The women’s liberty bell truck took Clearfield County by storm in July and August of 1915. It was a sensational road show that framed women’s suffrage as a civil rights issue and as one sponsored news ad entitled “Fair Play” called simple justice.
The truck was not the end of the campaign. Ads and cartoons urging a yes votes appeared in DuBois, Clearfield and Philipsburg newspapers. Suffrage supporters went directly to the male voters by knocking on doors, distributing leaflets and sponsoring another “suffrage tour” of the county.
Borrowed cars and drivers were enlisted and the tour, without the truck and bell, started a promotional caravan that began its first day, Oct. 26, in Burnside, Westover and LaJose.
The next day, it covered Coalport, Irvona, Glen Hope, Madera, Janesville, Ramey and Houtzdale. It ended on Oct. 28 by breezing through Wallaceton, Kylertown, Grassflat and ending in Philipsburg. Amendment number one was looking like a safe bet in Clearfield County.
In other parts of the state, a good deal of liquor interest money and stubborn anti suffrage women’s groups were doing their best to secure a “no” vote.
On Nov. 2, Pennsylvania rejected women’s suffrage by a 150,000-vote margin. It passed overwhelmingly in Clearfield County by a vote of 4833 to 2694. Why was that? What can be concluded?
The pro-suffrage organizers had a great ground operation. They canvassed neighborhoods, sponsored ads and raised money.
County newspapers generally supported the measure. Print media was the only news outlet in 1915. Suffrage supporters were passionate, dedicated and motivated.
In 1915, it was still the Progressive Era of reform. Trends matter and women’s suffrage was an idea whose time had come.
Political smarts mattered. Local politicos knew that they would have somewhat of a chance of offsetting numbers of urban votes if they doubled their voters in Clearfield County.
Give the guys some credit! A lot of men saw firsthand how hard their wives, mothers and daughters worked to keep families intact under poor conditions of low wages and limited opportunity.
Perhaps the “simple justice” argument made sense to them and they hoped for better times for the women they loved and for those of generations to come.
The women’s Liberty Bell truck was a smash hit. It brought excitement to often dreary parts of rural Pennsylvania where electric lights, automobiles and telephones were still luxury items for many.
The big modified truck, with colorful flags and bunting, and a one-ton bell on its bed, was a stroke of political genius. The actual bell is displayed in the Washington Chapel at Valley Forge State Park.
After World War I, the pace of state’s ratification accelerated rapidly. As it happened, it fell to Tennessee to be the 34th state to consider ratification. A “yes” vote would give the constitutionally required two-thirds majority to make the 19th amendment the law of the land.
The state legislature was split and the vote, either way, would be razor thin. A young, 24-year-old legislator, Harry Burn, planned to vote against the measure.
As the roll was being called, he was handed a letter and switched his vote to “yes,” giving the measure a majority of one vote and a victory. The letter was from Burn’s mother.
