Article November 9, 1899 Issue

Clara Barton on Woman Suffrage

Clara Barton

Boston Evening Transcript

A letter from Clara Barton has recently been given to the press, which may be of interest to many, as coming from one who has devoted her life to the service of her country, which, in turn, refuses her any voice in choosing those who are to rule its destinies. She writes as follows:—

"I believe I must have been born believing in the full right of women to all the privileges and positions which nature and justice accord to her in common with other human beings. Perfectly equal rights—human rights. There was never any question in my mind in regard to this. I did not purchase my freedom with a price; I was born free; and when, as a younger woman, I heard the subject discussed, it seemed simply ridiculous that any sensible sane person should question it. And when, later, the phase of woman's right to suffrage came up, it was to me only a part of the whole, just as natural, just as right, and just as certain to take place.

"And whenever I have been urged, as a petitioner, to ask for this privilege for woman, a kind of dazed, bewildered feeling has come over me.

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