Foster, Mrs. J. Ellen; Chace, Mrs. Thos. W. General Statement [Caption title].

Washington, D.C. Woman's Republican Association of the United States, 1892. 10” x 8”. Single sheet circular letter. Very good: old folds, evidence of scrapbook removal, verso.

This is a remarkable circular letter which simultaneously documents the work of a lesser known 19th century suffragist, activist and lawyer, while sharing the origin story of the Woman's Republican Association of the United States (WRAUS).

The letter was published under the name of the WRAUS's chairperson, Judith Ellen Foster. Foster was the fourth woman admitted to the bar in Iowa and believed to be the first to actually engage in practice there; and she was known as “The Iowa Lawyer.” She was an international lecturer on temperance topics, was tasked by the attorney general of the United States to investigate conditions in Federal prisons, and in 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed her to study conditions of women and child workers in the country. Numerous newspaper reports state she was also the first woman to address a Republican National Convention. She also issued pamphlets and magazine articles on temperance and published The Constitutional Amendment Manual in 1893.

The letter begins by explaining that during the campaign of 1888 the women's organization was “experimental,” but as of 1892,

“the work of women in whatever concerns the Home or the State is justified by every principle of popular government, and at the present time is made necessary by current political conditions. Reform movements, which have crystallized into party action, have always been effectively sustained by women; it is unlikely that they would have attained any considerable vitality or influence without this support.”

The letter goes on to describe Foster's role in the founding of the first local association which turned into the first WRAUS state association in Rhode Island and shared that Foster expected “to visit and organize in all the Northern States during the summer months. She desires the co-operation and support of Republican voters throughout the country.”

A contemporary newspaper account gave insight into the meetings themselves, quoting Foster:

“Our meetings are just the same as other women's meetings for study and advancement, only instead of [studying classics] we study the Constitution and political history, and instead of urging the men to go to church we urge them to go to the polls and vote.”

We haven't been able to find out much more regarding the WRAUS but a 1919 newspaper article stated that from the time of its creation through each presidential campaign to 1916,

“the Republican National Committee, every four years established as a part of its national campaign a women's department made up of the officers of the National Woman's Republican Association. Until her death in 1909, Mrs. Foster directed the task of getting out suitable literature and of providing women speakers, of which she was the chief.”

Outstanding documentation of the work of J. Ellen Foster. Not found in OCLC. Very good. Item #8860

Price: $950.00