"Mr. President: What Will You Do for Woman Suffrage?": Woodrow Wilson’s File 89

Discover what the American people thought about women’s suffrage by transcribing documents sent to President Woodrow Wilson between 1912 and 1921. Executive Office File 89 in Series 4 of the Woodrow Wilson Papers chronicles the fight for women’s suffrage that led to congressional passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in June 1919 and its ratification by the final required thirty-sixth state in August 1920. Documents in this file include personal letters from ordinary individuals, correspondence from organizations, telegrams, and numerous attached documents, as well as exchanges between President Wilson, his staff and administration, and Congress. While not responding directly to letters, President Wilson often instructed his secretary on how to respond. Transcribing these pages will reveal the arguments used by suffragists as well as opponents to women’s suffrage.