User:ZoyaBoris/New Sandbox/Ames

Handbook of Texas Online, Jon D. Swartz, "AMES, JESSIE HARRIET DANIEL," accessed June 26, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fam06.

Uploaded on June 9, 2010. Modified on April 11, 2016. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jessie-Daniel-Ames

Handbook of Texas Online, Dorothy D. DeMoss, "LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF TEXAS," accessed March 31, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/wel05. Uploaded on June 15, 2010.

Handbook of Texas Online, Ruthe Winegarten, “Texas Association of Women’s Clubs,” accessed April 20, 2019, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/VET01. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Modified on

SOURCE 1

Page 2

History from 1919 to 1929

Minnie Fisher Cunningham adjourns final meeting of TESA; delegates form Texas League of Women Voters and elect Jessie Daniel Ames as first League president

SOURCE 13

Formed on October 19, 1919 at San Antonio when TESA was dissolved to reorganize as LWVT

Earlier in 1919, Carrie Chapman Catt had urged the formation of LWV to succeed NAWSA and to be a support organization for newly enfranchised women

First president was Jessie Daniel Ames of Georgetown from 1919 to 1923

First efforts were to educate the newly enfranchised women on how to vote and citizenship

Published a monthly newspaper called New Citizen

Urged women to pay poll taxes, conducted citizenship schools, held Get Out the Vote campaigns, issued a Voter’s Calendar, surveyed political candidates and published their responses, and printed a booklet called Know Your County [for different counties in Texas]

LWVT participated in the Joint Legislative Council, a group of various organizations that lobbied for women’s welfare legislation in Texas

In 1920s, JLC’s issues included minimum wage for women, maternity and infant care, outlawing of child labor, jury service for women, reforming the state prison system, improving rural education, and giving women representation in delegations to national party conventions

Officers during 1920s included Helen E. Moore of Texas City, Dr. Alice Merchant of El Paso, Jane Y. McCallum of Austin, Mrs. D.W. Kempner of Galveston, and Mrs. Harris Masterson of Houston

Did not endorse or oppose candidates or political parties; was non partisan but did issue position papers

In 1949, LWVT won legislation ensuring a secret ballot in the state

Also worked for a constitutional amendment which passed in 1954 giving Texas women to right to serve on juries

SOURCE 22

p. 70-71

Amendment voted on May 24, 1919 by a state referendum; it called for “enfranchisement of Texas women and disenfranchisement of aliens who have not perfected their citizenship papers.”

Cunningham explained, “our position on the State Amendment is this: We do not want that Amendment voted on until the Texas troops are back in civilian life. We think it most unfair, having asked for the submission of this question for many years,. . . that now, while a hundred and twenty five thousand straight American voters are absent from the electorate of Texas, we are in danger of having to wage a campaign. . . [when] every Mexican and disloyal German may vote on our measure.”

Before the vote, Jessie Daniel Ames said “victory. . . will make Texas an All-American State.”

Notes on Jessie Daniel Ames

Swartz, Jon D. “Jessie Harriet Daniel Ames” in Jessica Brannon-Wranosky, ed. Texas Women and the Vote. Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 2019, pp. 13-14.

Page 13

Father was James Malcolm Daniel

Mother was Laura Maria Leonard

Born in Palestine on November 2, 1883

1893 family moved to Georgetown

Admitted to Ladies Annex of Southwestern University at the age of 13; graduated with B.A. in 1902

Moved with family to Laredo after graduation

Married Roger Post Ames in June 1905, an army surgeon

Roger Ames died in 1914 in Guatemala from blackwater fever

Ames had son and two daughters, last born in 1914, the same year her husband died

She and husband lived apart; he in Central America and she with her parents and sister

After father died in 1911, Ames helped her mother run the family’s telephone company in Georgetown

In 1916, she organized the Georgetown Equal Suffrage League and became its first president

Wrote a weekly suffrage article in the Williamson County Sun called “Woman Suffrage Notes”

Elected treasurer of TESA in 1918; was a protégé of Minnie Fisher Cunningham

Page 14

In 1919 founded the Texas League of Women Voters and became its first president

Represented the national LWV at the Pan American Congress in 1923

Was the delegate at large at the Democratic national conventions in 1920 and 1924

Was an alternate delegate at the Democratic national convention of 1928

Served as president of the Texas branch of the American Association of University Women

Officer of the Joint Legislative Council in Texas (Petticoat Lobby)

Other organizations included on the Board of Education of Women’s Division of the Methodist Church, Texas Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor, and Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs

In 1924, became director of Texas Commission of the Council on Interracial Cooperation (CIC) based in Atlanta

1929 moved to Atlanta to become national director of CIC Woman’s Committee

1930 founded with CIC’s financial help, Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching; organization of white women

By February 1937, 81 state, regional and national organizations had endorsed the anti lynching platform

Served as director of Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching until 1942

