In the Company of Friends: Aoife O’Donovan and the Legacy of Women’s Rights

On March 22, five-time Grammy-nominated Americana singer/songwriter Aoife O’Donovan released a new album, “All My Friends,” which examines the past, present, and future of the women's movement. Her inspiration came from 19th Amendment advocate and suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt's 1916 speech, "The Crisis," calling for women's right to vote. Catt's 105-year-old declaration—The Woman's Hour Has Struck, The Woman’s Hour is Now—resonated so deeply with O'Donovan, she incorporated the phrase directly into her lyrics.

In an interview regarding Catt's speech, the singer remarked, “How was this written in 1916? ... Because this is still happening in 2024. It was inspiring and a little bit disappointing that we’re still facing so many of these inequalities.”

Aoife O’Donovan came to the Capitol Theatre in York, PA, on July 13, 2024.

Does she know where she is performing? If she knew, would she feel the weight of history and the triumph of freedom echoing the voices of women who once championed justice and equality? She should know she is in the company of friends.

Frances Wright in York, August 1836

In 1836, Frances “Fanny” Wright was chased out of Philadelphia for speaking in public. She found solace on the banks of the Susquehanna River, where she penned a heartfelt letter to her daughter, emphasizing the importance of women's right to speak and her desire to create a better world. The next day, she stood before the courthouse in York—now celebrated as the Colonial Complex—and delivered a powerful speech. The editor of the York Gazette affirmed her right to speak, invoking the essence of freedom for which Americans fought in the Revolutionary War and ensuring that this liberty is for all human beings.

Dr. Anna Howard Shaw in York, October 1915

What if O’Donovan knew that Anna Howard Shaw, a legendary leader in her longevity and devotion to the cause of women’s rights, spoke here in York? Shaw was appointed the national lecturer for the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1887. By 1890, she held the same position for the merged association, NAWSA, delivering speeches across every state. In 1915, she came to York, where newspapers hailed her brilliance and acknowledged her as the foremost orator of her generation. Carrie Chapman Catt herself praised Shaw, saying, “She stood unchallenged throughout her career as the greatest orator among women the world has ever known.” In October, Shaw delivered her signature speech, “The Fundamental Principle of a Republic,” to Yorkers, a masterpiece now ranked 27th among the top 100 speeches of the 20th century by AmericanRhetoric.com.

Shaw's speech, famous for its clever exposition of her opposition’s inconsistencies, resonated deeply. Using humor, she addressed the claim that women were too burdened to vote. Suggesting that women’s “cheap time” be used over men’s “dear time,” she comically implied that it would be more economical to allow women to vote because women were paid significantly less, and voting took so little time.

Recounting a conversation with a friend who questioned how she could vote without neglecting her baby, Shaw shared her clever response. She pointed out that her friend’s husband, a busy bank manager, managed to vote without neglecting his job, and women have an advantage because they can take their child to the polls.

One hundred years later, which contradiction do you find the funniest? The idea that voting takes an unreasonable amount of time and should therefore be left to those who are paid less, or the notion that only women might neglect their responsibilities on election day.

The Justice Bell arrives in York in September 1915

What if O’Donovan knew about the Justice Bell, the main publicity feature of the 1915 campaign for woman suffrage in Pennsylvania? A replica of the Liberty Bell without the crack, this bell bore the words “Establish Justice” but had a chained clapper symbolizing women's silent political voices. In 1915, the bell went on a 5,000-mile tour on the bed of a modified pickup truck and visited all 67 Pennsylvania counties. Anna Dill Gamble, whose face now appears on the tower in the Steam Plant at the York County History Center, galvanized the Justice Bell tour through York County.

According to her 2020 article, “The York County Campaign for Woman Suffrage” in the Journal of York County Heritage, June Burk Lloyd recalled that the bell's journey included stops in York, Loganville, Shrewsbury, Stewartstown, Winterstown, Red Lion, Dallastown, Hallam, and Wrightsville. One of the most touching moments occurred in Shrewsbury when Mary H. Eberhart, in her 80s and too ill to read the poem she had composed for the Justice Bell, saw the bell truck detour by her home so she could view it from her bedroom window.

When the 19th Amendment was ratified in August 1920, the bell rang 48 times, once for every state in the union at that time.

To be the bells of York and the calling of women who once spoke on justice and equality.

To learn more about the rich history of York, PA, please consider attending the Grand Opening Community Celebration of the brand new York County History Center, August 2 – 4.

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