| Carrie Chapman Catt, probably most famous Iowan associated with the women's suffrage movement, was born in 1859 and grew up near Charles City. A feminist from her earliest school days, Catt was responsible for creating a women's physical education program at Iowa State Agricultural College, where she graduated in 1880. Though she didn't become fully involved in the women's movement until 1885, in 1900 she succeeded Susan B. Anthony as president of the National Woman Suffrage Association. In 1919 she helped found the National League of Women Voters. After Catt left Iowa, she continued to help women in their unsuccessful struggle to amend the Iowa Constitution to allow women to vote, long before the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. Catt died in 1947. 7/1/96 |
