Activist: A person who works to bring about political or social change.
Alice Paul (January 11, 1885–July 9, 1977) was an American suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and the main leader and strategist of the 1910s campaign for the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote.
Amendment: The modification of the US Constitution.
American Equal Rights Association (AERA) was formed in 1866 in the US to "secure equal rights to all American citizens especially the right of suffrage, irrespective of race, color, or sex."
American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was founded in late 1869. The group split from the the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) as a protest against the "confrontational tactics" of the NWSA. AWSA would work to secure the vote for women state-by-state in lieu of seeking a federal amendment. AWSA and NWSA would merge again in 1890 to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
Arkansas Equal Suffrage Association (AESA) was organized in Little Rock during 1888 by Clara McDiarmid. This group is also referred to as the Little Rock Suffrage Association.
Arkansas Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was organized for the purpose of seeking legislation by the Arkansas General Assembly to secure for women all the rights and privileges that belong to citizens in a free republic. Its goals were to support a constitutional suffrage amendment for Arkansas primary voting, as well as to support general women’s suffrage. Two different AWSA organizations emerged in Arkansas. One existed from 1881 to 1885 and was established in Eureka Springs. Another began in 1914 in Little Rock by Alice S. Ellington. Both were instrumental in promoting women’s suffrage in the state.
Club woman: A woman who engages in club activities. Clubs were generally social or civic organizations. Women's clubs were established in the 1860s as a response to men's professional clubs.
Congressional Union or The Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, was founded in 1913 by Alice Paul to lobby for a federal amendment for women's suffrage.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815–October 26, 1902) was a leading figure of the women's rights movement. The Declaration of Sentiments, presented at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 is often credited with initiating the first organized women's rights and women's suffrage movements in the US.
Franchise: The right to vote.
National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was formed in 1890 to work for women’s suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA).
National Association Opposed to Women's Suffrage (NAOWS) was formed in New York City in 1911 during a convention of state anti-suffrage groups. Led by Josephine Dodge, the founder and first president, the NAOWS believed that woman suffrage would decrease women’s work in communities and their ability to effect societal reforms. Active on a state and federal level, the group also established a newsletter, Woman’s Protest (reorganized as Woman Patriot in 1918).
National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed in 1869 as a response to a split in the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) over whether the woman’s movement should support the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution. NWSA worked to secure women’s enfranchisement though a federal constitutional amendment.
National Woman's Party (NWP) was formed in 1916 by Alice Paul as an outgrowth of the Congressional Union to fight for women’s suffrage, ignoring all other issues. The NWP broke from the larger National American Woman Suffrage Association, a nationwide organization, and worked chiefly in Washington, D.C.
New Woman: A term used to describe the changing role of women in American society from approximately 1890-1920. Less constrained than earlier generations, the new woman had freedom to pursue roles other than domesticity in areas such as education and employment.
Political Equality League (PEL) was formed in Little Rock during 1911 to “secure equal suffrage”; branches were also established in Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, and Fayetteville by 1914.
Primary suffrage: The ability to vote in a primary election (some women’s groups chose to lobby for suffrage rights in the primary elections in lieu of total suffrage due to majority vote needs).
Protest: The act of objecting. Generally protests take the form of a public demonstrations.
Rally: A meeting of a large group of people to make a political statement to support a cause.
Ratification: The act of formal consent to change a political document.
Referendum: A vote put to the general public to seek answer to a question.
Rights: Fundamental freedoms, such as the rights to speak, associate, and work.
Social movement: A group of people who organize to strive for a common goal.
Suffrage: The right to vote in political elections.
Suffragette: A woman seeking the right to vote through organized protest.
Suffragist: A person advocating the extension of suffrage to women.
Temperance: Moderation. The temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries was an nationally organized effort to moderate the consumption of alcohol and advocated for complete abstinence.
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was founded in 1874 and was dedicated to eliminating the consumption of alcohol, however, by 1894, the WCTU was endorsing women's suffrage.