Scandinavian Woman Suffrage Association

The Scandinavian Woman Suffrage Association used its unique ethnic affiliation to promote suffrage within Minnesota’s substantial Scandinavian community. By weaving celebrations of culture with targeted suffrage campaigns, the club contributed to Minnesota’s larger fight for women’s voting rights and even raised enough money to build a suffrage movement headquarters on the state fairgrounds.

The Scandinavian Woman Suffrage Association (SWSA) was founded in 1907 with help from prominent suffragist Ethel Edgerton Hurd. Affiliated at first with the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association, the SWSA quickly carved its own identity as a crucial link between the Scandinavian community and the women’s suffrage movement.

Though open to men, the SWSA was mostly made up of—and exclusively led by—women. It charged no dues, which helped suffrage supporters of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds take active roles in the organization. The SWSA was also unique for limiting membership to first- and second-generation Scandinavians, the vast majority of whom were Norwegian and Swedish. The dominant ethnicity of members tended to slant toward that of the acting president. Founding president Jenova Martin attracted many Norwegian suffragists, while her successor, Nanny Mattson Jaeger, pulled in more Swedes.

The two presidents had diverging goals for the SWSA. Martin emphasized cultural preservation and prized the unique aspects of her Scandinavian heritage. Jaeger, a self-described “patriotic American mother,” was an assimilationist who hoped that woman suffrage could lead immigrants, including women, to fuller American citizenship. Though both presidents prized their heritage, swelling anti-immigrant sentiments during World War I almost led the organization to change its name to avoid association with any particular ethnic group.

Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish suffragists were not without their differences. Yet they recognized the advantages of uniting in their fight for women’s voting rights. Together, they made up Minnesota’s largest immigrant group. Because the SWSA emphasized this shared heritage, its outreach efforts in the Scandinavian community were particularly effective. President Nanny Mattson Jaeger wrote to Scandinavian lawmakers like Knute Nelson to garner support for suffrage. She also partnered with Swedish newspapers like Svenska Folkets Tidning to publish pro-suffrage articles.

The SWSA also forged strong bonds with Scandinavian suffragists in Europe and shared their successes with women in the United States. Members translated speeches from Norwegian to English, performed a play about the Swedish struggle for women’s suffrage, and celebrated Scandinavian suffrage milestones.

Though the SWSA found great success working within the Scandinavian community, it also collaborated with other suffrage groups in Minnesota. In 1914, the SWSA joined 2,000 other marchers from across the state at a Minneapolis suffrage parade. Members wore traditional Scandinavian clothing and urged the United States to catch up with Norway, which had legalized women’s suffrage the previous year. President Jaeger also brought Swedish folk dancers to lawn parties thrown by Clara Ueland, president of the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association.

Because the SWSA did not charge dues, it organized frequent fundraisers to support its work for women’s suffrage. Many doubled as celebrations of the members’ heritage, varying from Scandinavian plays performed at members’ homes to cultural festivals held in Minneapolis parks.

One of the SWSA’s most significant fundraising efforts supported the construction of a suffrage headquarters on the state fairgrounds. Though the SWSA initially pledged $500, it eventually decided to cover the full $2,000 price tag. Fundraising efforts ranged from soliciting donations of money and labor to selling baked goods and marmalade. The association also hosted a Scandinavian culture night at St. Paul’s Central High School, which drew an audience of over 1,000 people.

When completed, the headquarters was named the Woman Citizen Building. The SWSA dedicated it to the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association on the first day of the 1917 State Fair. It was intended as a space for women to meet friends, make plans, and eventually celebrate their newly-earned right to vote. That dream came true for the SWSA when the nineteenth amendment was ratified in August of 1920. With its mission fulfilled, the association disbanded just months later.