That year, CIC was replaced by the Southern Regional Council

Ames retired to Tryon NC and returned to Texas in 1968 to live with her younger daughter

Died in Austin of pneumonia on February 21, 1972

Buried in family plot in I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Georgetown

1985 Jessie Daniel Ames Lecture Series began at Southwestern University

Her life and work was subject of Freshman Symposium at Southwestern University in 1985 and the Brown Symposium in 1986

SOURCE 28

TESA reorganized as the Texas League of Women Voters on October 10, 1919 with Jessie Daniel Ames as the first president

SOURCE 9

Dorothy Brown, “Sixty Five Going on Fifty:  A History of the League of Women Voters of Texas, 1903-1969.” Manuscript. League of Women Voters files, Austin, 1969. Accessed on www.my.lwv.org/texas/history 4.13.2019.

Page ii

State presidents

Jessie Daniel Ames – 1920-1923

SOURCE 9

Page ii

State presidents

Jessie Daniel Ames – 1920-1923

SOURCE 16

Texas Association of Colored Women’s Clubs

By 1923 the TACWC and the Joint Legislative Council had endorsed the idea of a school for delinquent black girls

That year, TACWC raised $2,000 for a down payment on the home

1926 Jessie Daniel Ames toured state speaking to white women’s organizations for the creation of the home

1927 the Texas legislature approved the school but did not fund it; 1945 state appropriated $60,000 for the school which became the Brady State School for Negro Girls, located in a former prisoner of war camp near Brady

First students admitted in 1947; 1950 it was moved to Crockett with 100 girls

SOURCE 5

Texas Association of Women’s Clubs (Texas Federation of Colored Women’s Club)

By 1930s focused on home and family life

Between 1916 and 1945 campaigned for creation of a home and training school for delinquent colored girls with the TACWC donating the land

First suggested during WWI; in 1923, Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs and Joint Legislative Council endorsed the concept, which was an early example of interracial cooperation

That year, TACWC raised $2,000 for the down payment on a home

Bought land in San Antonio and put $5,500 down

1926 Jessie Daniel Ames toured the state speaking for the project

Bill passed in 1927 but no appropriations was made by the state legislature

Took 18 years before funding was appropriated which happened in 1945 ($60,000 appropriated) to establish the Brady State School for Negro Girls located in a former prisoner of war camp near Brady

Opened its doors on August 25, 1945; relocated to Crockett in 1950 and renamed Texas Training School for Negro and referred to as Girls Crockett State School; housed 100 girls

Source 48 Winegarten, Ruthe. Black Texas Women: 150 Years of Trial and Triumph. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.

Page 220

1930 Ames founded the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching with headquarters in Atlanta

Ames was the executive director and councils were created in every southern state

Black women were excluded from membership

Within ten years, more than 100 women’s organizations had joined the campaign against lynching

Jessie Daniel Ames (November 2, 1883 – February 21, 1972) was a suffragist and civil rights leader  from Texas, who helped create the anti-lynching movement in the American South. She was one of the first Southern white women to speak out and work publicly against lynching of African Americans, murders which white men claimed to commit in an effort to protect women's "virtue." Despite risks to her personal safety, Ames stood up to these men and led organized efforts by white women to protest lynchings. She gained 40,000 signatures by southern women to oppose lynching, helping change attitudes and bring about a decline in these murders in the 1930s and 1940s.

Biography

Jessie Harriet Daniel was born  in Palestine, Texas on November 2, 1883. Her mother was Laura Maria Leonard and her father was James Malcolm Daniel. In 1893, the family moved to Georgetown, Texas. (Swartz) Ames was admitted to the Ladies Annex of Southwestern University at the age of 13 and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1902. After graduation, she moved with her family to Laredo, Texas. (Swartz)  Ames followed her mother and sister and converted to Methodism despite her  father's objection as a nonbeliever. She had joined them in church activism from an early age.(Hall)

In 1905, Ames married Roger Post Ames, a surgeon in  the United States Army who had worked with Walter Reed in Cuba to prove that mosquitos caused malaria. (Hall) During much of their unhappy marriage,, he lived in  Central America where he worked as a physician to the American Consul and the United Fruit Compay. (Hall). . Roger Ames died in 1914 in Guatemala from blackwater fever  (Hall and Swartz).

