In my tour we pass by the Valentine House (current home of the Richmond History Center. Technically the competition, but I like them, so I’ll give them a shout).
This Remarkable Richmonder is one half of that Valentine equation….
Lila Meade Valentine (1865-1921) is one of the lesser known leaders in the women’s suffrage movement in the early 20th century. At the time, however, she was the undisputed leader of the movement in Virginia and a well-known personality in national circles.
Born to Kate Fontaine Meade in February of 1865. Valentine was a mere infant when the Richmond evacuation fire took place. She was raised in a completely new city from the one that had existed before, living through one radical shift in the history of the United States and being a major part of another.
She was highly educated, spoke many languages, and was both a participant and patron of the arts. She married Benjamine Batchelder Valentine in her early 20s. This marriage gave both of them a certain social status and they complimented each other well in their various pursuits. His income from banking and insurance allowed her the freedom to work for the public good
She helped found the Instructive Visiting Nurses Association which had a major impact on public health awareness by bringing information from basic first aid to ways to prevent, treat, and stop the spread of often dramatic outbreaks of cholera, yellow fever, typhoid, and a host of other infectious diseases.
Apparently that organization is still going strong.
She helped with the formation of the Richmond Education Association, which met in her home and advocated for Kindergarten education and the building of John Marshall Highschool.
Essentially, she was a mega bad a** when it came to making a difference.
Seeing how much various women had done for the betterment of society in the above roles, she decided that even more could be done if these uber-effective agents for change were enfranchised with the vote.
On November 20th, 1909, she met at Anne Clay Crenshaw’s house along with other notable Richmonders author Ellen Glasgow, Mary Johnston, and artists Adele Clark, and Nora Houston. They formed the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia (ESL) which was affiliated with the National American Woman Suffrage Association (Susan B. Anthony’s organization).
She and her merry band of suffragettes then proceeded on a grass-roots campaign of epic proportions.
Valentine spoke anywhere people would have her: state fairs, social gatherings, meetings of organizations, and even on the street. She lobbied ferociously each and every state legislator so effectively that they began to respect her, even if they did not agree with women voting. The ESL went door-to-door (interrupting many a meal) to advocate for women’s suffrage. The group even established its own newspaper; the not so creatively named, but accurate Virginia Suffrage News.
She helped the league gain acclaim by helping with recruiting drives for World War I when it broke out.
One of her most important accomplishments was composing herself in such a way as to be revolutionary without offending Virginians’ traditional sensibilities. Virignia’s weren’t big fans of people “shaking things up,” especially a woman who was suppose to have a certain role of being seen and not heard.
Composing herself with charm and tact, as opposed to what we would think of today as a “radical” feminist, helped her gain legitimacy in the eyes of Richmonders.
All of her effort finally bore fruit and in 1920, the amendment to the US Constitution allowing women to vote was all but finalized.
Never one to rest on laurels, she realized that civic education of the newly enfranchised women was integral before their first voting could take place. She partnered with the Virginia Cooperative Extension service to provide courses for previously non-politically active women (and some men) in citizenship education.
Sadly, Lila Meade Valentine would never get to exercise the right to vote which she so passionately fought for, passing away after succumbing to a year long illness in July of 1921.
Some people say that she never recovered from her broken heart when her husband, Ben passed away in 1919. Probably said by a bunch of men.
I have a feeling that she wouldn’t be so keen on that assertion of female fragility.
Regardless, her mark, and the mark of the Equal Suffrage League on the history of Virginia and the United States may be a bit obscured by time, but the impacts can be seen today as women hold some of the highest offices in the land, and help decide who gets there.
It’s also important to note that per the new Virginia State Constitution of 1902, African Americans and most poor whites were disenfranchised due to literacy requirements and poll taxes. Only the middle and upper-class educated/somewhat wealthy women were able to exercise this right. The ESL didn’t care so much about the African American vote… that would come later.
Sources (in MLA Citation because I’m a dork):
“Lila Meade Valentine” Richmond Quarterly (Fall 1979): 212-25. Excerpt in A Richmond Reader 1733-1983. Ed. Maurice Duke and Daniel P. Jordan. North Caroline: UNC Press, 329-333. Print.
Kollatz, Harry. Richmond In Ragtime: Socialists, Suffragasts, Sex, and Murder. Charleston: the History Press. 2008. (Editor’s note, buy this book, not an affiliate link)