The Triumph of Women's Suffrage

What it is

This is the text of a speech given by President Woodrow Wilson on September 8, 1916, at a suffrage convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In it, he addresses the women's suffrage movement directly.

Why it matters

Wilson initially did not support a federal women's suffrage amendment, and this speech shows him engaging publicly with the growing suffrage movement a few years before the passage of the 19th Amendment. It is a valuable primary source for tracing how political leaders responded to the rising pressure from suffrage activists.

Look closer

• How does Wilson describe the growth of the suffrage movement, and what does his language suggest about his own position?
• Why might Wilson have chosen to speak at this convention at this particular moment?
• What does this speech leave unsaid about Wilson's own policy commitments on suffrage?