Historical Soceity of Delaware - Mary W. Thompson, AntiSuffragist

Ca. 1915

Mary Wilson Thompson felt that women could have their greatest impact on the political system by remaining outside it. Women who could not vote could not be suspected of having ulterior motives when they lobbied the legislature. Mary Wilson Thompson led the fight against suffrage in Delaware, exerting her greatest efforts in the ratification battle in the General Assembly. Even though she did not want the vote, she was an expert at lobbying and influencing legislators. In the end her side prevailed in the General Assembly. Below is an excerpt from her memoir.

Mrs. Thompson, the wife of businessman Henry B. Thompson, spent her life in the Wilmington area. She was involved in many civic causes, including historic preservation, the Red Cross, hospitals, and environmental conservation and beautification.

Excerpt from "Mary Wilson Thompson Memoir"
(Part Four), taken from Delaware History, Volume XVIII, 1978-1979, p. 251.

Anti-Suffrage

I have always opposed votes for women. It is constitutional with me. It is not that I feel women cannot vote or are not the mental equal of our men folks, but I feel that it is duplicating our work. It is putting an extra burden on the women and it has weakened materially our power with the legislatures.

As long as the women of the state came to the legislators of the state to ask for a reform in the laws or an improvement in conditions, our legislators knew we had no ulterior motive and also knew that they could act with a clear conscience, as there was no return vote by which they might benefit. The first question now that arises in their minds is, will she vote for me or will she not? After more than fifteen years of a tryout, what has been accomplished? The cheapening of womanhood, giving her a sort of independence by which she makes it a favor to her husband to attend to her housekeeping and attend to the children; a sort of overbearing spirit towards the men she meets casually, insinuating that she is better equipped in many ways then they are.

I say to the women in this country that their first duty is to keep up their man power. If a woman constantly jeers and openly refuses to consider her husband's opinions, what is to become of the family? With women all taking up jobs and receiving independent salaries for them, naturally they feel equal if not superior to their husbands. The young woman you see around in public is personally unattractive; she talks too loud and makes herself conspicuous; she is immodest on the beach and in the ballroom; and with her continual loud talking and constant smoking has lost much of her feminine charm. Personally,

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