Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government

Variant names

Hide Profile

Suffragists Maud Wood Park, Pauline Agassiz Shaw, and Mary Hutcheson Page were among those who in 1901 founded the Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government (BESAGG) "to promote a better civic life, the true development of the home and the welfare of the family, through the exercise of suffrage on the part of the women citizens of Boston." After 1920, BESAGG became the Boston League of Women Voters. For further historical information see Lois Bannister Merk, Massachusetts and the Woman Suffrage Movement (Ph.D. thesis, 1961).

From the description of Records in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1916-1920 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232008748

Suffragists Maud Wood Park, Pauline Agassiz Shaw, and Mary Hutcheson Page were among those who founded the Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government (BESAGG) in 1901. Its purpose being "...to promote a better civic life, the true development of the home and the welfare of the family, through the exercise of suffrage on the part of the women citizens of Boston..." (1918 By-laws), BESAGG was symptomatic of both the widening of suffragists' interests and their desire to expand their constituency by attaching themselves to other social reforms.

Although originally BESAGG focused equally on suffrage and on the concerns (such as poverty, vice, street conditions, and prison reform) that it shared with other civic reform groups, by 1910 the organization concentrated almost solely on suffrage, convinced that without the vote women could not effectively improve government. BESAGG joined other Massachusetts suffrage organizations in using tactics borrowed from militant British suffragists, such as house-to-house canvassing and open-air meetings and speeches. In addition, BESAGG educated women about the functions of government so as to prepare them to be responsible, well-informed, voting citizens. After 1920, BESAGG became the Boston League of Women Voters. For further historical information, see Lois Bannister Merk, Massachusetts and the Woman Suffrage Movement (Ph.D. thesis, 1961), Schlesinger Library microfilm (M-19), or Sharon Strom, "Leadership and Tactics in the American Woman Suffrage Movement: A New Perspective from Massachusetts," Journal of American History 62 (September 1975): 296-315.

From the guide to the Woman's Rights Collection (WRC), (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association. Records in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1893-1918 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Bagley, Grace Hodges, 1860-1944. Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1905-1945 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Stantial, Edna Lamprey. Series XI of the Mary Earhart Dillon Collection, 1893-1944 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Bagley, Grace Hodges, 1860-1944. Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1905-1945 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Park, Maud Wood, 1871-1955. Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1870-1960 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Woman's rights collection, 1853-1958 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Luscomb, Florence, 1887-1985. Papers, 1856-2001 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Page, Mary Hutcheson, 1860-1940. Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1892-1943 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Papers of Grace A. Johnson in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1840-1952 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Luscomb, Florence, 1887-1985. Papers, 1856-1987 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government. Records, 1916-1920 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Papers of Grace A. Johnson in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1840-1952: Subseries A-E, 1840-1952 (inclusive) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Ames, Blanche, 1878-1969. Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1913-1940 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Stantial, Edna Lamprey, 1897-1985. Papers in the Mary Earhart Dillon Collection, 1870-1944 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Page, Mary Hutcheson, 1860-1940. Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1892-1943 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn College Equal Suffrage League. Records in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1904-1920 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Woman's rights collection, 1853-1958 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Park, Maud Wood, 1871-1955. Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1870-1960 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Ames, Fanny Baker, 1840-1931. Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1907-1943 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Maud Wood Park papers, 1844-1979 (bulk 1886-1951) Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn College Equal Suffrage League. Records, 1904-1920 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Boston Equal Suffrage Association for Good Government. Records in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1916-1920 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Ames, Blanche. Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1913-1940 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Ames, Blanche. person
associatedWith Ames, Fanny Baker, 1840-1931. person
associatedWith Bagley, Grace Hodges, 1860-1944. person
associatedWith Blanche (Ames) Ames, 1878-1969 person
associatedWith College Equal Suffrage League. corporateBody
associatedWith College Equal Suffrage League, 1900-1920 corporateBody
associatedWith Edna Lamprey Stantial person
associatedWith Florence Hope Luscomb, 1887-1985 person
associatedWith Grace Allen (Fitch) Johnson, 1871-1952 person
associatedWith Grace (Hodges) Bagley, 1860-1944 person
associatedWith Johnson, Grace A., 1871-1952. person
associatedWith Luscomb, Florence, 1887- person
associatedWith Mary Hutcheson Page, 1860-1940 person
associatedWith Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association. corporateBody
associatedWith Maud May (Wood) Park, 1871-1955 person
associatedWith Page, Mary Hutcheson, 1860-1940. person
associatedWith Park, Maud Wood, 1871-1955. person
associatedWith Stantial, Edna Lamprey. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Boston (Mass.)-Clubs
Massachusetts--Boston
United States
Subject
Clubs
Women
Women
Occupation
Activity

Corporate Body

Active 1916

Active 1920

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63z46ds

Ark ID: w63z46ds

SNAC ID: 13758319