Abigail Scott Duniway letter to Barbara M. Booth
Scope and Contents
The collection contains a letter dated April 11, 1914, that Duniway wrote to Barbara M. Booth, of Eugene, Oregon, in which Duniway describes her early education in Illinois, and her experiences as teacher in Oregon.
Dates
- 1914 April 11
Creator
- Duniway, Abigail Scott, 1834-1915 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical / Historical
Abigail Jane Scott (1834-1915) was born in Tazewell County, Illinois. Her family crossed the plains to Oregon when Abigail was seventeen years old, and she kept the family journal of their journey. Her mother and youngest brother, Willie, died en route to Oregon. Abigail's journal served as the basis of her 1859 novel Captain Gray's Company, the first commercially printed novel in Oregon.
Duniway (then Scott) became a teacher in the small town of Cincinnati (now Eola), Oregon, while her family ran an inn in Lafayette. There, she met Benjamin Charles Duniway and married him August 2, 1853.
Duniway's thoughts and writings began to turn to suffrage in the 1860s. In 1871, she moved her family to Portland and, in May of that year, launched her weekly newspaper, The New North West. She also began to lecture throughout the Northwest along with nationally-renown suffragist Susan B. Anthony. Duniway sold her newspaper in 1886.
Abigail Duniway was an indefatigable supporter of women's suffrage. She encountered personal set-backs such as poor health, money problems, and opposition from her brother Harvey Scott, who edited a local paper, The Portland Oregonian. She persisted despite political opposition in the form of local resistance, the consistent failure of women's suffrage referendums on state ballots, and divisions with Eastern suffrage organizations. This persistence paid off in 1912 when Oregon became the seventh state in the Union to pass a women's suffrage amendment. Governor Oswald West asked Duniway to write the proclamation for his signature. Duniway had the honor of being the first woman to register to vote in Multnomah County. During this period she also authored numerous novels. Abigail Jane Scott Duniway died on October 11, 1915.
[Source: Moynihan, Ruth Barnes. Rebel for Rights: Abigail Scott Duniway (Yale University Press, 1983). Coll 232B, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon.]
Extent
0.1 linear feet (1 container) : 1 folder
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Abigail Scott Duniway (1834-1915) was a leader in the women's suffrage movement in Oregon. The collection contains a letter dated April 11, 1914, that Duniway wrote to Barbara M. Booth, of Eugene, Oregon, in which Duniway describes her early education in Illinois, and her experiences as teacher in Oregon.
Processing Information
Collection processed by staff, and Tanya Parlet, 2013.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
This collection received a basic level of processing including minimal organization and rehousing.
Description information is drawn in part from information supplied with the collection and initial surveys of the contents.
- Booth, Barbara M.
- Correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Duniway, Abigail Scott, 1834-1915
- Education -- Illinois -- History -- 19th century Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Education -- Oregon -- History -- 19th century Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Suffragists -- Oregon -- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Teachers -- Oregon -- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- University of Oregon
- Women -- Suffrage -- Oregon Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Women teachers -- Oregon -- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the Abigail Scott Duniway Letter to Barbara M. Booth
- Status
- Complete Description
- Author
- Tanya Parlet.
- Date
- 2013
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
- Sponsor
- Funding for production of this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
