Meeting Harriet Backus Todd, Granddaughter of Two Suffrage Movement Greats
“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
Newer posts →
Newer posts →
Full, Knowledgable House at the New York Society Library for “Remember the Ladies and Don’t Forget the Gentlemen” September 28, 2017 – with Video
Sharing the opportunity with Angela was especially fine. continue reading
Ivy League Faculty, Students and Alumni Filled the Men’s League Ranks
“…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
New York Evening Journal, March 3, 1913
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
Toronto Star Pubic Editor:
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
Q&A on the Suffragents with Anne Boyd Rioux of Non-Fiction Fans
“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
Podcast: Top of Mind with Julie Rose – “Taking a Cue from the Men Who Supported the Suffrage Movement”
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
Scenes from the New York City Launch of The Suffragents on September 11, 2017 at the Corner Bookstore and Thereafter
It was a really good night. continue reading
Seems Some Ideas Behind the Men’s Rights Movement Had Already Surfaced a Century Ago
“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
HeforShe: “The HeforShe Men of Days Past”
“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
HeforShe The Scoop: “The He for She Men of Days Past”
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
The Men of Suffrage in the Creation, Consolidation, and Conglomeration of “Greater Gotham,” 1898-1919
“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
Suffrage and the Media: Q&A with Brooke Kroeger about “The Suffragents” by Alex Kane
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
Opzij Magazine (NL): HOE OOK MANNEN FEMINISME 1.0 EEN ZETJE GAVEN (How Men Also Gave Feminism 1.0 a Boost)
HOE OOK MANNEN FEMINISME 1.0 EEN ZETJE GAVEN continue reading
Futurity: These Powerful Men Were Humble Allies for Women’s Vote
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
The Suffragents Launch – East Hampton Library (and party report), September 1, 2017
Have a look at this photo gallery from the evening. Folks seemed to have a lot of fun. continue reading
East Hampton Star, Sag Harbor Express, Suffragents and the Suffrage Rally Re-Enactment, August 31, 2017
[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
When Direct Descendants (of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Harriot Stanton Blatch) Come to Call
“. . . 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
Andy Murray, Ashton Kutcher, now John Legend, Judge Jack Weinstein, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo: Can a 21st Century Men’s League Be Far Behind?
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
From Schuster Institute Investigations: The Suffragists
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
Full Circle: Woodlawn, Nellie Bly, Undercover Reporting, and The Suffragents
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
For National Women’s Equality Day: About the Supremely Good Allyship of the Men Who Supported Women’s Suffrage
Journalism professor Brooke Kroeger finds lessons for contemporary activists in the story of the largely forgotten Men’s League for Woman Suffrage. continue reading
Just One Four-Letter Word: The 1917 New York Constitution’s Women’s Suffrage Amendment
Side by side, the New York State Constitution before and after the November 6, 1917 women’s suffrage referendum. continue reading
The Husband-ist of a Suffragist and Other Parodies
“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
Foreword Reviews: The Suffragents
“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
Long Island and the Woman Suffrage Movement: “The Suffragents”
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
As Ashton Kutcher Takes on Gender Inequity, Some Well-Meant Advice
“It seems like you want to be counted, Ashton Kutcher. If so, a salute! How much further will you go?” continue reading
Attorney Gilbert Roe in 1914 and the 15 Ways NY Laws Discriminated Against Women
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
The Women’s Suffrage Baseball “Fan” Offensive of May 18, 1915: Chicago Cubs vs. New York Giants
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
Of Men and Their Legs, Now and Then
“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
Suffrage in the Media 1915: Six Full Pages in the New York Times
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
Of Women, Journalists, Suffragists, and the Titanic
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
Launch Day! Suffrageandthemedia.org
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
The Corner Bookstore NYC, September 11, Nellie Bly, and The Suffragents
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 Press Release from SUNY Press for THE SUFFRAGENTS
“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
Brand New Books on Women’s Suffrage Now and in the Near and Little Further Offing
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
Remembering Mae Groot Manson (and Thomas L. Manson, too)
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
100-Plus of the Men Who Proudly Called Themselves Woman Suffragists
. . . Men who “had come forward and unhesitatingly proclaimed their views,” not as politicians or courters of public opinion but as men “who seem impelled by the duty of a just cause.” continue reading
They Remembered the Ladies and Did Much More Than That
“There is still work to be done and hard work. We men can make it easier and happier work if we join in it, and no longer stand aside, as too many men have done, leaving the women to toil and struggle, making up in vital energy what they lack in political power.” continue reading
The Ecstasy Factor – Address to the NYU College of Arts and Science – Undergraduate Research Conference
