Justice Bell Foundation
Reclaiming Women's History ~ Highlighting Women's Contributions ~ Promoting Voter Participation
The Justice Bell and the Fight for the Vote
Pennsylvania Women and the Expansion of Democracy
Panel Two: Pennsylvania Women Organize
Discover the statewide network of women and organizations that organized meetings, rallies, publications, and public events to advance the campaign for women's suffrage.
The following Pennsylvania suffragists are featured on Panel Two. They represent just a small sampling of the many Pennsylvania women who fought for the right to vote.
While some of these women are known, they are not always widely recognized. Others have little information available about their lives and contributions and have no historical marker or other public recognition of their achievements. Their stories deserve to be remembered and included in the historical record.
By researching the lives and contributions of these women, you can help bring their stories to light and ensure that they are not lost to history.
National Votes for Women Trail
A project of The National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, the National Votes for Women Trail is collecting sites from all over the country to allow them to tell the untold story of suffrage for all women, of all ethnicities. The NVWT has had 44 State Coordinators and over 2400 sites in their database, which continues to grow. The William G. Pomeroy Foundation, is complementing their efforts with the donation of nearly 250 historic roadside markers nationally.
Here is the link to the NVWT podcast which features state coordinators telling the suffrage stories from their states: https://hermarchtodemocracy.buzzsprout.com/
Find a Grave
We have included links to the Find a Grave website, which can be a valuable resource for information. It is also where you can honor the suffragists by leaving a message and a flower emoji. (Yellow is the suffrage color.)
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
The Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States is published via Alexander Street (a ProQuest / Clarivate company). It is a crowdsourced digital history archive documenting the lives of over 3,750 individual suffragists active between 1890 and 1920.
BlackPast.org
BlackPast.org is dedicated to providing reliable information on the history of Black people across the globe, and especially in North America.
Pennsylvania Suffragists
Etha Carroll Cowles Armstrong
Lebanon Cemetery Black History
York County History Center: African American Suffragists in York
In this video, Samantha Dorm talks about the lives, accomplishments, and legacy of African American Suffragists in York, PA, including Etha Carroll Cowles Armstrong.
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Mary Bakewell
Bakewell participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Alice Huey Bedford
Bedford participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
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Lucretia Blankenburg
Blankenburg participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Radcliffe College. Notable American women, 1607-1950
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Kate Chapman
Chapman participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
National Votes for Women Trail Pomeroy Marker
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Mary Jenkins Ensign
Ensign participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Villanova University Ardmore Project
Ensign does not have a gravesite. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered.
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Augusta Fleming
Fleming participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
National Votes for Women Trail Pomeroy Marker
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Anna Dill Gamble
Universal York Blog by June Lloyd
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Gertrude Mossell Griffin
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Mary Mossell Griffin
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Louise Hall
Hall participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
Louise Hall does not have a gravesite. She passed away in Ojai, California on September 21, 1966 and was cremated.
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Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Kate Heffelfinger
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
Turning Point Suffragist Memorial
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Caroline Katzenstein
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Alice Kiernan
Kiernan participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
Meyersdale Public Library Suffragist Project
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Daisy Lampkin
Explore PA History Historical Marker
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Dora Lewis
Turning Point Suffragist Memorial
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Emma MacAlarney
MacAlarney participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Elizabeth McShane
McShane participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Lucy Kennedy Miller
Kennedy Miller participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Lucretia Mott
Turning Point Suffragist Memorial
Explore PA History Historical Marker
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Hannah Patterson
Patterson participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
National Votes for Women Trail Pomeroy Marker
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Harriet Forten Purvis
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
Turning Point Suffragist Memorial
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Jennie Bradley Roessing
Roessing participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Katharine Wentworth Ruschenberger
Ruschenberger participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Rose Winslow (Ruza Wenclawska)
Winslow participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Turning Point Suffrage Memorial
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Dr. Mary Moore Wolfe
Wolfe participated in the Justice Bell Tour. She is featured in The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol by Amanda Owen
Alexander Street: Online Biographical Dictionary
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Emma Bell Writt Richards
Mary Writt
Emma Writt: Pittsburgh’s Pioneering Suffragist
Heinz History Center: Writt-Richards Family Papers and Photographs
Special Note
Information and images provided on the panel and this corresponding website page are intended for personal and classroom use only. The information and its presentation remain the intellectual property of the authors, in partnership with the Justice Bell Foundation, and may not be reproduced, republished, distributed, or otherwise used for commercial or other purposes without permission.
Click on a panel image below to view a larger image. Click on the links below to read about other panels.
Explore the Exhibit
As you move through the exhibition, you'll explore the story of the Justice Bell, the women who fought for voting rights, and the movement that helped expand American democracy. We invite you to consider not only how the vote was won but also why civic participation continues to matter today.
In 1913, Erie hosted one of Pennsylvania’s first suffrage parades when local women helped energize the statewide campaign for votes for women.
Panel Two: Pennsylvania Women Organize
Discover the statewide network of women and organizations that organized meetings, rallies, publications, and public events to advance the campaign for women's suffrage.
Panel Three: Creating a Woman’s Liberty Bell
Learn how Pennsylvania suffragists created the Justice Bell, a powerful symbol modeled after the Liberty Bell.
Panel Four: The 1915 Justice Bell Tour
Follow the Justice Bell’s journey across Pennsylvania during the 1915 suffrage campaign.
Panel Five: The Justice Bell Rings
After a long struggle for voting rights, the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 marked a historic victory for women’s suffrage.
Panel Six: We Stand on Their Shoulders
Meet some of the remarkable women whose courage and determination helped secure voting rights for women and strengthen American democracy.
