The Westport Library
A “Suffrage Awakening” in Westport
Upon opening its doors, the Library also became the meeting pace of the Woman’s Town Improvement Association (est. 1907, today’s Westport Woman’s Club). In 1911, artists began annual art exhibitions, donating admission revenue to support programs. Courtesy, Bill Scheffler.
Westport farmers, merchants and seafaring captains noticed among their new neighbors a growing numbers of artists, writers, publishers and licensed professionals. These newcomers brought with them new and progressive ideas from experiences in Europe and careers in cities like New York, Philadelphia and Chicago.
The new gathering place for residents—old and new alike—was the grand Jesup Memorial Library (est. 1908) at the corner of Main and State streets.
On January 27, 1912, the public library’s handsome oak-paneled hall was transformed into a political theater bedecked with American flags and purple, white and green suffrage banners. The occasion was the Tri-County Crusade for Votes run by the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA). From January through March, the campaign held rallies at every town with trolley service—46 in all—across Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford counties.
Along the “invasion” route, suffragists donning Votes for Women sashes and pennants stumped from the trolley. Enthusiastic supporters greeted the car at Main Street, then headed to the Library hall to listen to passionate speakers. The “trolley crusade” was wildly successful, with thousands of new supporters and equal franchise leagues “springing into existence everywhere.”
Westport’s maiden suffrage event inspired local suffragists to plan a CWSA auxiliary of their own. On March 27, this was realized with Agnes Lewis Mitchill hosting and officiating the inaugural meeting. Just over a year later, the Westport Equal Franchise League put on their own “Suffrage Week,” complete with keynote speeches, a rally, parade, dance, and bridge and whist party, then ending with a bake sale.
The Connecticut Company (est. 1904) was the primary electric street railway provider in the state. Controlled by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, it operated city and rural trolleys along with freight service. Westport’s trolley line had multiple stops, including near the Library at “Hotel Square,” seen here, at the intersection of State, Main and Church streets. Courtesy, Bill Scheffler.
The trolley campaign built on the success of the CWSA’s 1911 automobile campaign in Litchfield County, where streets were swarmed by decorated automobiles carrying parties of suffragists. This time the CWSA employed a much larger transportation network. Courtesy, Fairfield Museum and History Center.
The trolley cars were decorated with flags and banners, much like this Bridgeport trolley in 1895. Courtesy, Fairfield Museum and History Center.