Toward A Universal Suffrage > Women of Courage and Perseverance

Women of Courage and Perseverance

History is more than one dimensional. 

The women profiled in this exhibit were suffragists, fighting for women’s right to vote. They were also advocates for women and for their communities, founders, club members, attorneys, mothers, grandmothers, organizers, change makers, and fundraisers, among other accomplishments. The biographies presented here by no means tell the full story of these women’s lives, but they do provide a snapshot of some of the work that they did throughout their lives.  

These women faced struggles, but they were also triumphant in lifting others up with them. They were reform activists whose work was not focused only on voting. Instead, voting was one of the issues that they worked on as part of a larger goal of lifting members of their community: African Americans and women.

GERTRUDE ELORZA (DURDEN) RUSH
SUFFRAGIST, ATTORNEY, AND FOUNDER
August 5, 1880 – September 5, 1962

Mrs. Rush was involved in many organizations dedicated to African American women’s rights.  She served as the president of the Iowa Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs from 1911 to 1915.  This organization assisted other clubs in their missions to advance justice and pride in African American culture. 

One of these organizations, the Colored Women’s Suffrage Club, worked to help African American women obtain the right to vote.  Mrs. Rush joined this organization and supported African American women’s right to vote as an opportunity for equality and as a push to end racial discrimination and injustices. 

Mrs. Rush passed the Iowa Bar exam in 1918 but was denied admittance to the American Bar Association in 1924.  In response to the American Bar Association’s practice of denying admission to African Americans, Mrs. Rush and four African American men founded what is now known as the National Bar Association in 1925. 

Despite this discrimination, Mrs. Rush became the first African American woman in Iowa to practice law, taking over her husband’s practice after his death in 1918. She would remain the only African American woman lawyer in Iowa until the 1950s. Her law practice primarily focused on women’s legal rights, mainly in estate cases.

SUE M. WILSON BROWN
SUFFRAGIST, LEADER, ORGANIZER
September 8, 1877 – 1941

Mrs. Brown was passionate about improving the political, economic, and social status of African Americans.  She used her exceptional organizing skills at the local, state, and national levels to advocate for African American women. 

Mrs. Brown established and participated in many women’s clubs to advocate for change.  She founded the Des Moines League of Colored Women Voters in 1912 and the Des Moines Mary Church Terrell Club, named for a nationally known African American suffrage and civil rights activist. 

As president of the Iowa Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs from 1915 to 1917, Mrs. Brown worked with the Polk County Suffrage Association to speak at meetings, march in parades, and distribute suffrage literature.  Once able to vote, Mrs. Brown became the first vice president of the National League of Republican Colored Women and was the chair of the Polk County Republican Committee. 

Mrs. Brown and her husband established a Des Moines chapter of the NAACP and she became the first female president of this chapter in 1925. 

Mrs. Brown led efforts to provide African American women housing at the University of Iowa. The dormitory that was established was named in her honor in 1934.

HELEN (HELENA) DOWNEY
LEADER, ORATOR, ACTIVIST
c.1875 – unknown

Mrs. Downey was the first president of the Iowa branch of the National Association of Colored Women’s Club (NACWC), later known as the Iowa Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs.  This club was founded under her leadership in 1902 at a convention in Ottumwa.  By 1903, there were eight clubs in the state with more than 100 members. 

The Iowa Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs was active in many aspects of the lives of African Americans in Iowa, and had active committees on suffrage, health, education, social service, and civics.  Mrs. Downey remained active in the Iowa Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs throughout her life, serving in numerous leadership positions. 

Mrs. Downey was a speaker at many club events.  One of her speeches, “Our Girls,” may have been her take on suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton's speech of the same name. 

She and many other leading members of the NACWC worked to advance African American women, especially students. Mrs. Downey helped secure housing for African American women students at the University of Iowa.

VIVIAN B. SMITH
TEACHER, SUFFRAGIST, MUSICIAN

Vivian Smith is recognized as one of the Buxton Women who were public advocates for women’s suffrage during the early 1900s.  Ms. Smith believed that women’s right to vote would be beneficial to African Americans as well as whites. 

She was a member of the Waterloo Suffragette Council and served as chair of a suffrage committee for the Iowa State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs in 1917. 

In addition to her direct work with the suffrage movement, Ms. Smith was also a talented violinist and singer and would often perform at meetings of the Iowa Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. 

She attended the Iowa State Teachers’ College at Cedar Falls (now known as the University of Northern Iowa) as the only student of color at the time, graduating in 1916.  She became a teacher and taught in Iowa, in Kamrar and Blairsburg, and in Illinois.

MATTIE WOODS
SUFFRAGIST
c. August 1883-unknown

Mattie Woods was likely born around August 1883.  She was from Des Moines and lived there for most of her life. 

Mrs. Woods participated in the Buxton Family Parade in June 1916.  The women, men, and children who participated in this parade marched in support of women’s suffrage. 

Ms. Woods was also a member of Chapter 10 of the Order of the Eastern Star, the oldest sorority-based African American women’s organization in the United States.  She was a musician and parliamentarian for the Iowa Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs.