Written Works

Carrie Chapman Catt
Written Works
Preface to "The Ballot and the Bullet" – Dec. 1897
December 1, 1897
Catt wrote this preface for “The Ballot and the Bullet,” the third volume of the Political Science Study Series, a pamphlet published quarterly for the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The struggle for individual political liberty has extended over a period of seven hundred years, and even in the most highly civilized nations it is not yet closed. It dates its inception from the period when nations bowed in helpless and unquestioning obedience to royal edicts, and when all political power was concentrated in the hands of one man. The […]
Carrie Chapman Catt
Written Works
The Vote and the Voter - April 3, 1918
April 3, 1918
Catt wrote this introduction to the book “The Woman Voter’s Manual” by S.E. Forman and Marjorie Shuler, which was “…sent forth to meet the evident desire of the American woman to know more about her government. Its purpose is not to satisfy that desire but to stimulate it.” The book contains chapters on the Constitution; the federal government; state and local government; the territories; political parties; international relations; taxation and commerce; corporations; and elections. Of the 27,011,330 women of voting age in the United States, more than one-third are now […]
Audre Lorde
categories: Lecture, Speeches, Written Works
The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House - Oct. 29, 1979
October 29, 1979
Delivered at the Second Sex Conference in New York, Lorde critiques the presences of racism and homophobia within feminism and argues that true liberation cannot be achieved using patriarchal frameworks. I agreed to take part in a New York University Institute for the Humanities conference a year ago, with the understanding that I would be commenting upon papers dealing with the role of difference within the lives of American women: difference of race, sexuality, class, and age. The absence of these considerations weakens any feminist discussion of the personal and […]
Carrie Chapman Catt
Written Works
Why I Have Found Life Worth Living – March 29, 1928
March 29, 1928
I became a feminist when I was six years old. I had not yet discovered that I had been born amid a self-governing people and that the instrument employed for the process was a vote. In after years my observation that the United States discriminated against women in the distribution of votes and my enlistment in that cause for a lifetime was a mere incident in the bigger conviction that the affairs of the whole world were askew because the male possessed a dominating superiority and the female a surrendering […]
Carrie Chapman Catt
Written Works
Woman's World Column - July 30, 1885
July 30, 1885
In 1885, Catt (Carrie Lane) resigned from her position as superintendent of schools in Mason City, Iowa, and married Leo Chapman, editor of the Mason City Republican, a weekly newspaper. She became co-editor of the newspaper and started the column “Woman's World,” which she wrote would be “devoted to the discussion of such questions as purport to the welfare, the social, political and intellectual position of women.” The third objection, and one usually pronounced with much gusto and triumph, is “that the majority of women do not desire to vote; […]
Carrie Chapman Catt
Written Works
Woman's World Column - July 23, 2025
July 23, 1885
In 1885, Catt (Carrie Lane) resigned from her position as superintendent of schools in Mason City, Iowa, and married Leo Chapman, editor of the Mason City Republican, a weekly newspaper. She became co-editor of the newspaper and started the column “Woman's World,” which she wrote would be “devoted to the discussion of such questions as purport to the welfare, the social, political and intellectual position of women.” The next objection most frequently urged is “that were the privilege of suffrage granted to women, the moral effect is greatly to be […]
Carrie Chapman Catt
Written Works
Woman's World Column - July 16, 1885
July 16, 1885
In 1885, Catt (Carrie Lane) resigned from her position as superintendent of schools in Mason City, Iowa, and married Leo Chapman, editor of the Mason City Republican, a weekly newspaper. She became co-editor of the newspaper and started the column “Woman's World,” which she wrote would be “devoted to the discussion of such questions as purport to the welfare, the social, political and intellectual position of women.” It is the design of the “Woman’s World” to answer each such objection as are urged against woman’s suffrage presenting one objection and […]
Carrie Chapman Catt
Written Works
Woman's World Column - July 9, 1885
July 9, 1885
In 1885, Catt (Carrie Lane) resigned from her position as superintendent of schools in Mason City, Iowa, and married Leo Chapman, editor of the Mason City Republican, a weekly newspaper. She became co-editor of the newspaper and started the column “Woman's World,” which she wrote would be “devoted to the discussion of such questions as purport to the welfare, the social, political and intellectual position of women.” Now and then, a woman is found, who, when the question of Woman’s Suffrage is proposed, will excuse herself from an opinion upon […]
Carrie Chapman Catt
Written Works
Woman's World Column - July 2, 1885
July 2, 1885
In 1885, Catt (Carrie Lane) resigned from her position as superintendent of schools in Mason City, Iowa, and married Leo Chapman, editor of the Mason City Republican, a weekly newspaper. She became co-editor of the newspaper and started the column “Woman's World,” which she wrote would be “devoted to the discussion of such questions as purport to the welfare, the social, political and intellectual position of women.” In Philadelphia, recently, a book-keeper in one of the large establishments, was discovered to be a woman in man’s attire. She had a […]
Carrie Chapman Catt
Written Works
Woman's World Column - June 25, 1885
June 25, 1885
In 1885, Catt (Carrie Lane) resigned from her position as superintendent of schools in Mason City, Iowa, and married Leo Chapman, editor of the Mason City Republican, a weekly newspaper. She became co-editor of the newspaper and started the column “Woman's World,” which she wrote would be “devoted to the discussion of such questions as purport to the welfare, the social, political and intellectual position of women.” Miss Matilda Hindman, in the Pittsburg Commercial Gazette, makes a strong argument in favor of trusting women in business relations, as follows: “Do […]