Author Description

Are Women People? A Book of Rhymes for Suffrage Times (1915), written by Alice Duer Miller - the funniest and most influential feminist you’ve never heard of. Are Women People, Mr. President? Are Women People? drew its materials from Miller’s popular weekly New York Tribune column of the same name, which ran from February 1914 until the New York State suffrage referendum succeeded in November 1917. The column’s title was inspired by the tension between Democratic President Woodrow Wilson’s democratic rhetoric and his insistent refusal to support woman suffrage. Miller’s first column framed an excerpt from a campaign speech in which Wilson had promised to bring the “Government back to the people” under a bold headline that posed the question Miller asked repeatedly over the next three years: Are Women People, Mr. President? Miller’s column quickly went viral and was moved from its somewhat marginalized position on the Woman’s Page to a more privileged place beside the newspaper’s editorials. Just as young people today get their political news through comedy shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, 1910’s New Yorkers turned to Miller’s column for witty analysis of the news. Her funny, rhyming commentaries were catchy and memorable. The question she posed became a campaign slogan. Her analysis of contemporary politics not only made anti-suffragist politicians look stupid. It also made her (and women like her) look completely capable of participating in the political sphere. *Excerpt from: Are Women People? Alice Duer Miller’s message still rings true 100 years on. Written by Mary Chapman, Professor of English, University of British Columbia via www.thecoversation.com.*