Edna Fischel Gellhorn

Edna Fischel Gellhorn was a Missouri suffragist, reformer and philanthropist.

Born in St. Louis in 1878, Gellhorn became involved in the Missouri suffrage campaign in 1910, serving in the St. Louis and Missouri Equal Suffrage Leagues and helping to organize suffrage demonstrations. In 1919, Gellhorn cast the deciding vote to open up the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League to African Americans. Gellhorn’s most famous accomplishment was a 1916 demonstration known as the “Golden Lane,” where thousands of suffragists, clad in “suffrage yellow,” lined the streets and distracted from the Democratic National Convention.

After the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Gellhorn became an officer in the national League of Women Voters (LWV), the first president of the Missouri LWV, and served three terms as president of the St. Louis LWV.

Sources:

Edna Gellhorn (1878 - 1970).” Edna Gellhorn - Historic Missourians - The State Historical Society of Missouri. State Historical Society of Missouri. https://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/g/gellhorne.

Tavassoli, Karisa. “A Woman to Be Celebrated: Edna Gellhorn.” University Libraries RSS. Washington University - St. Louis, November 12, 2014. https://library.wustl.edu/a-woman-to-be-celebrated-edna-gellhorn.

“Bryn Mawr Women as Suffragists - the NAWSA Alumnae.” Bryn Mawr Women as Suffragists . Bryn Mawr College. http://www.brynmawr.edu/library/exhibits/suffrage/nawsaAlums.html#gellhorn.