“[Burton] cites encounters with beauty, art, music, love, orgasm, and exercise and the emotion-producer that is our subject today: Triumph, specifically, for our purposes, the triumphs that can come from engaging in a full and passionate commitment to an act of research.” continue reading
DUPO
This is just to float a balloon, to continue the Twitter conversation 11/28/16 about the reporting of an important newsmaker’s unsubstantiated and likely false statements without turbo-charging these comments so that they keep ricocheting across the universe. This happens, in … continue reading
a Nellie Bly Excerpt from Undercover Reporting: The Truth About Deception
An Excerpt about Nellie Bly from Brooke Kroeger’s 2012 Undercvoer Reporting: The Truth about Deception pages 63-68 By Brooke Kroeger excerpt-undercover-reporting
For National History Day Contestants and other Bly Researchers
Will Nellie Bly be your topic for this year’s National History Day competition? And will you want to get in touch with me for an interview with a living person? If so, since there are always so many of you, … continue reading
New York Public Library: 39 Women Journalism Whom We Admire, April 8, 2016
Author Gay Talese stirredthe ireof the Internet on Saturday when he reportedly said at a Boston writing conference that he couldn’t name a single woman writer who inspired him and influenced his work as a journalist. continue reading
Re-Dating History
Re-DATING HISTORY This panel presentation of October 2014 was published in essay form in American Journalism, Vol. 32, Iss. 4, December 9, 2015 Brooke Kroeger, New York University [from a panel presentation, AJHA, 9 October 2014, Minneapolis MN] Kate Bolick is … continue reading
IRE Journal – “Undercover Reporting: An American Tradition”
“The point is, undercover reporting has continued, ethical conundrums and all, in a steady and uninterrupted flow since at least the 1840s. . . ” continue reading
Report on behalf of WNYC 2010-13 for the Revson Foundation
Looks at WNYC’s embrace of digital to expand and deepen local coverage and increase user engagement, 2010-13. continue reading
WNYC’s Ups and Downs with Collaborations, Digital Push, Quadrupling Newsroom
“Now comes an independent 55-page “warts-and-all report,” which WNYC commissioned me to do at Revson’s behest, . . . .” continue reading
“Journalists Go Undercover to Report on Slavery”
“Telling true stories about slavery often requires the use of surreptitious techniques.” continue reading
“Why Surreptitiousness Works”
An argument for a restoration of honor and legitimacy to the discomfiting techniques of undercover reporting. continue reading
“Anatomy of the Great Banana-Smoking Hoax of 1967”
Conflicting accounts still circulate as to how the Banana-Peel Smoking Hoax of 1967 got started and who reported it first. continue reading
“Newsroom to Classroom: Books as a Thread of Connection”
With a forthcoming book about undercover reporting, her fourth, a j-school professor keeps her focus on familiar topics. continue reading
“Brooke Kroeger on James O’Keefe and Undercover Reporting”: A CJR Podcast
“Is James O’Keefe a journalist? Does it matter?” continue reading
On Cherry-picking Other People’s Work
“Their reactions to the uncredited appropriation in each of these cases ranged from rage, especially when the offense was recent, to the more common shrug. None was willing to be quoted telling tales. None wanted to risk appearing petty . . . ” continue reading
“Reporting on People: The Biographical Imperative”
“. . . it is, in my view, a terrible mistake in biography to add the overlay of ideology or trendy psychological analysis and interpretation, so dependent on fashion, school of psychological thought, historical moment, or societal more. It only serves to date the work.” continue reading
“The Audition” – Commencement Address, NYU College of Arts and Science, December 2006
“THE AUDITION“ Prof. Brooke Kroeger, New York University College of Arts and Science Commencement Address December 4, 2006 Graduates, my warm congratulations to you and your loved ones. By now, we are both exacting appraisers of the universe from which … continue reading
Redefining Writing: New Models in Journalistic Practice
“Redefining Writing: New Models of Journalistic Practice” By Brooke Kroeger New York University[i] August 2006 Adapted from a panel presentation at the AEJMC convention in San Francisco, 2 August 2006 ABSTRACT: With all the current emphasis on media … continue reading
“Journalism with a Scholar’s Intent”
Journalism with a scholar’s intent, if not a scholar’s schedule. continue reading
Nellie Bly’s Forgotten Sisters
Speech to Fellows of The Freedom Forum Media Studies Center (and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.) NELLIE BLY’S FORGOTTEN SISTERS: Recovering the Long-Lost History of Women in Journalism September 22, 1993 Brooke Kroeger bk-freedomforum-sisters Listen to this list of … continue reading
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The Suffragents: How Women Used Men to Get the Vote
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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The Suffragents won the Gold Medal in US History in the 2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards competition.
National History Day contestants: Please read this.
Next up on the calendar in 2018: July 7 East Hampton Library’s Tom Twomey Series (hosting with Sara Davison the garden author and expert Charlotte M. Frieze) : August 4: Shelter Island Historical Society. In 2019: March 13: Scarsdale Woman’s Club
Read reviews, notices and articles about The Suffragents (and previous books under their titles), articles by Brooke, Facebook posts, and Brooke’s informal “Summer Camp Newsletters,” posted, with photos and often video, after her appearances.