Alpha Suffrage Club Gets a Marker in Chicago

The National Votes for Women Trail Marker honoring the Alpha Suffrage Club was dedicated on Friday, October 1 at 10 am at the corner of 31st and State Street. Founded in 1913 by Ida B. Wells-Barnett and several other suffragists in Chicago, the Alpha Suffrage Club played a significant role in motivating Black women to support voting rights and women’s suffrage.

Club members attended the controversial National Woman Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., in March of 1913, and they maintained their activism supporting local and national African American candidates for political office. Learn more about the Club.

At the dedication, 50 attendees listened to the VanderCook College of Music Chorale Choir and to the event speakers. Speakers often paused their talks as passing El trains threatened to drown them out. Attendees did not mind, however; the fact that the Alpha Suffrage Club was close to the El made it quintessentially “Chicago.”

Dr. Raj Echambadi, President of the Illinois Institute of Technology, opened the marker dedication ceremony. He noted similarities in the strategies of Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Mahatma Gandhi in achieving representation for their people. Michelle Duster, the great granddaughter of Ida B. Wells spoke, commenting that current efforts in the U.S. to deny voting rights to some people are testimony to how important those rights are.

Lori Osborne of the National Collaborative of Women’s History Sites welcomed the marker as one of the more than 100 in Illinois alone. It was a misconception, she said, to regard Seneca Falls as the only site for women’s suffrage in the U.S. when, in fact, efforts took place all over this country, and the Alpha Suffrage Club was an important example.

After speeches from State Representative “Kam” Buckner (26th District) and a representative from Alderperson Pat Dowell (3rd Ward), the marker was unveiled.

LWV Chicago member Jackie Kirley is also a member of Working Women’s History Project.