You might well ask why I risked the inherent dopey-ness of creating and sharing diary entries—real-time logs, digital scrapbooks—of the more than a score of all the suffrage-related events I’ve been part of since over the past three months or so, during the launch period of The Suffragents. There were reasons. continue reading
Back to Long Island for the fall finale of the Suffragents road show. This one, on November 20th, for the League of Women Voters of Brookhaven . . . continue reading
“What delight to be in the company of such distinguished men who have chosen to focus their research in subject matter that is invariably the province of women scholars.” continue reading
There are two vitrines filled with ephemera representing Suffolk County’s best known suffragists, none of whom, as it happens, had “suffrage husbands.” The major Long Island figures were James Lees Laidlaw, Ward Melville, Norman De Rapelye Whitehouse, and Stephen Hewlett. continue reading
“Local and big-time writers sign their works on all corners of the Island.” continue reading
“a gestalt of just some of the highlights from the pro-suffrage arguments men made during the campaign – by profession.” continue reading
“If you engage in a cause as an ally, don’t try to set the tone,” says Christoph Irmscher, author of Max Eastman: A Life. continue reading
“Before then, the movement for women’s suffrage was mostly confined to western states; not until 1917 was there a successful referendum in New York. Its passage was contingent on male voters, after considerable activism from both women and male ‘suffragents.’” continue reading
Kroeger relies on a comprehensive bibliography of sources on woman’s suffrage to credit these men without diminishing the lead role that women played in establishing the movement and directing the energy of supporters to maximize impact. continue reading
November 4 and 5, 2017 A Suffrage-laden weekend in the Hudson Valley Saturday was the weekend’s main event so just a few highlights from a great day at the Cultural Education Center and New York State Museum at Empire Plaza … continue reading
a rare convergence of top local authors including Jon Bowermaster, Nava Atlas, and Vern Benjamin. These Hudson Valley literary icons will be joined by other important authors like Leslie Sharpe (The Quarry Fox: And Other Critters of the Wild Catskills), Stephen Silverman (The Catskills: Its History and How It Changed America), and Brooke Kroeger (The Suffragents). continue reading
“With New York celebrating the centenary of women’s suffrage in the state, NYU professor Brooke Kroeger puts in a timely appearance with ‘The Suffragents,’ the story of how and why a group of prominent, influential men from New York City and beyond came together to help women gain the right to vote.” continue reading
“Bibliophiles and local history fans can start their holiday shopping early with an autographed book during the Holiday Book Signing this weekend.” continue reading
“Recognizing this momentous occasion has had many local historians, descendants, scholars and authors, including NYU Journalism Professor Brooke Kroeger, author of “The Suffragents: How Women Used Men To Get the Vote,” and Antonia Petrash and Arlene Hinkemeyer, offering lectures on local history and publishing new books.” continue reading
October 26, 2017 I wasn’t sure what it meant to be invited to do the “talk back” after a theatrical performance, so I had to ask. At a reception for my colleague, Ed Berenson, at NYU’s La Maison Française, I … continue reading
“We could start with the eeriness of being invited to speak at Woodlawn Cemetery and Conservancy on my late mother’s birthday.” continue reading
New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, wearing his yellow “Votes for Women” sash, presented a proclamation in honor of the suffrage centennial. continue reading
“From Pant(aloons) to Pussyhats” examines ways that women have historically employed articles of clothing and manners of grooming as symbols in feminist campaigns for social change. Because these campaigns often employed media spectacle, their symbolism is of interest to media historians.” continue reading
“The Thursday, October 26 performance will feature a talk back after the show with Professor Burt Neuborne, who held the Inez Milholland Chair at NYU Law for the past ten years, and NYU Journalism Professor Brooke Kroeger, who wrote the recent book The Suffragents: How Women Used Men to Get the Vote.” continue reading
“This is the first time the audience included a high percentage of men.” continue reading
“Warm Debate at Quaint Club’s. Feast Over the Merits of Mary Wollstonecraft. SOME THOUGHT HER FLIGHTY. One Speaker Declares the Early Advocate of Women’s Rights was a Home-Wrecker.” continue reading
“. . . the society’s development officer, Jen Davis, she asked us to record this Facebook Live promo for the NYG&B Facebook page. So we did.” continue reading
“I got chills when I read that line,” Kroeger reflects. “When else, before or since, have men ever behaved that way over a women’s issue?” continue reading
