Learning from The Sky is Now Her Limit Cartoon | A Primary Source Close Read w/ BRI

0:04 Hi everybody. Welcome to another episode of BRI’s Primary Source Close Read, where we walk you through important sources in US. History. I’m Mary Patterson and I work on the content team here at BRI, and I’m really excited to be joined by my colleague all the way across the country, Liz Evans. Hey Liz. Hi Mary. How are you? I’m doing really well.

0:25 So Liz is a fairly new face to the BRI team officially. So, Liz, tell us a little bit about your role here at BRI. So I am very lucky. I am the regional programs manager, so I get to develop and implement programming for teachers around the country. And we’re really excited this year because

0:47 we get to do Votes for Women as well as Presidents and the Constitution. So it’s going to be a fun year. Yeah. And it is. Like Liz said, it’s a big year for us ladies, because this August, we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

1:08 So there’s some serious girl power going on. And in that vein, Liz and I are going to be looking at sources related to the passage of the 19th Amendment. So I’m going to go ahead and share my screen with you all. We are going to be looking at a couple of things, but we’re really going to be

1:32 focusing on a political cartoon called The Sky is Now Her Limit. And the artist is Elmer Andrews Bushnell. And this was published in 1920 as a response to the passage of the 19th Amendment. So the 19th Amendment very short. We have it up here on the screen, like we said, is ratified in 1920. So we’re coming up on the 100th anniversary.

1:56 It’s a huge achievement when you look at it on the screen. It’s pretty short and concise, but this was quite a victory. And there was so much work and struggle and sweat and tears that went into getting this amendment passed. And I think the story of Votes for Women is something that we explore in our Votes

2:20 for Women curriculum and in our Homework Help videos, which you. Guys should definitely check out if you’re not familiar with them. But it’s hard to I think we sort of take it for granted. It’s 2020 and I can vote, and I’ve always been able to vote. But there was so much hard work. That went into getting this passed in the first place.

2:42 And I think because we’re BRI, we like the backstory. So I think it’s worth talking a little bit about sort of bringing you up to the spark notes version of how this amendment actually got passed. The fight for women’s suffrage is nothing new. It’s not like this happened overnight. But by the early 20th century, the women’s suffrage movement had kind of stalled out.

3:04 There was a split in the movement over working towards a federal amendment or going a state by state approach. So there was a lot of sort of rebuilding and regrouping going on. And along comes this woman who I just love learning about her. The more I read about her, the more I really admire her.

3:24 Alice Paul. And Alice Paul, her leadership, I think you could say it was a real turning point in galvanizing the movement and. Getting this amendment actually passed. So Alice Paul, I think her style was alienated some people and was she kind of confrontational. She was influenced by the suffrage

3:46 movement in Great Britain, which was a lot more militant. They used picketing and hunger strikes and things that weren’t really done in the United States. And she becomes a part of that movement and takes that back to the United States with her. And she even splits from the suffrage movement in 1916, informs the National Women’s Party.

4:08 And I found this quote from her. It’s actually from three years before she splits off and founds her own party, but it says, quote, it is better as far as getting the vote is concerned, I believe, to have a small, united group than an immense debating society. And as Alice Paul, 1914, I love that quote.

4:28 As someone who is really drawn to actions over words, you can sort of feel her frustration there, like, we need to get this party going. So she plays in a tremendous role in getting this amendment passed. Even the more research I did on her understanding that a lot of the tactics

4:52 she used for the time were very when we say militant, I mean, maybe in today’s standards they wouldn’t be so jaw dropping. But back then, a lot of the things that she did with her hunger strike I’m with you, Mary. The more I learned about her, the more I just became so interested in the story as a whole, because I know for me, as a student,

5:16 I learned about Lucrecia Mott and Carrie Chapman Catt, her name is. And Alice Paul wasn’t ever really discussed, and it’s not really until recently. And I’m diving into curriculum and diving into her, that just having an understanding that change, especially when we talk about voting rights, is very messy and complicated

5:40 and there are so many different ways to do it. So it was interesting, I know, for me to see all of these different sides of these women who marched forth to get this passed right. And I think, like you said, this is a movement, so I don’t want to just say without.

6:00 Alice Paul was the only person that mattered. There were so many women and men who threw their support over this over time, and they had different styles and they didn’t always agree. I think anyone that’s worked in a group understands that there are different styles and it’s messy. Maybe it’s one step forward, two steps back,

6:21 but yeah, Alice Paul, I think so many things about her life were exceptional like you said, she gets her PhD. She attends suffragette suffragist meetings as a young girl because her mother is a suffragist. She takes a leading role and she uses that hunger strike and she actually pickets President Wilson.

