How Do You Spell Equality?

Abstract

This chapter discusses forces that could have taken the Kentucky suffrage movement in different directions and possibly made it more inclusive. It highlights competing visions of African American women like Mary Ellen Britton, Lucy Wilmot Smith, and Mary V. Cook. It details Eugenia Farmer's efforts to work across race line to expand school suffrage and on Josephine Henry's rejection of narrowly-defined religion. It shows why the effective partnership of Clay, Farmer, and Henry fell apart by the end of the 1890s, leaving Clay as the main guiding voice of KERA. It also shows how the National movement grew more conservative over time.