These Oregonian women give new meaning to the phrase “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.”
Oregon Historical Society / Wikipedia
100 years ago , the town of Umatilla , Oregon was not a pleasant plaza to be .
disordered street lamp line the roadstead , the sewer system only be in dreams , and isolated dog darted over crumbling pavement in the tiny Oregon community of interests .
Oregon Historical Society / Wikipedia
A governing filled exclusively with serviceman stood behind this abject disrepair , and a lack of political opposition had made them inactive and self-satisfied .
The town ’s women were sick of it — and decided to take matters into their own hands , and through the very process that Umatilla governing officials admit for granted .
Out of Umatilla ’s 198 - person population , very few multitude rile to vote . After all , the boy ’s club running things was well - establish — so much so that it was asseumed any challenger would miss in a landslip .
To avoid this event , the char had to be close . Under the guise of a card company , they met to craft a programme .
tally on the names they would compose into the voting ( women in Oregon had been yield the right to vote in 1912 ) , they discreetly began canvassing for reinforcement .
On the daylight of the election , December 5 , 1916 , few than 50 people casted their votes . The final numeration appal Umatilla men , and newspapers around the country amusedly — if patronizingly — printed articles on the “ Petticoat Revolution . ”
As it happened , women snagged all six of the seat up for grabs . Lola Merrick became townsfolk financial officer , Bertha Cherry was the young attender , and Florence Brownell , H.C. Means , Gladys Spinning , and Stella Paul had been elected to city council .
Most notably , Laura Starcher had won the mayoral seat . With a suffrage of 26 - 8 , Umatilla voters chose her to replace the confounded incumbent mayor E.E. Starcher , who also happened to be her married man .
After request a recount , and likely being asked to sleep on the couch , Mr. Starcher give a patronising secondment of his wife toThe Oregonian , calling her “ the best housekeeper in the United States . ”
But Laura seemed undaunted by the doubter , delivering a speech that summed up the new administration ’s no - nonsense agenda , while calling out her husband and , basically , his entire gender .
“ potent man wriggled and flushed under the biting satire of Mrs. Starcher ’s inaugural address , which was mostly devoted to a adept dissection of mere man ’s foible , weakness , shift , defect , vices , cosmopolitan uselessness and ineptitude . ” wrote The New York Herald . “ But they ‘ took their medicine . ' ”
live on up to their promises , the female administration lick apace and effectively — install cloaca , improving the water character , found a depository library , establishing “ Clean - Up workweek ” to qualify of garbage , and supersede street lights .
And though Laura herself resigned after less than a year due to her wellness , the winner of the women ’s time in office became clear when voters chose another lady , Stella Paula , to replace her with 80 percent of the vote . This time , however , the female win came without any secret plots .
Only four old age later , in 1920 , the women voluntarily resigned from office , and no other women ran to pick up where the so - called Petticoat rebels took off . military man took control of political office again . But the Umatillans ’ fight for representation in government — and their struggle to convince constituents that they could get the business done — still affect a chord today .
“ If I did not believe that any charwoman on this council was not as competent and capable as any man who ever occupied a chair in this council , I would resign justly now , ” Laura suppose after the election .
Sound familiar ?
After learning about the Petticoat Revolution , see our other posts onsuffragists who defend themselves with jujutsuandinspiring photos from the women ’s suffrage movement .
