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Anne Dallas DudleyAmerican suffragist.
Date of Birth: 13.11.1876
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Anna Dallas Dudley
Early Life and MarriageAnna Dallas Dudley was an American suffragist who was born in Nashville. In 1902, she married banker and insurance broker Guilford Dudley. The couple had three children – Ida Dallas Dudley, Trevania Dallas Dudley, and Guilford Dudley Jr. Unfortunately, Ida passed away in infancy, and Trevania died before reaching her 20th birthday. Only Guilford Jr. lived a long life, passing away at the age of 95.
Activism and Suffrage Movement
After her marriage, Anna became involved in the temperance movement. Through her friendships with Maria Daviess and Ida Clyde Clark, Dudley began to contemplate the role of women in modern society and gradually became convinced that women voters would be beneficial for society. Despite the idea being considered absurd by both men and the majority of women at the time, Dudley founded the suffrage league in Nashville in September 1911, with the help of Clark, Daviess, and several other acquaintances. She became the league's first president and focused on promoting suffrage ideas through peaceful methods.
Under Dudley's leadership, the league organized several large suffrage parades on May Day, with Dudley and her children leading the way. After four years in Nashville, Dudley was elected into the Tennessee Suffrage Association, where she was able to propose a new amendment to the Constitution. Although she was unable to pass the amendment, the attempt set an important precedent.
In 1917, Dudley became the third vice-president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and achieved impressive results in advancing pro-suffrage laws. In 1920, along with Catherine Talty Kenny and Abby Crawford Milton, Dudley organized a campaign in Tennessee to fight for the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment. On August 18, Tennessee became the 36th state to approve the amendment, with its vote being the deciding factor.
Later Life and Legacy
After the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, Dudley's political activities gradually declined. She became the first woman delegate at the 1920 Democratic National Convention and served as the first assistant to the chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Committee. Later, Dudley focused mainly on charitable work. During World War II, she actively collaborated with the American Red Cross and later became the chairwoman of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities.
Anna Dallas Dudley passed away on September 13, 1955, at the age of 78, due to coronary artery occlusion. She was buried at a cemetery in Nashville. Her contributions to the suffrage movement are remembered to this day. Dudley is one of three women commemorated at the Tennessee Woman's Suffrage Memorial in Knoxville, along with Lizzie Crozier French and Elizabeth Meriwether.
