Woman Suffrage Sash, 1910s

A silk sash stating "Votes for Women." c. 1910.

• Artifact: Woman Suffrage Sash
• Date: 1910s
• Museum Location: State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, IA.

Press and zoom in the image below to see details of the sash.

Leo Landis, State Curator, State Historical Society of Iowa: This artifact is a silk sash made out of yellow silk fabric, with black block printed text. And it says “Votes for Women.” It's a sash that someone who was supporting the right of women to vote would wear. So it's a piece of clothing, and it would drape over your shoulder and the “Votes for Women” then would go across your chest. And you would likely have it pinned toward your opposite hip. And thus you could see the “Votes for Women” display across your body.

These items were mass-produced. It was the sort of thing that if there was a cause to be supported, American businesses were keen to say “How can we make some money off this?” Well, we'll produce custom “Votes for Women” sashes that we can ship.

This is a way to show your support in a public demonstration, and it was something that, again, there might have been, depending on the size of your town, another hundred women wearing these in a march, or another twenty women wearing these in a march in your community in Iowa. And, again, suffrage marches took place all over the state through the 1900 to the 1920 period. That's when there was a lot of excitement in Iowa.