Harriet Taylor Upton (December 17, 1853 – November 2, 1945) was an American political activist and author. Upton is best remembered as a leading Ohio state and national figure in the struggle for women's right to vote and as the first woman to become a vice-chair of the Republican National Committee.
In 1861, the Taylor family moved to Warren, Ohio, and it was there that Harriet attended school. Her formal education was limited to the public schools of Warren.[2]
Taylor married George W. Upton, an attorney, in 1884.[2] Their marriage would last for 39 years.[3]
Political career
In 1880, Upton's father was elected as a member of the United States Congress as a Republican from Ohio, succeeding President James Garfield in the position.[4] This entrance into the world of high politics provided Harriet with an opportunity to meet leading political leaders of the day, including Susan B. Anthony — the person who brought Upton into the movement to win the right to vote for women.[2]
Upton was a key organizer and the first president of the Suffrage Association of Warren. She was also a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) from 1890.[5] In 1891, Upton hosted a conclave of women seeking equal rights with men, Ohio Women in Convention, in her home.[6]
In 1894, Upton was elected as the treasurer of the NAWSA, the leading national woman suffrage organization. She brought the headquarters of that organization home to Warren, Ohio, from 1903 to 1910, the end of her tenure in that position. In her memoir, she noted that women's right to vote had come at some cost: a decline in chivalry. "Men may not be as good to us as they were before we got the vote, but they have a lot more respect for us." In her view, the tradeoff was worth the cost.[6] Additionally, Upton served as president of the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association[7] from 1899 to 1908, and again from 1911 to 1920.
Harriet Taylor Upton, 1921standing: Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, Mrs. Jennette Hyde, Mrs. Carrie Fosseen, seated: Mrs. Arthur Livermore, Mrs. Harriet Upton, Mrs. Christine Bradley, c. 1921[8]
In 1920, Upton was elected Vice Chair of the Executive Committee of the Republican National Committee.[4] She was the first woman to serve on that highest national body of Republican Party politics. She stepped down from this position in June 1924 in an attempt to follow her father into the halls of Congress, running unsuccessfully in the August Republican primary election in the Ohio 19th District for the House of Representatives.[4]
In 1928, Upton served as the assistant campaign manager for the Republican Party of Ohio.[6] For all her successes and honors on the national stage, Upton's personal electoral success was modest, being the first woman to be elected to the Warren Board of Education.[6]
Harriet Taylor Upton died in Pasadena, California, on November 2, 1945, aged 91. She was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1981, in the category of Government and Military Service.[9]
In March 2021, Mike Loychik, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives proposed a bill that would rename Ohio's Mosquito Lake State Park to "Donald J. Trump State Park".[12] In response to this, a local resident began a petition with the goal of renaming it after Harriet Taylor Upton.[13]
Works
The Foster-Children of Washington. Boston: D. Lothrop, 1888. —Children's book.
The Household of Andrew Jackson. Boston: D. Lothrop, 1889. —Children's book.
The Family of Jefferson. Boston: D. Lothrop, 1891. —Children's book.
A Twentieth Century History of Trumbull County, Ohio: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People, and Its Principal Interests.Vol. 1 | Vol. 2 Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1909.
A History of the Western Reserve and Its People.Vol. 1 | Vol. 2 | Vol. 3 Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1910.
Random Recollections of Harriet Taylor Upton: An Autobiography. n.c. [Columbus, OH?]: n.p., 1927.
References
^Fess, Simeon D., ed. (1937). Ohio, A four volume reference library on the History of a Great State. Vol. 4. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company. p. 435. OCLC418516.
^ abcdAileen S. Kraditor, The Ideas of the Woman Suffrage Movement, 1890-1920 [1965]. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1981; pg. 268.
^"Harriet Taylor Upton House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2008.
