 March 8, 1913 front page of theWoman's Journal and Suffrage News depicting theWoman Suffrage Procession of 1913 | |
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission (1917–1931) |
| Founder(s) | Lucy Stone Henry Browne Blackwell |
| Founded | January 8, 1870 (Boston, Massachusetts) |
| Ceased publication | June 1931 |
| Circulation | 27,634 (1915) |
Woman's Journal was an Americanwomen's rightsperiodical published from 1870 to 1931. It was founded in 1870 inBoston, Massachusetts, byLucy Stone and her husbandHenry Browne Blackwell as a weekly newspaper. In 1917 it was purchased byCarrie Chapman Catt'sLeslie Woman Suffrage Commission and merged withThe Woman Voter andNational Suffrage News to become known asThe Woman Citizen. It served as the official organ of theNational American Woman Suffrage Association until 1920, when the organization was reformed as the League of Women Voters, and the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed granting women the right to vote. Publication ofWoman Citizen slowed from weekly, to bi-weekly, to monthly. In 1927, it was renamedThe Woman's Journal. It ceased publication in June 1931.
Woman's Journal was founded in 1870 inBoston, Massachusetts, byLucy Stone and her husbandHenry Browne Blackwell as a weekly newspaper. The new paper incorporatedMary A. Livermore'sThe Agitator, as well as a lesser known periodical called theWoman's Advocate.
The works of Ohioan comedy writerRosella Rice, whose poems mythologized the figure ofJohnny Appleseed, were published inWoman's Journal.[1][2]
The first issue was published on January 8, on the second anniversary of the first issue ofSusan B. Anthony'sThe Revolution. Stone and Blackwell served as editors, with assistance from Livermore.Julia Ward Howe edited from 1872 to 1879.Alice Stone Blackwell, daughter of Stone and Blackwell, began editing in 1883 and took over as sole editor after her father's death in 1909, continuing until 1917. Contributors includedCharlotte Perkins Gilman,Antoinette Brown Blackwell,Mary Johnston,Stephen S. Wise,Zona Gale,Florence Kelley,Witter Bynner,Ben B. Lindsey,Louisa May Alcott,Harriet Clisby andCaroline Bartlett Crane.William Lloyd Garrison was a frequent contributor. Around 1887, headquarters were located in Boston onPark Street.[3]
Woman's Journal refused to carryadvertisements fortobacco,liquor, ordrugs.
In 1910,Woman's Journal absorbedProgress, the official organ of theNational American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Until 1912, it served in that capacity, at which point it was renamedWoman's Journal and Suffrage News. By 1915, circulation had reached 27,634, up from 2,328 in 1909.
In 1917,Woman's Journal was purchased byCarrie Chapman Catt'sLeslie Woman Suffrage Commission for $50,000,[4] and merged withThe Woman Voter, the official journal of theWoman Suffrage Party of New York City, and NAWSA'sNational Suffrage News to become known asThe Woman Citizen. It served as NAWSA's official organ until 1920,[5] when NAWSA was reformed as theLeague of Women Voters, and theNineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed ensuring women's right to vote.
The editor-in-chief ofThe Woman Citizen wasRose Emmet Young;Alice Stone Blackwell was a contributing editor. Every U.S. Congress member was given a free subscription to the journal. It covered issues such aschild labor in addition to women's suffrage. After women won the right to vote, the journal's focus shifted to political education for women.[6] One of the aims of the League of Women Voters was to demonstrate its continued political power, now in the form of large numbers of newly enfranchised voters, and to soften its image in the eyes of women who were wary of radical politics. To that end, the journal courted middle-class female readers. It editorialized in support of theMaternity and Infancy Act of 1921, which was the first major legislation to be passed after the full enfranchisement of women. Readers were urged to support the Act by writing to their representatives and talking to their neighbors about it; one article included step-by-step instructions for finding out the names and addresses of their legislators.[7]
Publication ofWoman Citizen slowed from weekly, to bi-weekly, to monthly. In 1927, it was renamedThe Woman's Journal. It ceased publication in June 1931.