6:45 They picket at the White House every day. During World War I talked about this idea of being more militant and confrontational, the idea that you would pick it a president during wartime. People were just like, what? A lot of people were just shocked by that, and they were heckled and mobs would try to attack them, and they were peacefully just standing there with a sign.

7:10 If you were President Wilson, you probably weren’t too thrilled about this because they were calling him out. We’re fighting this war, World War One, to make the world safer, democracy. But we don’t have democracy at home. Because when we can’t vote. So I’m sure he wasn’t too thrilled about that. But they’re arrested for that on these trumped up charges of blocking traffic. And they’re sent to prison Alice Paul and her followers,

7:33 and they’re treated really terribly, and they’re force fed because they’re refusing to eat again, a tactic learned from the British. And just force feeding. It’s hard to comprehend how awful that is. I’m cringing just thinking about it. When you think about this though, like even picketing in front

7:56 of the White House, and I mean, the force feedings, that garners a lot of attention and whether it’s positive or negative attention, even people being upset with her for ticketing during the Great War. And there’s other things we have to think about, but it brings forth attention to a cause and I’m with you.

8:16 The force feeding and hearing how they did it and how she endured that time after time and day after day. But it is like people see this and it brings attention because it’s not like back in the day, you could just throw out a quick tweet and say, like, hey, everybody, we’re working for this. It’s a very different way to get that message out.

8:41 Even here in Arizona, we never really think about women’s rights because we became a state in 1912 and women had the right to vote. But it’s the region that we’re in, because if you look at just regionally, the west gave women the right to vote first in their states.

9:05 The movement itself had this debate do we pursue a federal amendment or do we do the state by state approach? And the Western states were quicker to give women the right to vote than here. I’m here in Northern Virginia, good old Eastern seaboard. But yeah, different approaches, different ideas. Like Carrie Chapman Catt, you mentioned she was about supporting Wilson and supporting the war.

9:29 So she was not really a part of these pretty confrontational in your face tactics that Alice Paul and the National Women’s Party are using. But together, their work together, I think spurs Wilson and Congress to finally pass this and it’s ratified and it becomes it’s written into our Constitution.

9:52 A lot of our amendments, they’re pretty small, but if you think about the story behind it, I think it’s really fascinating. So it’s 1920. Women have the right to vote. And then here is the political cartoon that we mentioned at the beginning of our recording here. The sky is now her limit.

10:12 And the cartoonist, he was sort of a lifelong political cartoonist. He worked for he drew for papers in New York and also in Ohio. And this cartoon first appeared in Ohio as a response to the passage of the 19th Amendment. And he was known for using sort

10:34 of cartoons to make social commentary, which I think is a pretty cartoons are. Still doing that in the present day. This image, I think, is really there’s a lot to unpack here, for sure. And I love political cartoons because I think that everybody comes in with a different lens and you all see different things.

10:57 And when we look at text, like we’re all reading the same text, and even that is a little bit different perspective. But I think that it’s such an old cliche thing. But a picture says 1000 words, and this one truly does. When you look at all the details that are put in here and all the rungs of the ladder and even the fact that she has on a milk

11:19 main yolk, so it’s not like she’s putting that down to climb the laddering up with her right makes it even more difficult. That’s one of the things I love about using images as the primary source is that when you look at them,

11:41 and especially when you’re looking at them with students and you have all these different sets of eyes on them at the same time, someone always says something. Even if I’ve looked at it so many times before that I never thought about any comment about she’s not putting down this yoke. Maybe she will. I don’t know. That’s a question for us, the viewer. But does she have to go up the ladder with that?

12:02 I don’t even go up, like, past the third step on the ladder. I was just holding a ladder for my husband the other day and I was like, I’m glad you’re taking care of it. But anyway, I digress. But I think just looking at it before you even try to make out the text and I’ll bring up what’s on the wrong with the ladder in a second because I know some of them are a little difficult to read. There’s this woman, she’s carrying what I would imagine to be heavy buckets.

12:26 And she’s looking like there’s this light shining down on this ladder and the sky is her limit. So she can achieve everything right? Is that how people were reacting to this? I mean, this is a huge victory to finally all this work to get the right to vote and what next?

12:50 Big question mark. It’s an interesting thing, too, if you look at the shading of where the dark is and where it kind of stops before it changes to light. The equal suffrage rung is in the light. But even going down, like a lot of those jobs, it’s a curious question of why are these in the dark?

13:14 Part of it, why are these in that shading there? And again, there can be lots of different things. But that’s another thing I noticed. She’s looking up for the light right now. She’s carrying these things. And again, I noticed it because I was like, I wonder what that is, because I’ve never seen that before.

