Ida Husted Harper
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
movement. She was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
who wrote primarily to document the movement and show support of its ideals.
Ida was born in Fairfield, Franklin County, Indiana
Franklin County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,151 people, 7,868 households, and 6,129 families residing in the county. The population density was 57 people per square mile . There were 8,596 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile...
to John Arthur Husted and Cassandra Stoddard. By 1870, she was a school teacher in Peru, Indiana
Peru, Indiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 12,994 people, 5,410 households, and 3,397 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,815.5 people per square mile . There were 5,943 housing units at an average density of 1,287.7 per square mile...
. Later, she became a principal of a high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Peru, Indiana and on December 28, 1871, she married Thomas Winans Harper of Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
, who went on to become a successful attorney and politician and whom she would later divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
.
She began writing woman's column
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
s, first in a Terre Haute newspaper under the pseudonym "John Smith" and later in a union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
magazine edited by activist Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
of Terre Haute. Through this period, she increasingly became more interested in the campaign for women's suffrage.
In 1887, she helped to organize a woman suffrage society in Indiana, serving as its secretary and in 1896 joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association
National American Woman Suffrage Association
The National American Woman Suffrage Association was an American women's rights organization formed in May 1890 as a unification of the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association...
where she worked as a reporter and, ultimately, an historian of the movement. She brought Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
to Terre Haute for a suffrage convention and became close to her during this period, soon collaborating with her on writing the "History of Woman Suffrage
History of Woman Suffrage
History of Woman Suffrage was produced by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Ida Husted Harper in six volumes from 1881 to 1922...
."
She later wrote an authorized and substantial biography of Anthony based on her their relationship and Anthony's own archives. The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony was published in 3 volumes between 1898 and 1908. Seeking to cement her place in history as Anthony's sole biographer, she spent weeks burning priceless letters and historic documents after Harper set her main biographical text in place.
Ida Harper fulfilled a similar role in press relations for the International Council of Women
International Council of Women
The International Council of Women was the first women's organization to work across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington D.C...
and later headed the Leslie Bureau of Suffrage Education, which strove to improve public understanding of the movement. The bureau produced articles and pamphlets about the campaign and also communicated directly with editors
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
, praising, chastising, or correcting them regarding their editorial perspectives and policies on women.
In 1920, her efforts contributed to the success of the movement as women were guaranteed the right to vote by the Nineteenth Amendment
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920....
. In 1922, she updated the History of Woman Suffrage, adding fifth and sixth volumes. She died in Washington, D. C. in 1931.
Her daughter, Winnifred Harper Cooley
Winnifred Harper Cooley
Winnifred Harper Cooley was a U.S. author and lecturer. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, she was the daughter of Ida Husted Harper. In her 1904 publication, The New Womanhood, she advocated the feminist ideal of the New Woman. She also wrote I Knew Them When ...! published in 1940.-External links:**...
, became an author and lecturer.
Principal literary work
- The Associated Work of the Women of Indiana. 1893
- The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony; Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many from Her Contemporaries During Fifty Years. 1898
- Suffrage-a right. 1906
- Woman Suffrage Throughout the World. 1907
- History of the Movement for Woman Suffrage in the United States. 1907
- How Six States Won Woman Suffrage. 1912
- Suffrage Snapshots. 1915
- A National Amendment for Woman Suffrage. 1915
- Story of the National Amendment for Woman Suffrage. 1919