The Bicycle is all the rage,
Without regard to sex or age,
The ladies mount the wheel astride,
And arch their neck with stoic pride,
They sit erect upon the saddle,
And like Albatross begin to paddle,
The wheels our mothers used to run
Were for flax and wool they spun,
"The Wheel! The Wheel!" the people cry,
On credit you the wheel can buy,
Unless that craze soon doth stop,
It will bankrupt every store and shop,
Ancient Rome ran to fast,
In pride and luxury it could not last.
Courtesy of the Cortland County Chronicles, "The Bicycle" by R. Curtis Harris, volume 2, page 237.
On November 2, 1915 a statewide vote took place deciding the direction of women’s suffrage in New York. The vote was a failure at the time. Figures representing upstate resulted in 43% for and 57% against, and 44% for and 56% against in the New York City area. Cortland County however, was one of five counties in favor of the amendment. Though it was a close vote, Cortland voted 3160 for to 3065 against, joining Broome, Chautauqua, Niagara, and Tompkins counties. After a two-year additional battle, New York State finally passed the measure on November 6, 1917 with an 80,000-vote majority. In 1919 Congress passed the 19th Amendment and ratified it in August of 1920.
(Figures from Cornell University: Women's Review and Cornell Daily Sun, Women’s Suffrage at Cornell).
Political Equality Clubs were part of the New York State Women Suffrage Association (NYSWSA). The intention was to encourage local communities to establish their own clubs in order to promote women’s suffrage as a rural and social issue. The Political Equality Club was organized by Harriet May Mills of Syracuse. However, when Mills gave a speech in Cortland in 1898 it is reported that a man from the crowd asked if a local chapter could be organized in Cortland. Interested parties assembled at the home of Lydia Strowbridge to organize this club. Initially, Anna E. Bentley and Strowbridge acted as vice presidents. Bentley would eventually serve as president for 13-years. They often held events at the M.E. Church.
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union was founded in 1874 by Frances Willard in Ohio. The WCTU platform included advocating for women’s rights but also centered around enacting prohibition. It was the largest women’s organization at that era. Local chapters started to emerge. By 1930 Ithaca or the Tompkins County WCTU was one of the largest sects of this organization in terms of membership and captured national attention. However, chapters focused on actively engaging their communities using grassroots efforts. According to the Ithaca Journal in 1878, Juanita Breckenridge Bates was the president of the Tompkins County Suffrage Party and allowed people to enter her home for an “Open House” venue where they could learn more about suffrage. Anna Bentley was the president of the Cortland Chapter of the WCTU. Other clubs were organized in the area as well such as the "Ithaca Women's Club" founded by Louisa Lord Riley. Lucy Calkins held the first meeting of the "Political Study Club" in her home which aimed to debate issues on women's rights.
Photograph courtesy of Images of America: Cortland County, by Mary Ann Kane, page 114.
The Cortland Wheel Club was officially organized in 1890, though the bicycle really made its way into Cortland County culture in the early 1880's. At this time custom anatomical bicycles involving the center bar and seat were being made to accommodate not only a more comfortable ride, but a broader audience. The Cortland Wheel Club held several races or parades at the turn of the century and at times included over 500 participants.
The introduction of the bicycle was an outlet for economic and personal independence for women. Before the age of the automobile, horse and buggy transportation options were not only expensive to purchase and maintain, but men were mostly responsible for hooking/linking the carriages to the horse. The bicycle on the other hand, was relatively inexpensive and allowed women to express a new mode of transportation freedom and self-reliance.
The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a national organization that still exists today. Though it's origins trace to Chicago in 1920, it quickly grew nationally to assist the nearly 20-million new eligible voters in the nation. In the 1940’s President Harry Truman invited the LWV as consultants to the United Nations. Since then the League has been active in the Equal Rights Act, educational initiatives, the National Voter Registration Act, Help American Vote Act, and more. Recently in 2020 they celebrated their 100th anniversary. Locally, the League of Women Voters Cortland Chapter was established in 1953 and included roughly forty members. The LWV often sponsored debates, distributed literature to the public such as the “Facts for Voters” pamphlets.
