By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
The April 19 Common Council meeting was historic, with females becoming the majority membership for the first time. Newly elected Jill Gerber joined continuing members Brienne Diebolt Brown, Carol McCormick and Lisa Dawsey Smith. As if that wasn’t enough, Dawsey Smith was elected president in a 4-3 vote over Jim Allen, who was re-elected as president pro-tem.
Spurred on by the historic happening, City Clerk Michele Smith has recently enjoyed researching newspaper archives regarding females on the Council. She was surprised to discover that the first female, Mathilda Case Fowler, was elected in 1923 and served as Council president. Michele’s surprise is certainly warranted, as is evidenced by the following highlights of the timeline of the women’s suffrage movement as found in an article from the UW-Madison libraries.
1884 – Women were allowed to vote on school matters in Wisconsin, but that right was rescinded by the state Supreme Court in 1888.
1899-1915 – There were no fewer than 21 attempts in the state Assembly and Senate to enfranchise women but each attempt failed.
1901 – The legislature authorized separate school ballots so women are again allowed to vote on school-related issues and offices.
1912 – A women’s suffrage referendum failed in large part due to schisms within the women’s movement and brewery/liquor interests, with 135,736 for and 227,054 against.
1913 – The legislature authorized another referendum but it was vetoed by Governor Francis McGovern.
1915 – Another WI referendum bill was rejected by a more conservative legislature.
1918 – US House passed a federal suffrage amendment to the Constitution, 274 to 136. Eight of ten WI House representatives favored the amendment. The bill failed in the US Senate.
1919 – By this time, 16 US states and 13 countries had granted full suffrage for women. President Wilson called a special session of Congress because “the amendment must pass.” US House passed by 304 to 89. US Senate passed 64 to 29. [By the way, Cokie Roberts, speaking on NPR’s Morning Edition in 2019 said, “the House of Representatives passed the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, thereby acknowledging — not granting — women’s right to vote….We had the right to vote as American citizens. We didn’t have to be granted it by some bunch of guys.”]
June 10, 1919 – WI legislature ratifies national amendment shortly before noon, 24 to 1 in the Senate and 52 to 2 in the Assembly. Illinois ratified a few minutes prior but because of a mistake, it had to be re-ratified on June 17. Wisconsin’s ratification was the first to be received at the State Department.
August 26, 1920 – 19th Amendment fully ratified when Tennessee became 36th state to support it.
As mentioned in the introduction, Whitewater elected its first female councilmember in 1923, only three years after Wisconsin’s women were able to vote in all elections, and Mathilda Case Fowler even served as president. 99 years later, the first majority female Council was elected.
In between those years, Michele Smith provides the following comments:
Bettijane Partridge – served only a couple of months. Then she and her husband relocated as he had a new job. She was a huge proponent about street improvements.
Liz Wright – 1970 – Longtime residents probably remember her East Gate Garden at the corner of Dann and Milwaukee Streets. Quite the historian, she was.
Then Rose Green- I believe it was 1974. Rose was a very big proponent of a Library addition / building. Looks like she might have experienced some of the discrimination of the times.
“So from here forward, the ladies are “modern.” I never dreamed that there would have been a female president in the 1920s. I believe one of the new mayors said electing a woman showed how progressive Whitewater was. Sure enjoying newspapers of the day. Lots more interesting than they are now,” concludes Michele Smith.
*******************************************************************************************
In other business,
– The Council adopted a resolution providing for the sale of approximately $8,350,000 in waterworks and wastewater revenue bonds. The sale is being expedited in hopes of avoiding further escalation in interest rates, which have been climbing this year. The proceeds will pay for projects such as water and sewer pipe replacement in conjunction with the Main Street reconstruction, replacement of a wastewater lift station, and construction of the new water tower.
– Steve Hatton, Finance Director, reported on the financial audit for 2021 which had just been completed. The auditors, Johnson Block & Company, provided what is known as a “clean” audit, representing that they believe the financial statements accurately reflect the city’s financial condition. The general fund had a surplus of $200,900, leaving the city with an unassigned fund balance of $1,827,054, or slightly over the city’s goal to maintain a fund balance equaling 20% of the annual budget. Hotel room tax receipts increased by $150,000 from the previous year, reflecting significantly increased stays generated by the opening of the Fairfield Inn. Ongoing efforts will be focused on the Aquatic Center’s finances, as the center currently has a negative $413,000 operating balance. It had approached an annual break even status before the Pandemic hit.
– Authorized city staff to work with the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department regarding the installation of a radio tower in the city. The county is implementing a major upgrade to its radio system, providing better coverage with ten transmitters instead of the current one. The new system will provide for computer generated voice pages to law enforcement/fire/EMS while the dispatcher obtains further information, and will also allow for 911 cell phone calls to be routed to the proper dispatching unit, rather than always first being directed to the county.
The image on the homepage, “Detroit MI 1913 RPPC Gratiot Avenue Modern Womens Suffrage Movement Parade Equal Rights for Women or Women’s Rights Movement Photographer Unknown Photo Tagged 34 Used but Unsent AZo Stamp Box2.” by UpNorth Memories – Don Harrison is marked with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
