By Paige Gurgainers
Mary Claire Kettler traveled just across the parish line from Bienville to Webster again this month to make a visit as a guest speaker for the Dorcheat Historical Museum’s Night at the Museum event.
With this year being an election year, Kettler felt compelled to share a unique story of a local woman, Lavinia Hartwell Egan, who played an essential role in ratifying the 19th Amendment in 1920. This amendment prohibited the United States from denying its citizens the right to vote based on their sex, legally guaranteeing women the right to vote.
But Egan’s story began long before that major milestone. Originally from Texas, Egan’s family made their way to settle in Mt. Lebanon, La. Being the daughter of a doctor, she first handedly experienced many of the same crisis situations just over 100 years ago with the yellow fever epidemic that the United States recently experienced with the Covid –19 pandemic.
“We went through a really rough patch there for about two years. We were bombarded by all kinds of headlines. Hospitals were overcrowded with people sick from the pandemic and it was mandated that we had to wear masks. People were marching outside of the White House trying to get the attention of the president and people were taking to the streets about all kinds of social issues,” Kettler continued, “But wait, that was 100 years ago.”
Although many similarities are there, one major difference was that during this time, women did not yet have the right to vote or officially voice their opinions on a ballot regarding those social issues.
In 1890 Egan traveled to attend one of the top 3 institutions in the U.S. during that time in Nashville, Tenn. Soon after graduating, she decided to pursue a career in journalism where she went to work with the Philadelphia Times.
“Her articles were syndicated all over the United States,” said Kettler. She wrote under the pen name, Patience Oriel.
A couple of years later in 1897, Egan traveled back to Louisiana and became the President of the Hypatia Club, the oldest women’s club in Shreveport.
“Its purpose was intellectual development and social stimulation,” said Kettler. “It really was a literary club that began to concern itself with social issues and gave women a voice in civic affairs.” Egan was also the first president of the City Improvement League of Shreveport.
But in 1903, Egan found herself on more of a national stage of service and employment when she was elected as the secretary of the Board of Lady Managers from St. Louis World’s Fair. Her salary was $150 per month. It was during her time there that she familiarized herself with the idea of the modern woman also known as the Gibson Girl.
“Charles Dana Gibson was an illustrator for national magazines, and he sketched his wife and gave the world the concept of the Gibson Girl,” said Kettler. “The Gibson Girl was athletic and a free spirit.” This concept was at the height of its popularity in 1904.
Egan was often described as being seen wearing manly-type clothing and in Kettler’s opinion, she believes Egan mirrored her style after the Gibson Girl and just kept it for the rest of her life. Kettler jokingly said, “I think we can appreciate this because we all probably know someone from high school who is still wearing their high school haircut. They found that style they like and just don’t want to give it up.”
It was later in 1904 that Egan began to outwardly express strong opinions on women’s affairs. As a journalist, she was disappointed to find women columnists only sharing their opinions on things like pie crusts and puddings in average newspapers and if women were going to stand a chance in being granted the right to vote or equal rights then they must come forward with a woman’s point of view beyond recipes.
In 1918, Egan became a Clerk for the Secretary of War in Washington D.C. where she shared articles and publications for the war department. She became familiar with the National Women’s Party also known as the Silent Sentinels.
“I guess Lavinia just couldn’t stand it. She was never one to sit on the sidelines and she plunged headlong into the women’s right to vote,” said Kettler.
In May 1919, the House of Representatives passed the 19th amendment. The following month, it also passed the Senate, beginning the race for ratification. Egan was elected a member of the governing board for the National Women’s Party, who were considered the most radical of the women’s suffrage groups at the time. She soon began to personally travel the states pushing for ratification that essentially followed in August of 1920.
Egan returned to Mt. Lebanon in 1923 where she purchased Wayside Cottage and was able to exercise her right to vote for 25 years before her death in 1945.
“They say that little poem about the dash in between the day you were born and the day you die, there’s a dash,” said Kettler. “I would say that Lavinia made the most of her dash.”