“The Harvard Crimson reports on the men who formed its campus Men’s League for Woman Suffrage. Read below about alumni who did the same.” continue reading
Sharing the opportunity with Angela was especially fine. continue reading
“…but according to a Washington Post Kaiser Family Foundation Poll in 2016, only 10 percent of American men identify as strong feminists, 23 percent consider themselves feminists and 50 percent do not identify as feminists at all.” continue reading
Nellie Bly, a parade herald, and her coverage of the great 1913 Women’s Suffrage parade in Washington parade the day before the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson. continue reading
When is undercover reporting justified? Did the ends justify the means in a Star reporter going undercover in a Toronto factory to learn about health and safety conditions for temp workers? continue reading
“Breeze? Well, more of a wind tunnel. I’d use the term “invigorating slog” as the hunt for material always energizes me. I’m nerdy enough that it is my idea of fun.” continue reading
In about a week at the United Nations in New York, ten heads of state, ten global CEOs and ten university presidents – all men – will gather to draw attention to women’s rights and empowerment. . . . If you wanted to be cheeky, you could call them ‘suffragents.’ continue reading
It was a really good night. continue reading
“For when my wife gets started, she has got Patrick Henry, Demosthenes, Henry Ward Beecher and William J. Bryan lashed to the mast and panting for breath.” continue reading
“While women worked tirelessly for their right to vote, male allies were able “to advance the suffragist cause in spheres women couldn’t otherwise have reached.” And Kroeger notes something equally important: they didn’t ask for any credit in doing it.” continue reading
September 2017 (last item) http://bit.ly/2gUpM7i Thank you, UN HeForShe for this perfectly phrased shout-out to The Suffragents! The paragraph highlights the many parallels between HeforShe and the Men’s League for Woman Suffrage of 100 years ago. Indeed, HeforShe is … continue reading
“Wallace does provide a good A-list of other important League members involved in the late 1909 founding of the organization and, even more significantly, in the city’s rapid-fire transformation into a grand metropolis.” continue reading
AK: “You devote some ink to WEB Du Bois in your book, but he was not a member of the Men’s League. Why did you think he was important enough to warrant mention in the book when he wasn’t part of the league?” continue reading
HOE OOK MANNEN FEMINISME 1.0 EEN ZETJE GAVEN continue reading
September 5, 2017 By Eileen Reynolds via NYU These powerful men were humble allies for women’s vote What can those with visibility and influence do—beyond stating support for a particular movement—to combat injustice? Can those with power and privilege advance … continue reading
Have a look at this photo gallery from the evening. Folks seemed to have a lot of fun. continue reading
[Updated September 8, 2017] August 31, 2017 I guess we got the attire right because both the East Hampton Star and Sag Harbor Express carried photos on their front pages of Alex and me marching in the suffrage rally re-enactment … continue reading
“. . . more than 150 women and a few proud suffragents, almost all dressed in white, gathered on Main Street to re-enact a 1913 suffrage rally . . . ” continue reading
August 25, 2017 Given the recent pro-women’s equality declarations of Andy Murray (reminding reporters of the greatness of women tennis players Serena and Venus Williams), Ashton Kutcher (calling for equality for women in tech), John Legend (on feminism for men … continue reading
August 20, 2017 The Schuster Institute Investigations, the micro site of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Reporting, where I serve as a senior fellow, has posted a handsome page with an exclusive excerpt from The Suffragents about the suffrage referendum victory … continue reading
August 18, 2017 Among the events lined up so far for The Suffragents (Facebook lists them most handily or look below) is one now being scheduled for October 22, 2017, at the Woodlawn Conservancy . This invitation was especially pleasing to me—much like … continue reading
Journalism professor Brooke Kroeger finds lessons for contemporary activists in the story of the largely forgotten Men’s League for Woman Suffrage. continue reading
Side by side, the New York State Constitution before and after the November 6, 1917 women’s suffrage referendum. continue reading
“My wife has been demanding the right to exercise the franchise so vehemently that I named our old horse The Franchise and told her to go exercise it.” continue reading
“The Suffragents is the product of formidable research. It’s a fresh contribution in which the big picture is composed of a vast mosaic of forgotten facts” and “adds an original and welcome new dimension to the field of women’s studies.” continue reading
