For as long as socially and politically aware citizens have gathered to voice dissent, music has served a paramount role; the women's suffrage movement proves no exception. From local community suffrage meetings, to large-scale city-wide marches, to prison cells -- suffragists consistently unified, rallied, and asserted their unbreakable spirit in song.

Women's Suffrage in Sheet Music includes over 200 pieces of sheet music spanning the years 1838-1923, over half of which highlight women's emerging voices and suffrage efforts; the collection includes published rally songs and songsters written and compiled by notable composers and suffragists, as well as music manuscripts submitted for copyright deposit by everyday citizens. Anti-suffragists raised voices in song as well, and popular music of the era echoed anti-suffrage sentiments of the day with specific references to the movement. The Library of Congress preserves sheet music and songsters that represent suffragist voices, anti-suffrage views, and general societal angst at play throughout the women's suffrage movement, all of which are represented in this digital collection.

All or selected parts of this collection were transcribed by volunteers participating in the By the People crowdsourcing transcription program of the Library of Congress. Volunteer transcriptions makes these items keyword searchable using the search bar at the top of this website. Crowdsourced text for a specific image can be viewed by clicking on the “Image w/Text” option above the image itself, or by selecting the “Text” option in the dropdown menu below the image. Selecting “Text (complete)” will show the available transcribed text for all images in the item.