| Helen Kendrick Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 4, 1844 Hamilton, New York |
| Died | January 3, 1917 (aged 72) |
| Occupation | Children's Author, Poet, Anti-suffragist activist and writer |
| Spouse | Rossiter Johnson |
Helen Kendrick Johnson (January 4, 1844 – January 3, 1917) was an American writer, poet, and prominent activist opposing the women's suffrage movement.[1]
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Helen Kendrick Johnson was born in Hamilton, New York to her father, Asahel Clark Kendrick[2] a professor in Greek at University of Rochester and mother Anne Elizabeth Kendrick (born Hopkins) who died in 1851 after the birth of Helen's third sister. After the death of her mother, Helen aged 7 spent much of her childhood living with her aunt in Clinton, New York until 1860 when she spent time in Savannah, Georgia with her father's brothers leaving in 1861 due to the outbreak of the American civil war. In 1863 she enrolled as a student in the Oread Institute, in Worcester, Massachusetts and studied there until June, 1864. After the end of the civil war she briefly returned to Savannah and spent the rest of her childhood between there, an aunt's house in Utica, New York and her father's house in Rochester, New York where she remained until her marriage.[1][3]
After marrying newspaper editor Rossiter Johnson in 1869 she began writing children's literature and travel articles.[1]
Both Helen and her husband were both active in the anti-suffrage movement. From 1894–1896 she was editor of the American Woman’s Journal and founded the Meridian Club in 1886. Rossiter was author of a pamphlet titled, Why Women Do Not Want the Ballot, and in 1897 Helen wrote what is often considered the best summary of the arguments against woman suffrage: Woman and the Republic. In which she argued that women didn't need the vote in order to establish more legal, economic and other equality and that women's role in the domestic sphere was essential for maintenance of the American republic. She was openly critical of the writing of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her work The Woman's Bible linking it to radicalism and socialism.[1] During her time as an anti-suffragette activist she addressed several legislative committee in Albany and Washington and wrote many newspaper articles and pamphlets on the subject. In 1910 she founded the Guidon Club, an anti-suffragette organization dedicated to the study of politics and government.[3][4]