13:39 And she’s holding it. And it would be a completely different look if those were next to her. But they’re still on her, how that looks. Because equal suffrage that wrong is so big and it’s in kind of the transition of the dark and the lights in that background. Yeah.

14:00 And I like, that. Teacher is two rungs above House Treasury. Being a former teacher, too, but I did that and kind of looked at those bottom rungs and noticed that those were typical careers for women in the early 1900s. So that was like

14:26 like a nurse and a teacher and I love it says Arts, Crafts and signs altogether. I don’t know that people would necessarily agree with that today. Sorry, go ahead. But those like, having all of those women’s jobs at the bottom and they’re all below equal

14:47 suffrage is, again, another interesting question. So why are they below it? Right? The cartoonist is a man. So if a woman is Alice Paul drew a cartoon to celebrate the passage of the 19th Amendment.

15:08 I wonder what that would look like. Or if Carrie Chapman Catt had a cartoon, would there be different rungs? Would they not use this image of a ladder? I don’t know. So I just think that it definitely implies sort of I like the idea of one step at a time, but how we are ranking the different steps and things that are available to women is interesting.

15:33 It is. And it brings up how hard it is sometimes to look at a cartoon in 2020 that was made in 1920, because clearly, and I agree with you as I’m looking at these, it’s like, I don’t know that I would necessarily put them in that order, but that is a present day person judging a cartoon from 100 years ago.

15:55 And even that’s an interesting question to ask. Like, clearly some of these things have changed, and maybe some of them don’t even exist anymore. But what does that even look like I’ll bring up. So this is kind of in the reverse order, but I know it’s a little hard to read.

16:15 So if you’re following up with us, here is how the artist has labeled the different rungs of the latter, with slavery being the lowest strong and the presidency being the highest strong. But I think this idea of presentism and thinking about it with our 2020 minds, it’s definitely something that students are going to do, and it’s worth.

16:38 These are sort of big questions and they’re timeless questions, and I think that’s part of the fun to me about using the primary sources. There’s a lot you can talk about and unpack it’s. In essence, it’s kind of a simple picture. A woman, the base of the ladder runs are

16:58 labeled, and then there’s a light at the top. It’s simple in a way, but it’s not simple the more you dive into it. Well, and the best part about primary sources like this is there’s not necessarily a right answer. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, Mary, where you see things hundreds of times throughout teaching or researching or whatever, and every time there’s something

17:22 a little bit different that you notice or you’re having a discussion with somebody and you’re like, oh, my gosh, I never even thought about that. But again, we all come with different lenses. And I think that is something that’s so valuable about primary resources like this, is it can create a conversation that is so rich, because it’s not just a.

17:50 And even just looking at this now, wage equality is two steps above equal suffrage, and that’s something you hear about a lot in the present day. Again, where would that go on The Ladder? Where did the artist think it was supposed to go? Where might a woman have thought it would go? Think it would go? Where do we in 2020 think that goes?

18:12 So there’s a lot of facts that you can take on looking at this. Well, one of the things I found interesting, as we’re looking at kind of the higher rungs up there, one of them was Congress, but at this point, Jeanette Rankin had already been a representative in Congress, so before this even passed, but then she wasn’t reelected.

18:34 So again, knowing that one of these had already happened, how it’s still so high? And then the presidency, which, again, is a very interesting look, because as we look at the election of 2020, how many women ran in the primaries?

18:58 How has that kind of progressed over the 100 years? Ultimately, this ladder, in a way, is sort of I think it’s the value structure of the person who made it. And to what extent did it reflect the views of other men and the other progressive men?

19:21 I say progressive because in the sense that he used the cartoons in his history as cartoonist prior to this image, he used his cartoons to attack political corruption, sort of like this idea of muckraking. This image is really interesting because it clearly reflects some assumptions and values about the artist,

19:43 and more broadly, the time in which it comes, which it comes from. But it’s also interesting to think about, again, if we put on our 2020 lens, what’s missing? Like, what would we consider to be a step forward after equal suffrage? Perhaps I would not put notary public next. I’m still not exactly sure what notary public is.

20:05 I know I worked with one once upon time, but what’s missing? And that might be an interesting question to ask students if you’re using this image with them as well. It would be interesting to ask them how even does the artist the values of that time, and then the things that they notice are missing? Like, how does that even reflect 1920s values?

20:28 Because there are things missing on here that maybe they never thought would be something attainable for a woman. And I’m trying to actually look at the Ladder now, like, is there an ending of the Ladder? Yes, the highest wrong is presidency. But if you think about a ladder, it goes up so far, but there’s still space, if that makes sense.

20:54 Yeah, and I think that’s an interesting point, even if you are at the top rung of the ladder. You’re still reaching up to something, and it’s not clear, right? I mean, was this just the cut off of the space that he had in the newspaper? Or was he trying to say, once women achieve the presidency, everything’s better?

