Carrie Chapman Catt
(1859-1947)

“A skilled political strategist, Carrie Clinton Lane Chapman Catt was a suffragist and peace activist who helped secure for American women the right to vote. She directed the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and founded the League of Women Voters (1920) to bring women into the political mainstream… Catt resumed the NAWSA presidency from 1915 to 1920, during which time the suffrage amendment (the 19th) became part of the US Constitution. She devised the “Winning Plan,” which carefully coordinated state suffrage campaigns with the drive for a constitutional amendment—the plan which helped ensure final victory. Meanwhile, however, Catt faced strategic challenges from younger recruits such as Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, who favored militant tactics and focused exclusively on a US constitutional amendment.” (National Women's History Museum)