Woman Suffrage Sample Ballot, 1912

The passage of the Illinois Presidential and Municipal Suffrage Bill in the summer of 1913 offered African American women in Chicago the opportunity to merge their social welfare activities with electoral power. This was primarily due to the creation of the first and one of the most important black female suffrage organizations in the state and the city, the Alpha Suffrage Club. Established in January 1913 by black clubwoman and antilynching crusader Ida Bell Wells-Barnett and white activist Belle Squire, the club elected officers, held monthly meetings, claimed nearly two hundred members by 1916, issued the newsletter the Alpha Suffrage Record, and endorsed candidates. The club is most recognized for its pivotal role in the 1915 election of the first African American alderman in Chicago, Oscar DePriest.

Wanda A. Hendricks