Ames had a son and two daughters, the last of whom was born in 1914, the same year her husband died. (Swartz) After the death of her father in 1911, Ames helped her mother run the family’s telephone company in Georgetown. (Swartz) She also became involved with several Methodist women's groups. This led to her initial participation in the women's suffrage movement. (Hall)

Suffrage Movement and League of Women Voters

In 1916, Ames organized the Georgetown Equal Suffrage League and became its first president. She also wrote a weekly suffrage article in the Williamson County Sun newspaper called “Woman Suffrage Notes.” (Swartz)  Ames became a protégé of Minnie Fisher Cunningham, the president of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association (TESA). In 1918, Ames was elected treasurer of TESA. (Swartz)

In October 1919, Ames founded the  Texas League of Women Voters and served as its first president until 1923 (Brown) In 1923, she represented the national League of Women Voters at the Pan American Congress. (Swartz) She also served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1920, 1924, and 1928. (Swartz) Ames served in several other organizations including the Texas branch of the American Association of University Women, Texas Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor, and the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs, She was an officer of the Joint Legislative Council in Texas, also known as the Petticoat Lobby and was on the Board of Education of the Women’s Division of the Methodist Church. (Swartz) In 1924 Ames became the director of the Texas Commission of the Council of Interracial Cooperation (CIC) based in Atlanta. In 1929, she moved to Atlanta to become the national director of the CIC  Woman’s Committee. (Swartz)

Crockett State School

SOURCE 5 “Texas Association of Women’s Clubs,” Texas Woman’s University: Woman’s Collection. www.twudigital.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16283coll10. Accessed April 19, 2019.

The project to create a home and training school for delinquent African American girls was one of the few instances of interracial cooperation among Texas women. Between 1916 and 1945, the Texas Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs campaigned for the creation of the institution and offered to donate the land. (TAWC)

In 1923, the Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Joint Legislative Council, both white women’s organizations, endorsed the concept. That year, the TACWC raised $2,000 for the down payment on a home. The organization bought land in San Antonio and was able to offer $5,500 as a downpayment. (TAWC)

In 1926, Ames toured the state speaking on behalf of the project to white women’s organizations. The Texas legislature passed a bill in 1927 creating the home and school for delinquent black girls but made no appropriations.(TAWC)

It took 18 years before the Texas legislature approved funding. In 1945, the legislature appropriated $60,000 to establish the Brady State School for Negro Girls located in a former prisoner of war camp near Brady, Texas. In 1950, the school relocated to Crockett, Texas and was renamed the Crockett State School for Girls. (TAWC)

Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching

In 1930, Ames,  with the CIC’s financial help, founded the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (ASWPL) with headquarters in Atlanta (Swartz and Winegarten). The organization excluded African American women (Winegarten and Swartz) and appealed directly to white Southern women to stop lynching. The ASWPL secured  the signatures of 40,000 Southern women on its 'Pledge Against Lynching' (see below). Despite encountering hostile  opposition and physical threats, the women conducted petition drives, lobbying and fundraising across the South to work against lynching. By 1940,  more than 100 women’s organizations had joined the movement against lynching. (Winegarten)

Pledge:

We declare lynching is an indefensible crime, destructive of all principles of government, hateful and hostile to every ideal of religion and humanity, debasing and degrading to every person involved...[P]ublic opinion has accepted too easily the claim of lynchers and mobsters that they are acting solely in defense of womanhood. In light of the facts we dare no longer to permit this claim to pass unchallenged, nor allow those bent upon personal revenge and savagery to commit acts of violence and lawlessness in the name of women. We solemnly pledge ourselves to create a new public opinion in the South, which will not condone, for any reason whatever, acts of mobs or lynchers. We will teach our children at home, at school and at church a new interpretation of law and religion; we will assist all officials to uphold their oath of office; and finally, we will join with every minister, editor, school teacher and patriotic citizen in a program of education to eradicate lynchings and mobs forever from our land.

Ames opposed a federal anti-lynching law and advocated instead for individual state laws outlawing lynching. (Hall)  Senators from the South  filibustered the proposed federal Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which was advocated by the women’s group called the Anti-Lynching Crusaders. The National Association of Colored People had created the Anti-Lynching Crusaders in 1922 to mobilize support for the Dyer bill. (Hall)  White Democrats from the Solid South commanded powerful congressional positions due to the disenfranchisement of African Americans throughout the South. Senator Tom Connally of Texas used a letter written to him from  Ames to show widespread southern opposition to the federal  bill. Ames intended t the letter to be private, in order to allow her to  speak out in opposition to lynching when the bill failed. (Hall)

Ames served as the director of the ASWPL until 1942. By February 1937, 81 state, regional and national organizations had endorsed the anti-lynching platform of the ASWPL. That year, the CIC was replaced by the Southern Regional Council. (Swartz) The number of lynchings decreased as the  Great Depression came to an end,  although notable lynchings took place in the postwar era, including of African American  men in uniform. (eji)

Death and Legacy

Ames retired to Tryon, North Carolina and returned to Texas in 1968 to live with her younger daughter. (Swartz) Jessie Daniel Ames died of pneumonia on February 21, 1972 in Austin, Texas. She is buried in the family plot in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Georgetown, Texas. (Swartz)

In 1985, the Jessie Daniel Ames Lecture Series began at Southwestern University. Her career was the subject of the Freshman Symposium at Southwestern University in 1985 and the Brown Symposium at the university in 1986. (Swartz)