More than a "Trophy for Womankind": Rabbi Stephen S. Wise and the Struggle for Suffrage in New York State

Abstract

More than a "Trophy for Womankind":Rabbi Stephen S. Wise and the Struggle for Suffrage in New York State1 Randi Storch (bio) Meeting in Buffalo, New York, in 1908, the National American Woman Suffrage Association marked the sixtieth anniversary of the suffrage movement. Rousing speeches punctuated three days of executive sessions, formal meetings, and informal mingling as the Progressive Era's most prominent reformers gathered to honor suffrage "pioneers" and other "distinguished persons," planning at the same time for the movement's future. Among the august group of women was a handful of men, including Rabbi Stephen S. Wise of New York City's Free Synagogue, the only male attendant whose remarks the newspapers reported.2 Wise impressed the audience with his oratory and passion. He declared that anti-suffrage arguments were simply un-American, and he upheld the ballot as a symbol of citizenship. Without women's suffrage, he claimed, "ours is no democracy," America is a "homocracy," or better yet, he decided, "let us call it by its right name, 'manocracy.'" What Wise called the "triumph of the male or man caste," represented, to him, unfinished work of America's republic.3 By 1908, Wise was thirty-four years old, a nationally known speaker, and a prominent Jewish leader. He had served as Beth Israel's rabbi in Portland, Oregon, from 1900 until 1906, and as the Free Synagogue's leader in New York City since 1907. Beginning in Oregon, Wise led and joined numerous causes to broaden American democracy. He supported the [End Page 397] state's women's suffrage effort, which he viewed as a direct application of Judaism's moral principles. Once in New York, women reformers continued to encounter Wise while working to resolve tensions between industrial capitalism and democracy. Out of these labor and municipal reform networks, Wise built a national reputation as a supporter of women's rights. His public arguments upheld women as morally superior to men and deserving of full equality. As a result, women suffragists increasingly came to depend on Wise to stump, preach, network, and write in support of "equal suffrage" as a fundamental step in the realization of democracy's promise. His suffrage activism represented the culmination of his Jewish ideals and his political work within progressive social networks. The story of women's suffrage in New York State conjures images of Seneca Falls, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and later, the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Women leaders and national suffrage organizations were fundamental in the battle for suffrage in New York State and in the nation generally, and excellent histories document the story of female suffrage leaders, suffrage organizations, and suffrage tactics.4 More recent scholarship adds complexity to our understanding of the regional, class, racial, and ethnic backgrounds of those who supported and opposed widening the vote, and several studies examine women's international networks and activism.5 Only a few scholarly works, however, examine the motivations and activism of male [End Page 398] suffragists.6 Historians generally agree that men and women had different reform agendas, political cultures, and approaches to change.7 Wise offers a compelling case of a male reformer whose political work overlapped with women reformers. He linked such social issues as vice and labor protection with suffrage, tying his public reputation to his relationships with women reformers and the changes they attempted together. The suffrage victory in New York State in 1917 was both a statewide and national story, and Wise was part of both. Between 1905 and 1917, he worked most closely with the National American Woman Suffrage Association and then the Men's League for Woman Suffrage of New York State. At all stages in the development of the suffrage movement, women drove the overall strategy of the campaign. Men served as foot soldiers for the women spreading the message. Most men's clubs were not involved in the campaign's daily work, but individual club members, such as Wise, proved to be consistent public voices and strategic allies in the fight for women's suffrage.8 His suffrage activities reached the hearts and minds of leading men and people throughout the state. Even when...