Ida Husted Harper
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Ida Husted Harper (b. February 18, 1851, Indiana - d. March 14, 1931, Washington, D.C.) was a prominent figure in the United States women's suffrage movement. Her role was primarily in documentation and journalism writing both about the movement and in support of its ideals.
In her early life she had little to do with political activism. In 1860, she is found at age 9 in the US Federal Census of Fairfield, Franklin County, Indiana, apparently the daughter of John A. Husted, who was born about 1823 in Indiana, and his wife Cassandra, who was born about 1823 in Vermont. In 1870 she is a school teacher in Peru, Indiana. She spent time as principal of a high school in Peru, Indiana and in 1871 married Thomas Harper of Terre Haute, Indiana, who went on to become a successful attorney and politician and whom she would later divorce.
She began writing woman's columns, first in a Terre Haute newspaper under the pseudonym "John Smith" and later in a union magazine edited by Eugene V. Debs of Terre Haute. Through this period she gradually became more interested in the campaign for women's suffrage.
In 1887 she helped to organize a woman suffrage society in Indiana, serving as its secretary and in 1896 joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association where she worked as a reporter and historian of the movement. She brought Susan B. Anthony to Terre Haute for a convention and became close to her during this period, soon collaborating with her on the "History of Woman Suffrage".
She later wrote an authorized biography of Anthony based on her their relationship and Anthony's own archives. The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony was published in 3 volumes between 1898 and 1908.
Ida Harper fulfilled a similar role in press relations for the International Council of Women and later headed the Leslie Bureau of Suffrage Education, which aimed to improve public understanding of the movement. The bureau produiced articles and pamphlets about the campaign and also communicated directly with editors, praising, chastising or correcting them as it saw fit.
In 1920 her efforts succeeded as women were guaranteed the right to vote by the Nineteenth Amendment. In 1922 she updated the History of Woman Suffrage, adding fifth and sixth volumes.
Her daughter, Winnifred Harper Cooley, became an author and lecturer.
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