Abby Scott Baker

Abby Scott Baker

Abby Scott Baker circa 1916
Occupation Suffragist

Abby Pearce Scott Baker (1871–1944) was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate.[1] She served as Political Chairman of the National Woman's Party, and played a key role in putting the NWP in the media spotlight in the months leading up to the ratification of Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[2] She was also active in the Congressional Union for Women's Suffrage.[3] Baker was seen as instrumental in bridging the gap across administrations, from Woodrow Wilson, who was deeply hostile toward the NWP, to Harding, who was seen as more willing to engage the NWP in dialogue, and brought women's participation in party politics to a more acceptable place in the public discourse.[4][5]

Biography

She was born on July 24, 1871 as Abby Pearce Scott in Louisville, Kentucky to Robert Nicholson Scott (1838-1887) and Elizabeth Goodale Casey (1844-1912). She married Robert Walker Baker (1863-1956) around 1893.

In 1914 she served as treasurer of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage.[6]

Baker maintained an intense travel schedule before and during the campaign season for the 1920 presidential election, shuttling between the campaign headquarters of Warren G. Harding in Ohio and James M. Cox in Tennessee, building close relationships with both candidates. Baker's indefatigable efforts drew a great deal of media attention, and helped to normalize the presence of women in the political sphere in the public imagination.[2]

She died on May 13, 1944 in Washington, DC.

External links

References

  1. ↑ Library of Congress: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party. Accessed 22 September 2013]
  2. 1 2 Southard, Belinda A. Stillion (2011). Militant Citizenship: Rhetorical Strategies of the National Woman's Party, 1913-1920. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 9781603442824.
  3. ↑ Darrow, Clarence (2013). In the Clutches of the Law: Clarence Darrow's Letters. University of California Press. p. 278. ISBN 9780520265585.
  4. ↑ "Woman Threatens Wilson". New York Times (New York City). 1918-01-03. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
  5. ↑ Schrems, Suzanne H. (2004). Who's Rocking the Cradle?: Women Pioneers of Oklahoma Politics from Socialism to the KKK, 1900-1930. Horse Creek Publications. p. 47. ISBN 9780972221726.
  6. ↑ "Abby Scott Baker (1871-1944)". Retrieved 2014-07-23.


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