The Power of an Educated Tongue
Florence Lee (Brown) Cotnam was a suffrage leader and influential speaker from Little Rock, Arkansas. Her speeches persuaded thousands of Americans and aided in the passage of the 19th Constitutional Amendment.
Florence Lee (Brown) Cotnam was a suffrage leader and influential speaker from Little Rock, Arkansas. She was the first woman to address the Arkansas General Assembly and first president of the League of Women Voters of Little Rock. Her speeches persuaded Constitutional Amendment. In addition, she started suffrage schools across the nation to educate men and women about their responsibility and power as voters.
Florence Cotnam was born to merchant and plantation owner, Tarleton Woodson Brown, and Eliza Webb Thurmond on April 16, 1865, in Cobham, Virginia. Growing up in the Reconstruction after the Civil War, Cotnam and her ten siblings witnessed political and social upheaval while receiving a rigorous education. Cotnam attended private schools in the neighboring towns of Gordonsville and Richmond.
When Cotnam was 13, the Brown family moved to Tyler, Texas, where she later attended its private university, Charnwood Institute. She met her future husband, Thomas Taylor Cotnam, and they were married on October 20, 1885. Shortly after, they had three children: Charles , Nell, and Thomas Tarleton. In the 1890s, the Cotnam family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, because Thomas Cotnam changed jobs. There, Cotnam soon established herself as a suffragist leader and an articulate speaker.
The Florence Cotnam Character Collection was developed by UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture intern Emily Summers. Summers is a UA Little Rock Donaghey Scholar, double majoring in Anthropology and French. She plans on graduating in May 2018. Summers’ interest in French culture flourished in the summer of 2016 when she studied in Orléans, France. She also feeds her interest in culture by participating in cemetery restorations in Arkansas. For her final project for the Donaghey Scholars program, she will work closely with Calvary Cemetery to document gravestones. After graduation, she hopes to pursue cemetery restoration and education.
Votes for Women? Yes, yes, yes
As an educated woman of the post-Reconstruction period, Cotnam became involved in the national debate of who had the right to vote. She saw it as her educational and moral duty to advocate for women's right to vote and to educate the public about good government.
When Cotnam moved to Arkansas, she became active in numerous women's groups such as the Aesthetic Club of Little Rock, the Edelweiss Club, the League of American Pen Woman and the Little Rock Political Equality League.
When the Arkansas Women Suffrage Association (AWSA) was reorganized in 1915, Cotnam became its treasurer. Under the AWSA, she taught at suffrage schools in seven non-suffrage states. When the AWSA was renamed the Arkansas Equal Suffrage Central Committee (AESCC) in 1917, Cotnam became its vice chairman and later, chairman. Because of her speaking abilities, the committee sent her on a debate tour in West Virginia and New Jersey.
As chairman of the AESCC, Cotnam wrote to the Arkansas General Assembly on June 13, 1919, and called for a one-day extra session of the Assembly to ratify the National Suffrage Amendment. She stated in a newspaper interview, “We feel a special pride in that Arkansas was the first southern state to grant any form of suffrage to women and we want to be the first southern state to ratify the national amendment.” The Assembly complied with her request on July 28, 1919, and ratified the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Mrs. Tip Top Cotnam
Of all Cotnam’s abilities, her strength as a persuasive and passionate speaker spread her fame nationwide. The Woman Citizen remarked that the “T. T.” in Mrs. T. T. Cotnam stood for “Tip Top” because, “She is always being chosen to top off some brilliant speeches.”
One of her first important speeches was on February 5, 1915, when she became the first woman to address the Arkansas General Assembly. Cotnam also addressed the first National Convention of the League of Women Voters with her speech “All’s Well That Ends Well,” and she topped off the Victory Suffrage Convention in Chicago in 1920.
Recognizing her intellect and silver tongue, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) sent her on a debate tour from 1915-1919 to advocate for women’s suffrage in 18 states, including Maine, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida. Cotnam found the steps of state houses and the tops of automobiles to be perfect podiums.
What America Needs Most
As a highly educated woman, Cotnam understood the importance of education. She told The Woman Citizen in 1919 that the "greatest handicap to good government in a republic is indifference and lack of intelligence on the part of the voters."
With the anticipated ratification of the 19th Amendment, Cotnam reminded the suffragists in her speech, "All's Well That Ends Well" that their jobs were not finished. They needed "to give our country what she needs above all things, an interested and intelligent electorate." Cotnam's life mission to educate the public about politics had emerged.
Under the NAWSA, Cotnam led a national citizenship campaign in 12 states. Cotnam organized the League of Women Voters of Little Rock in 1919 from the AWSA. She became its first president and focused on organizing citizenship schools. While the schools mainly attracted women, they were open to everyone. Cotnam taught governmental procedure, the responsibilities of voters, and the right of citizenship. As a result, women formed citizenship study clubs that pushed for new labor laws, equal pay, and the elimination of child labor.
Beyond Suffrage
Beyond leading the suffrage movement, Florence Cotnam practiced what she taught her citizenship students by supporting the Democratic National Committee. During World War I, Cotnam headed fundraising efforts for the Democratic Victory Fund. The Democratic Party made her a delegate to state conventions in 1918, 1919, and 1922.
In 1932, Cotnam became an Arkansas delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The party utilized her speaking abilities to persuade doubtful states during the election seasons of the 1920s, and they chose Cotnam to be a presidential elector for Arkansas in 1924.
She also exercised her responsibility as a voter by endorsing presidential candidates. Cotnam acted as the chairman for A. Mitchell Palmer's campaign in western headquarters in 1920 and 1924, and she endorsed Alfred E. Smith in 1928 and 1932. However, neither candidate succeeded.
Florence Cotnam remained active in democratic politics, women's rights, and political education until her death on October 7, 1932. She is buried in Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock. Although Cotnam passed away, her life's mission lives every time a politically knowledgeable individual casts their vote.