Anti-Suffrage

Political buttons delcaring "Opposed to Woman Suffrage"

Enrollment for for the Maryland Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage

Article from an anti-suffrage paper encouraging white women to vote, motivated by prejudice. 

Like elsewhere in the country, Eastern Shore suffragists faced fierce opposition. Men and women alike resented the challenge to the status quo. These anti-suffragists argued that a women’s place was solely in the home, and that politics was an added responsibility that would distract them from raising children.

There were many opposed to suffrage who also feared the implications of the vote being extended to African American women. Anti-suffragists feared that if Black women voted, they would be able to demolish white supremacy and upset the balance of power based in systemic racism.

In 1911, the Maryland Association Opposed to Women’s Suffrage (MAOWS) formed in Baltimore and quickly spread across the state. These issues were not divided by party lines. Like the suffrage movement itself, the MAOWS found supporters among Democrats and Republicans alike. The group continued to fight even after the 19th Amendment was passed, dissolving only after the Supreme Court upheld the amendment as constitutional in 1922 after Maryland judge, Oscar Leser, challenged it in court.