social Movements (WASM) crowdsourced biographical sketches of suffragists, including about 70 Vermonters. 
• Women’s Suffrage in Vermont (with Lyn Blackwell) presentation for the Vermont Historical Society, March 2020. 
• Researching Women Voters in 1920  virtual roundtable presentation for the Vermont Historical Society, April 2020. 

Offline resources 

• Town Clerk records: the “Town Record Books” may list the names of women who were administered the Freeman’s Oath.  The VHRP has extracts from the record books of several towns – please get in touch to see if we have copies of any records for your town.  If the town still has Board of Civil Authority records, the names might be listed there, since they often administered the Oath (Justices of the Peace and Town Clerks did as well). 
• Local history collections in your town, which might be at the historical society or within the local history collection at the public library.