Anna Laurens Dawes
A political daughter who became a formidable author and a surprising voice against women's suffrage, shaping early 20th-century gender debates.
1851–1938 (age 87)·American author and suffragist·Birthday: May 14
Biography
Born into the political aristocracy of 19th-century America, Anna Laurens Dawes was the daughter of Senator Henry Dawes, a proximity to power that gave her a unique education in the nation's inner workings. Rather than seek public office herself, she channeled her insights into writing, becoming a respected author on political and historical subjects. Her stance on women's rights, however, was complex and counterintuitive; she aligned with the anti-suffrage movement, arguing that women's influence was more potent in the domestic and social spheres than at the ballot box. This position placed her at the heart of a fierce national debate, making her a prominent, if controversial, intellectual figure. Her life and work offer a window into the nuanced and often contradictory arguments that defined the fight for gender equality in her era.
#1 When Anna Was Born
The biggest hits of 1851
Anna's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1851Born
1856Started school
1864Became a teenager
President: Abraham Lincoln
1867Could drive
President: Andrew Johnson
1869Could vote
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1872Turned 21
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1881Turned 30
President: Chester A. Arthur
1891Turned 40
President: Benjamin Harrison
1901Turned 50
Queen Victoria dies, ending the Victorian era
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1911Turned 60
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire kills 146 in New York
President: William Howard Taft
1921Turned 70
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
1931Turned 80
The Empire State Building opens as the world's tallest
Gas: $0.17/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Minnie the Moocher" — Cab CallowayBest Picture: Cimarron
1938Died at 87
Kristallnacht and the escalation toward WWII
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $2,850Min wage: $0.25/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Begin the Beguine" — Artie ShawBest Picture: You Can't Take It with You
Key Achievements
- Authored multiple books and articles on political history and government, establishing herself as a serious writer in a male-dominated field.
- Served as a leading voice in the anti-suffrage movement, providing intellectual heft to the opposition against the 19th Amendment.
- Leveraged her unique access as a senator's daughter to produce informed commentary on American political processes.
Did You Know?
Her father, Henry Laurens Dawes, was the author of the pivotal Dawes Act of 1887, which governed land rights for Native American tribes.
She was a member of the Massachusetts Anti-Suffrage Committee, a key organization in the fight against women's voting rights.
Despite her anti-suffrage stance, she was a highly educated and publicly engaged woman, a paradox of her time.
“The law must be written so the woman in the farmhouse can understand it.”
