User:Jgplantz/Lillian Harris Coffin

Lillian Harris Coffin during her time as president of New Era League.

Family

Lillian Harris Coffin was an American political figure associated with the Women's Suffrage movement of the 20th century. Lillian Harris Coffin was born in 1868.

Lillian Virginia Harris was born in Cook County, IL in 1868. A first generation American, Lillian’s father, a broom maker named Edward Harris, was born in Kilnaughtin, Tarbert, Kerry, Ireland in and immigrated to the United States in 1850.

Lillian’s mother, Agnes Harris, was born in 1838 in St. Austell, Cornwall, England. Immigrated to the United States in 1840.

Edward and Agnes married in 1857 in Cook County, Illinois, and together had eight children, Lillian being the fifth.

In her teenage years, Lillian moved from Cook County, Illinois to Alameda, California, where she met Horace Coffin.

Lillian Harris married Horace Coffin on August 22, 1889. [license] They had their only child, Marguerita Lillian Coffin, on March 30, 1892.

Marguerita married Shirley Cyrus Walker on December 21, 1911, and they bore Lillian Harris Coffin three granddaughters:

Dorothy Margaret Walker 1913-1980

Barbara Lillian Walker 1915-1922

Patricia Joan Walker 1918-2015

Lillian was widowed when Horace Coffin passed away April 8, 1951.

Lillian passed away on March 25, 1968.

Influence

Coffin was the daughter of an Irish broom maker, but even with this lack of social status, she was able to influence many people. Coffin was a part of many clubs prior to joining the suffrage movement, which gained her social prominence. As she gained more social access, her opinions and work started reaching lawmakers and politicians. Coffin was a key player in the movement which helped pass California Prop. 4, which was voted on on October 10, 1911, ultimately proving successful and grating women the right to vote in California.

Involvement in Suffrage Movement

On August 27th, 1908, Lillian Coffin, along with many other players in the California suffrage movement, led a march in Oakland, California. The goal of the march was to pressure the Republican Party to add women's suffrage to their platform, as the Democratic Party had previously done. While the goal of the march was not achieved, the Republican Party would eventually add the suffrage movement to their platform the following year.

Lillian Harris Coffin, socialite, political activist, and opera singer, was most well known for her contributions to the suffrage movement in the early twentieth century.

Certainly not the most recognized name in the fight for women’s rights, Lillian Harris Coffin did work with many of the women whose names are commonly identified with the suffrage movement. She appeared with Johanna Pinter in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1908, and she participated in many of the same clubs and events as Susan B. Anthony, even if not in the same year.

Lillian Harris Coffin circa 1905.

Lillian Harris Coffin carved her niche in the suffrage movement in three areas: she took her experience in chairing and running social clubs, and applied it to the developing and running of women’s movement clubs and civic progress organizations. She used her social status to influence lawmakers and politicians to vote for ratification, and she traveled the state of California gathering members and supporters of the suffrage movement.

Her first role in social clubs was as the Chair for the Civic Section of the California Club in 1905. In that role she was exposed to the plights of both women and children, and the efforts being made to change laws to favor equality.

In 1906 she helped create the San Francisco Equal Suffrage League, “which held its meetings in a downtown hall, with a big bulletin board set conspicuously in front, announcing them, and attracting many strangers.” These boots on ground efforts are how she, and other suffrage leaders, grew their numbers.

By 1907 she was Vice-President of the State Central Committee, and in that role lead a march of 300 people to precede a State Republican Convention in Santa Cruz, where she met several prominent politicians, including ex-Governor James Gillett, who was then running to return to the office. Mr. Gillett introduced himself as a supporter of the cause. Once elected, Mrs. Harris Coffin called on Governor Gillett for his support, to which he replied, “O, I was only fooling.”[sic]

Mrs. Harris Coffin attended the Republican Conventions in 1907, 1908, and 1909, each time failing to get the resolution onto the platform floor. The poor reception of the men who had previously pledged their support was used as a tool to expose members of the legislature for their duplicitousness.

