Women's Rights

A crusader to improve women’s lives, Grace Bagley believed in the power of women working cooperatively. As a leader of the Chicago Women’s Club (CWC) she helped the organization shift from its role as a literary club to become one of the city’s major agents of social reform. In 1894, Grace and two other CWC members nominated Fannie Barrier Williams to be the first African American member of the club. Grace Bagley had met Mrs. Williams the prior year, when the Black club woman and reformer presented to the World’s Congress of Representative Women, during the World’s Columbian Exposition.

After the Bagley family moved to Massachusetts, Grace became increasingly involved in women’s suffrage. In 1913, she and her daughter Elizabeth invited 51 women to their home to hear from leading suffragettes such as Maude Wood Park. Shortly thereafter, Grace and Elizabeth Bagle went on an auto tour with their neighbor Emily Fisher to obtain signatures from legislators to support women’s voting rights.

Grace Bagley served as a director for many woman’s rights organizations including the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). She raised money, published articles, attended widespread suffrage conventions, and gave speeches, garnering national recognition. Grace worked closely with major leaders such as Carrie Chapman Catt, Katherine McCormick, Alice Stone Blackwell, and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw.

After the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment, Grace Bagley remained active in politics. A leader of the Women’s Republican Club for many years, she served as a delegate at large to the Republican National Convention of 1928, and chairman of the Hoover Headquarters in Massachusetts.