Women’s suffrage and women’s institutional power: how suffrage shifted the membership of local political institutions

The extension of the voting franchise to women in the United States—first in various states and then nationally in 1920—not only granted women the right to vote, but also challenged the idea that women do not belong in politics. Parties and candidates quickly pivoted to appeal to women voters. In many cities, patronage was the dominant form of voter appeal, with appointments to city offices, boards, and commissions being a well-established form of machine patronage. While these local boards provide a clear opportunity for patronage, little is known about their gender composition or how suffrage shaped women’s access to these political institutions. We ask (a) With the implementation of women’s suffrage, did local parties use board appointments as a means to appeal to women voters? (b) Were women appointed to boards within their stereotypical purview (e.g., education, health) or were they offered opportunities for broader participation? (c) What, if anything, were the downstream effects of board and commission membership for these women, particularly in terms of future elected office-seeking and holding? To answer these questions, we use previously-untapped lists of board membership across the 20th century in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston, generated from archives in each city. These three cities vary in their levels of women’s representation, dates of women’s suffrage, use of gender quotas, and constitution of boards, offering an ideal opportunity to use a comparative case study approach. We supplement these data with archival and other information on gendered voting patterns, city politics, and women’s organizations.