In addition to support gained by the exposure of the legislature, 1909 took Mrs. Harris Coffin to the Chautauqua Assembly at Fair Pont; a women’s suffrage meeting that dated back to 1891, when Susan B. Anthony, among other prominent leaders, attracted a record audience, and established it as a regular platform for women’s suffrage.

With the numbers and influencers of the day, in 1910 Mrs. Harris Black and her compatriots were at least successful in getting the resolution to the party platform. Unfortunately, unlike each previous year, they did not get the Democratic endorsement

When they arrived in the capitol in 1911, Mrs. Harris Coffin and her lobby were met by a group protesting the resolution. The clash was well covered by journalists, and Mrs. Harris Coffin used this attention, as well as the accusations of being, “militant,” to the group’s advantage. The members dressed elegantly and carried themselves with class, and both the journalists and the politicians took notice. This elevated opinion of the women was a strong factor in getting the resolution passed.

In 1911, the women of California won the right to vote, thanks in no small part to Mrs. Lillian Harris Coffin.

Association With Various Groups

Lillian Coffin served on many committees and women's suffrage associations, such as the California Equal Suffrage Association, the civic section of the California Club, and even created an organization called the San Francisco Equal Suffrage League. These organizations helped to further the women's suffrage movement throughout California, as well as helped to add their agenda to other political campaigns of the time.

Timeline

1868 Born in Cook County, IL

1889 Married Horace Coffin

1892 Gave birth to Marguerite Lillian Coffin

1905 Became Chair of the Civic Section of the California Club

1906 Helped create the San Francisco Equal Suffrage League

1906 Attended the California State Republican Convention [S]

1907 Became Vice-President of the California Equal Suffrage Association (CESA)

1908 Lead 300 women marching in the first suffrage parade, in Oakland California

1909 Attended, and organized speakers for, the Chautauqua Assembly

1909 Attended the California State Republican Convention

1910 Attended the California State Republican Convention

1911 Attended the California State Republican Convention

1911 Aided in the passing of legislation to give women the right to vote in California

1911 Helped in the creation of the Club-Women’s Franchise League[Cardinale]

1951 Became a widow

1968 Lillian passed away.

Bibliography

Raab, Eleanor. “Biographical Sketch of Lillian Harris Coffin.” Biographical Sketch of Lillian Harris Coffin | Alexander Street Documents. Accessed October 14, 2022. https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1009656420

1870 United States Census, Cranston, Cook County, IL, page 67, lines 21-28

1880 United States Census, Chicago, Cook County, IL, page 44, lines 19-29

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California, US, Select Births and Christenings, 1812-1988 FHL Film Number 1571208

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Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File

Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014.

Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.

California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images.

California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images.

Title: California, County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1849-1980

Author: Ancestry.com Publisher: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Publisher date: 2017

Publisher location: Lehi, UT, USA

California, US, Select Births and Christenings, 1812-1988 FHL Film Number 1571208

Solomons, Selina. "How We Won the Vote in California."

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Cardinale, Kristina A.. "Building a Coalition in California: The 1911 Campaign for Women's Suffrage." (2022).

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Clemens, Elisabeth S.. “Securing Political Returns to Social Capital: Women’s Associations in the United States, 1880s-1920s.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol.

Gullett, Gayle. "Winning California: The 1911 Suffrage Victory." W.

Skahill, Karen L.. “A Higher Ambition”: Bay Area Women Fight for Suffrage in California, San Jose State University, Ann Arbor, 2004.

Smith, Sarah. "“Make it a Woman’s World”: The 1911 California Woman Suffrage Campaign." Voces Novae 7.1 (2015): 6.

"Ladies Talk on Suffrage Today" Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California, Volume XXXIV Number 292, 10 December 1908

"Glen Park Resident Johanna Pinther and the First March for Suffrage in the United States" Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project. Glen Park and the First Suffrage March | glenparkhistory