21:15 I don’t know, I don’t think and then just or are there other positions of leadership besides the presidency that women should aspire to? Like the woman CEO, like you were saying, it’s something that probably wasn’t even on the mind of someone in the 1920s for a woman to be in that position.

21:35 And women were kind of CEO, so to speak, of some of companies I think of, like madam CJ. Walker comes to mind, but just this idea of, yeah, the sky is her limit. I think just the title, it’s not the presidency. I don’t think it’s the end all, I would argue just based on the title itself. But I think that’s an interesting question for any of you or your student to think

21:58 about as well on that same vein of progress. It’s something that there isn’t really a stopping point like we have 1920. The amendment has been passed, but that doesn’t mean this movement and the work is over. And that’s one of the things, again, going back to Alice Paul.

22:20 You have to admire this woman. She almost immediately starts working for another other amendment, which she names the Lucretia Mott amendment for fellow suffragists and also noted abolitionist for basically equal rights. And it’s submitted to congress every year from 1923 to 1942.

22:46 So Alice Paul is working. She knows that the movement is not done. The work continues. And I think that’s what’s really admirable about her is that this was a huge victory and it was an achievement, and it was a celebration, but also, okay, now what’s the next thing that we need to go for?

23:08 And then the amendment is rewarded slightly, and then it takes on her name, the Alice Paul amendment. And if this looks a little familiar to you, this is because this is the basis for the equal rights amendment, which is something that sort of has a spotlight on. Again, we’re talking about 2020 coming back up in the news.

23:30 Well, it’s an interesting thing, too, to look at and to have students or viewers look at the differences between these two amendments and why words matter, especially when you’re talking about the law and especially when you’re talking about an amendment to the constitution. Like you said, most amendments are very short.

23:51 The Constitution isn’t that long. And so if you have a document like that, those words matter, and why changes were made between these two amendments and why that matters. I think it’s a really interesting thing, because in the Lucretia Mott amendment, I don’t actually see the word law like equality under the law.

24:15 And when I look at Alice Paul, I think of things like the 14th amendment and those kinds of things. So even the difference in wording is such an interesting thing to me. Yeah absolutely. I think that’s a really great point, that each word is very intentional.

24:36 This is constitution. It’s this document that has guided this American experiment since nearly beginning, saying nearly because of the Articles of Confederation. So to put something in there is a big deal, and the language is very purposeful and very intentional. And then I’ll find the equal rights amendment here.

24:58 So it expanded a little bit, and then again, it was passed by congress in 1972, but it was not ratified by the states’ deadline. And then again to Virginia, where I’m coming from, Virginia recently, the Virginia assembly just ratified it.

25:18 So there’s this big question mark. What does this mean and what’s next? The saga continues. And I think that’s also really powerful thing to bring into the classroom because it ends with a question like a really good Socratic seminar. We don’t know the answer. The answer is unfolding.

25:39 And I think that the struggle continues or does it continue? It’s something to talk about and everybody can weigh in with what they think. Well, the best part about that is, again, there’s not an answer. And a lot of times when you ask those questions, it leads to more research, like, well, if Virginia ratified it

26:02 and other 38 states, why isn’t it in the constitution? And that’s a good thing for students to go back and look at, looking at deadlines of ratification and what that means and what congress’s role is in all of this. One of the things that we’ve talked about is African-American women didn’t really

26:22 get the solid right to vote until the voting rights amendment was passed in. None of these are perfect. And when we talk about our constitution, we talk about amendments. It’s a more perfect union. It was never meant to be that. But it’s an interesting look at the 19th amendment through the proposal of the equal rights amendment

26:49 to today and what that timeline looks like. And in another 100 years, how are people going to look back and say, like, we’re in the 200th year now of women’s 19th amendment? What has happened since? Yeah, I think well, I hope I’m not around for that. Personally, I don’t want to be around that long, but I do.

27:11 I think that’s a really great and it’s a poetic way to think about it, too. It’s a more perfect union. We’re not perfect humans. If we were angels, we wouldn’t need government. It’s just this constant, this driving and working continues, and different people will bring different voices, different styles.

27:32 So there’s a lot I think there’s a lot to mull over just in looking at these amendments and in that particular image. So I think that hopefully that you learned something from this. Hopefully you have some ideas that you can bring into the classroom. Everything that we looked at today is in the Bill of Rights Institute new online

27:54 US history resource Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. It’s all online. It’s free. It’s got a treasure trove of primary sources and essays that you can use with your students. So definitely check it out, sign up, explore, and thank you so much for being with us today. Girlpower. Go ladies.