Historical Society of Delaware - Emily P. Bissell, AntiSuffragist

Emily Bissell illustrates the paradox of the anti-suffrage position. Although she was active and involved in many causes - the sort of person who might be expected to want the vote - she did not feel it was necessary. She pointed out that politics had not been reformed in the states where women could vote. She also felt that women were already fairly treated because they could practice almost every profession. In her view, nothing would be gained by giving women the vote. Miss Bissell became a national leader of the anti-suffrage cause.

A lifelong Wilmingtonian, Emily Bissell devoted herself to social service and civic causes. The West End Reading Room, which she founded in 1889, had Delaware's first free kindergarten and playground, among other services. She was also involved in the Consumer's League and the American Red Cross. Miss Bissell wrote prose and poetry under the name Priscilla Leonard.

But she is best known as the person who introduced the Christmas seal to America. In 1907, her cousin, Dr. Joseph Wales, needed money to operate his tuberculosis hospital for the poor. Emily Bissell decided to sell Christmas seals, adopting a successful Danish practice. She wanted to raise $300 with her first Christmas seals; she ended up raising $3,000. The Christmas seals that are still used every year are the descendants of Emily Bissell's efforts nearly ninety years ago.

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