Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association

The Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA) was founded on October 28, 1869 by Isabella Beecher Hooker and Frances Ellen Burr at Connecticut's first suffrage convention. Its main goal was to persuade the Connecticut General Assembly to ratify the 19th amendment, giving women in Connecticut the right to vote. Throughout its 52 years of existence, the CWSA helped to pass local legislation and participated in the national fight for women's suffrage. It cooperated with the National Women's Suffrage Association through national protests and demonstrations. As well as advocating for women's suffrage, this association participated in other local issues like labor regulations, social issues, and political corruption.

The Connecticut Women's Suffrage association was first formed on October 28, 1869 in hopes of gaining women's voting rights in Connecticut. Members of the CWSA argued that they needed the right to vote to protect personal property, influence labor conditions, and to protect their children. The first meeting was held in Roberts Opera House in Hartford Connecticut. The CWSA started small, focusing on campaigning for women's suffrage on the local level. As it gained momentum, this group became influential in the fight for women's suffrage in Connecticut and nationally. However, it was unable to push Connecticut to ratify the 19th amendment, allowing Tennessee to be the 36th and final state to make women's right to vote law.

Smaller groups like the CWSA were vital to the women's suffrage movement nationally as well as locally. The CWSA collaborated with groups like the National Women's Suffrage Association to coordinate larger events, as well as local ones. One local event, a month long automobile tour, was a successful campaign to gain the support of Litchfield citizens, who at the time, were primarily against women's suffrage. This campaign was held in August 1911, and it gained 964 signatures on a petition for women's suffrage.

The CWSA created local events and activities that helped the movement for women's suffrage grow in Connecticut. These activities included:

The founder and first director of the CWSA was Isabella Beecher Hooker, a prominent figure in history. She led the CWSA for 36 years, until stepping down in 1905. Although she stepped down, she still continued to fight for women's suffrage nationally. During these first years with Isabella Beecher Hooker as director, the CWSA helped to pass local legislation that improved women's rights in Connecticut. in 1887, the CWSA's influence helped the passage of the Married Women's Property Bill. Later, it also helped women in CT gain the right to vote for school officials in 1893, and to vote on library issues in 1909.

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