Thing

 

The women's suffrage march in 1913.

 

 

 

 

 

Thing"When women get the ballot, all...will be changed." Susan B. Anthony prophesized these words to Ida while she was staying at the woman's home upon returning from her second trip abroad. She and Anthony, a seasoned campaigner for women's suffrage, had become intimate friends. Anthony welcomed Ida's hearty personality, and in turn Ida admired Anthony, who could bestow years of knowledge and wisdom. Yet, Ida did not recognize the importance of Susan's words until years later, when she took them to heart.

ThingIn January of 1913, Ida formed the first ever voting rights union for black women in Illinois--the Alpha Suffrage Club. The group met weekly at the Negro Fellowship League Reading Room and Social Center (a refuge Ida had founded for the blacks on the streets). The club started off by parading in a demonstration on the streets of Chicago. On that day Ida marched proudly with her daughter, Alfreda, at her heels. The group then proceeded to rally behind and promote Oscar DePriest, who became the premiere African-American alderman in Chicago. Ida, of course, could not resist turning to the written word to bolster her organization. She created the newspaper the Alpha Suffrage Record, and administered as its editor.

ThingOn March 3, 1913,thousands of women gathered in
protest in Washington D.C. Ida was in the midst of the throng. Suddenly, a leader of the movement approached. She'd have to walk somewhere else, he informed her. There was a specific colored section for the march, and several white women had complained that Ida's presence made them uncomfortable. Ida listened to the leader's request, then coolly refused. After all, there was no difference between men thinking of women as inferior and whites deeming blacks as subordinate. So how could the white women seek to marginalize her on account of her race when they were being marginalized because of their gender? One newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, depicted Ida's reaction vividly:

ThingMrs. Barnett's voice trembled with emotion and two large tears coursed their way part way down her cheeks before she could raise her veil and wipe them away. "The southern women have tried to evade the question time and time again by giving some excuse or other every time it has been brought up," she said. If the Illinois women do not take a stand now in this great democratic parade then the colored women are lost."

ThingThere was some argument between Ida and the movement leaders, for she was adamant. If she could not walk where she pleased, said ultimately, she might not even walk at all. In the end, Ida won the tug-of-war. Poetess Bettiola H. Fortson captured the essence of her march afterwards:

ThingSide by side with the whites she walked,
ThingStep after step the southerners balked,
ThingBut Illinois, fond of order and grace,
ThingStuck to the black Queen of our race.

'Tis true, they're able at this age to bar,
But justice will soon send the doors ajar
And sit the black and white face to face.
There will be seen the Queen of our race.

Page after page in history you'll read
Of one who was ready and able to lead,
Who set the nation on fire with her pace
And the Heroine will be the Queen of our race.

ThingSusan B. Anthony had not lived to see the fulfillment of her dream. She died fourteen years before women finally got their right to vote--in 1920. With this triumph, women soon began seeking other rights. More women ventured, timidly at first, into fields formerly dominated by men. Indeed, Ida herself decided to do a remarkable thing when she was nearly seventy years old: run for public office. She was disappointed by the efforts of the black male officials in her state's government. It did not seem as if they were pushing as hard as they could be for revolutionary reforms to root out unemployment, poverty, and segregation.

ThingWith the support of her husband, Ferdinand, Ida began campaigning for state senate in 1930. It was no easy task. She toured Illinois handing out thousands of letters and newsletters explaining her views. She hung up numerous fliers outside of restaurants and businesses. More tiring than doing these things was delivering speeches. Yet, Ida spoke ceaselessly, several times a week—a schedule reminiscent of her lecturing tours during her first trip abroad. For all her efforts, she did not come close to winning the election. She acquired a decent 589 votes, but these were 6,020 votes shy of her competitor. Still, the fact that she had had the nerve to run at all constituted a victory in itself. She had paved the way for women in the future to follow her lead.