Lucy Burns - Congressional Union

Congressional Union

Because of the disputes over tactics and funding, Burns and Paul felt it would be best if they added to NAWSA’s Congressional Committee and formed a group still associated with NAWSA, but one with its own governing body. This new committee was called the Congressional Union of the National American Women Suffrage Association. Burns was elected unanimously as an executive member of the Congressional Union of the National American Women Suffrage Association. In April 1913, NAWSA decided they wanted to distance themselves from the more radical group and no longer allowed their name to be used in the title, so the Congressional Union of the National American Women Suffrage Association was renamed just the Congressional Union. Despite this, Burns and Paul still wanted the Congressional Union to be associated with NAWSA, so they applied for it to be considered a NAWSA auxiliary. The Congressional Union was granted auxiliary membership, but the relationship remained tenuous.

Adding to the growing tensions between the Congressional Union and NAWSA, Burns made a radical proposal once again at the 1913 NAWSA convention in Washington, D.C. Because Democrats controlled the White House and both houses of Congress at the time, Burns wanted to give them an ultimatum—support our bill for suffrage or we will make sure you don’t get reelected. Burns stated “Inaction establishes just as clear a record as does a policy of open hostility.” She was no longer going to stand for the apathy from the Democratic Party. Burns was particularly infuriated with President Wilson because he had told them he would support the Committee on Suffrage, but then never mentioned his promise in his address to Congress. When a delegation of women from NAWSA tried to meet with him to address this incident and register their protest, Wilson claimed to be ill. A few days later, Wilson reneged his vow to support suffrage and said he would not impose his private views on Congress.

NAWSA felt they could no longer tolerate the radical tactics employed and advocated by the Congressional Union, and they wanted to officially sever their ties. Paul and Burns did not want to start a completely separate organization that could potentially rival NAWSA and hinder progress in the movement, so they tried on numerous occasions to initiate negotiations with NAWSA leaders. Despite their efforts, the Congressional Union officially split from NAWSA on February 12, 1914.

Many predicted that this split would do irreparable harm to women’s campaign for suffrage; the cynics did not discourage Paul and Burns, and they began planning their campaign against the Democrats in the summer of 1914. In addition to confronting the Democratic Party, Burns and Paul had to address displeased members within their own organization; some women were complaining that the Congressional Union was elitist, authoritarian, and undemocratic. Paul believed centralized authority was critical to accomplishing their goals and operating effectively, so they did not make any drastic changes; to appease their members they solicited suggestions and stated “We would be most grateful for any constructive plan which you can lay before us.”

While trying to address both internal and external attacks, the Congressional Union worked to keep the Anthony amendment afloat in 1914. The Anthony amendment, or Mondell Resolution, was a federal amendment for woman’s suffrage and what would ultimately become the nineteenth amendment. Since their split from NAWSA, Ruth Hanna McCormick had become the chairwoman of NAWSA’s Congressional Committee. Without consulting the NAWSA Board, she had endorsed the Shafroth-Palmer amendment on their behalf. This posed a huge threat the work of Burns and Paul because the Shafroth amendment, if passed, would make suffrage a states’ rights only issue. While Burns, Paul, and other women from both the Congressional Union and NAWSA met to address this issue, NAWSA ultimately remained in support of the Shafroth amendment, and the Congressional Union continued its campaign for federal suffrage.

Burns was the first woman to speak before the Congressional delegates in 1914 when the Anthony amendment finally made it out of committee and into the House. While her speech was primarily to set the stage for Alice Paul, she also outlined the accomplishments of the Congressional Union. The fact that she was the first to speak at such a critical time for federal suffrage shows not only her courage in the face of opposition, but how well respected she was by her fellow leaders and suffragists. The speeches of Burns and Paul were incredibly important at that time in the movement because they showed politicians that women would unite as a voting bloc.

Following this, the Congressional Union sent two organizers to each of the nine states where women had the right to vote. Burns went to San Francisco, California with suffragist Rose Winslow. Organizing women in these states was not an easy task, and raising adequate funds was found to be particularly troublesome; Burns is quoted as saying “If the women here, however, would only give me the money they are willing to spend on luncheons and dinners I will get along admirably.” Burns spread the message about suffrage in theaters, on the streets, by going door-to-door, and by circulating cartoons and pamphlets. By election time in 1914 the Democratic Party had become an extremely vocal critic of the Congressional Union, and ultimately the Congressional Union claimed responsibility for five Democratic losses.

In 1915 the Congressional Union decided to put its efforts into organizing in every state that did not already have a branch. The goal of this plan was to continue what their 1914 state-by-state campaign had started and make suffrage a national issue with demand in every state. In 1915 Burns also became the editor of the Congressional Union’s newspaper The Suffragist. During this time period, NAWSA was experiencing a lot of internal strife. After their convention in 1915, Anna Howard Shaw stepped down as president, and many believed this would be a time for potential reconciliation between the Congressional Union and NAWSA.

Burns and Paul met with NAWSA officials and other women from the Congressional Union at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. on December 17, 1915. NAWSA wanted the Congressional Union to become an affiliate but they had numerous demands—the Congressional Union was to end its anti-Democratic Party campaign and never wage any political campaigns in the future. These demands were viewed as completely unreasonably and the meeting ended without any reconciliation or possibility of future attempts.