July July 28, 2017 By Antonia Petrash Long Island and the Woman Suffrage Movement One of the benefits of celebrating the suffrage centennial this year is a wide offering of programs, celebrations, and of course, books to enhance our knowledge and … continue reading
“It seems like you want to be counted, Ashton Kutcher. If so, a salute! How much further will you go?” continue reading
Check out this pamphlet (there’s a post about it at suffrageandthemedia.org and a copy of the actual pamphlet is below). It was the published version of a 1914 address by the New York attorney, Gilbert E. Roe, enumerating the 15 ways the … continue reading
June 29, 2017 In the run-up to the November 1915 vote on the women’s suffrage referendum in New York State, the suffrage movement went after men of all classes, wherever they happened to congregate, and especially where support was likely … continue reading
“My Suffragents were a force of thousands of men who supported the right of women to vote in England, the United States, and much of the developed world. They, too, were willing to risk some performance art.” continue reading
Just posted at suffrageandthemedia.org: Early in 1915, the New York State Legislature voted at last to support putting forward to the electorate a referendum on a change in the state constitution that would give women the vote. That Valentine’s Day, … continue reading
Bustle today posted an excellent roundup of the debate that raged in 1912 over the disproportionate number of men who died when the Titanic sunk on its first voyage 105 years ago. My new book adds a bit more, included for several reasons: because of … continue reading
It’s June 12, 2017 and for posterity, here is a screenshot of how our new database and resource site, SuffrageandtheMedia.org, appeared on launch day: This project came together in record time. Exactly three months ago, at the JJCHCNYC, … continue reading
June 8, 2017 The Corner Bookstore at 93rd and Madison Avenue, New York City, confirmed today an event for The Suffragents: How Women Used Men to Get the Vote at 6pm on Monday, September 11. This is especially meaningful and not just … continue reading
“THE SUFFRAGENTS begs for a resurgence of the ideals of the Men’s League—a renewed effort to serve and protect wives, sisters, mothers, and lovers just as New York’s powerbrokers stood beside them a hundred years ago.” continue reading
New books on women’s suffrage, now or in the near offing, from Angela P. Dodson; Johanna Neuman; Susan Goodier and Karen Pastorello; and Brooke Kroeger and in time for the 2020 national suffrage centennial, Ann Pachette and Ellen Carol DuBois. Christoph Irmscher’s new biography of Max Eastman includes Eastman’s insider view of the movement’s final decade. continue reading
On June 1, 2017, the Village of East Hampton unveiled a new historical marker to honor the most outstanding suffragist on the East End of Long Island, Mae F. Groot Manson, a wife and mother of three. The Mansons were … continue reading
The story of how and why a group of prominent and influential men in New York City and beyond came together to help women gain the right to vote.
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National History Day contestants, please read this before you contact me.
The Suffragents won the Gold Medal in US History in the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards and was a finalist for the 2018 Sally and Morris Lasky Prize, presented by the Center for Political History. See “Summer Camp Newsletters” and Facebook posts from book-related appearances. Reviews, notices, and articles about my books are under their titles here. My articles are here.
Upcoming Events: September 23: Bentson Dean’s Lecture, College of Arts and Science, New York University. October 17: Suffragents Panel, National Archives, Washington DC. [2020] March 27 Ephemera Society of America, 40th annual conference, Old Greenwich CT. June 4-6 “Métiers et professions des médias (XVIIIe-XXIe siècles),” Université de Lausanne (Switzerland).
Happened 2019: Exhibition Opening Remarks: “Women Get the Vote: A Historic Look at the Nineteenth Amendment,“New York Society Library. February 23: “Public Values in Conflict with Animal Agribusiness Practices,” UCLA Law School, Los Angeles. March 13:“ The Suffragents,” Scarsdale Woman’s Club, Scarsdale NY. March 24: League of Women Voters, Albany County at the Bethlehem (NY) Public Library. March 25: “Judges, Lawyers, and Women’s Suffrage: Recognizing the Men Who Stood with Women on the Front Lines,” Gender Fairness Committee of the Third Judicial District, CLE, NY State Courts at SUNY Albany Law School, Albany NY. May 15: “The Republican Suffragents,” National Women’s Republican Club, New York City. August 7: Panel, “From Emma Goldman to the Marketplace of Ideas: Marking the 100th Anniversary of Free Speech at the Supreme Court.” (page 40) AEJMC, Toronto. August 14: Webinar, National Park Service.