The National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NAOWS) was established by
Josephine Jewell Dodge in
New York City in 1911. Dodge was currently the president of the
New York State Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (NYSAOWS). Dodge resigned from NYSAOWS to take over as president of NAOWS. Shortly after formation, state branches of NAOWS began to form. Headquarters in
Washington, D.C., were opened in 1913, giving the organization a front in both New York and the U.S. Capital. Like other anti-suffrage organizations, NAOWS published a newsletter as well as other publications, containing their opinions on the current political issues of the time. The newsletter of the association was called ''Woman's Protest
(later renamed Woman Patriot'' in 1918). Dodge also toured the country, spreading anti-suffrage views to other states. Josephine Dodge, the founding president, was replaced in 1917, by
Alice Hay Wadsworth, wife of U.S. Senator
James W. Wadsworth, Jr. from New York. Upon amendment to the
New York State Constitution granting women the right to vote, the focus of the NAOWS shifted from the state level to the federal level. The organization also began to see more men join NAOWS than before. The headquarters were moved solely to Washington D.C. and they merged with the
Woman Patriot Publishing Company. The organization disbanded in 1920 as a result of the passage of the
Nineteenth Amendment.
Delaware Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage The Delaware Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (DAOWS) was formed in 1914.
Mary Wilson Thompson served as the president. Thompson's influence on politics was effective at preventing the initial ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in
Delaware.
Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage Prominent Georgia women,
Dolly Blount Lamar and
Mildred Rutherford, formed the Georgia Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage (GAOWS) in
Macon, Georgia in May 1914. GAOWS was affiliated with the national group. Both Lamar and Rutherford were involved in
Confederate memorial work. Rutherford's influence with the Confederate daughters of Georgia helped raise the profile of GAOWS and the group quickly grew to 2,000 members. For women who supported the idea of the
Lost Cause, suffragists represented a change to traditional class and
gender roles in the
South. Anti-suffragists in Georgia linked women's suffrage to the
Reconstruction era. They were also concerned with keeping power out of the hands of
African-American women who were seeking equal rights. GAOWS was also concerned with keeping political power out of the hands of poor white women. Members of GAOWS testified in front of the
Georgia General Assembly against women's suffrage. After Georgia rejected the
Nineteenth Amendment, Lamar went to other states to campaign against the amendment's ratification.
Maine Association Opposed to Suffrage for Women The Maine Association Opposed to Suffrage for Women (MAOSW) was formed in 1913. By 1917, almost 2,000 members joined the group. The chapter in
Texas also connected the increase in
African Americans voting to women's suffrage and they stoked fears of "domination by the black race in the South." TAOWS fought against the
Texas Equal Suffrage Association who were pushing for Texas women's right to vote in Texas primary elections in 1918. In 1919, TAOWS successfully campaigned against a state measure for women's vote which was defeated by 25,000 votes in May. Jane Rutherford served as the president of VAOWS. Local branches in different cities formed by 1913 and the organization distributed anti-suffrage literature. In 1915, VAOWS helped raise money for the
Belgian Relief Fund during
World War I. By May 1917, VAOWS had doubled in size and continued to grow through 1918. Around 8,000 women had signed up with the anti-suffrage cause in Richmond by 1919. In a sponsored editorial published in
The Richmond Times-Dispatch on September 2, 1919, VAOWS exclaimed, "Race riots will increase if there is more politics between the races and if women are mixed up in politics!" Linking socialism to women's suffrage brought
class issues into the debate on the vote for women. Virginia had already worked to disenfranchise Black voters, poor white voters, and
Republicans in 1902. VAOWS worked to make sure that this supremacy over the poor and over differing political ideologies was maintained. VAOWS appealed to
states' rights as a means to oppose federal oversight of their voting practices. == Political views ==