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Exhibition Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote

Sample postcard, ca. 1915: Rose O’Neill (1874–1944), “Votes for Our Mothers.” Breckinridge Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (081.00 00)
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Postcard, ca. 1915: Rose O’Neill (1874–1944), “The Spirit of ‘76” NAWSA Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (081.14.00)
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Sample postcard, ca. 1915: Katherine Milhous (1894–1977), “Votes for Women.” Breckinridge Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (081.01.00)
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Sample postcard, ca. 1915: Mary Shepard Greene Blumenschein (1869–1958), “Votes for Women.” Breckinridge Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (081.02.00)
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Postcard, ca. 1915: unknown artist, “Votes for Women.” NAWSA Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (081.15.01)
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Valentine, closed, ca. 1915: “Love’s Surprise.” NAWSA Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (081.17.00)
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Valentine, open, ca. 1915: “Love’s Surprise.” NAWSA Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (081.17.01)
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Harnessing the Visual Power of Postcards and Greeting Cards

The National American Woman Suffrage Association sold a large supply of suffrage merchandise, particularly postcards bought in bulk by local groups. These were advertised in suffrage periodicals but also in a widely distributed catalog and price list. Popular cards included anything by feminist artist Rose O’Neill featuring her beloved “Kewpie” characters. Also sought were Katherine Milhous’s cartoon exposing hypocritical arguments that voting would unsex women, and stylized portraits of suffragists, including those by book illustrator Mary Shepard Greene Blumenschein. Pro-suffrage greeting cards, like this clever flowering yellow rose valentine, were also prevalent.