Clubwomen, The Pollitzer Sisters & The Vote, Part 3 | Sisterhood: SC Suffragists - Episode 3

Support for women’s right to vote was growing in South Carolina. A custody battle and scandal between two legendary SC families gave the women’s suffrage movement a boost in SC. Lucy Pickens Dugas was married to Benjamin Tillman III, son of the infamous “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman. Their marriage fell apart, and the custody of the children eventually made its way to the SC Supreme Court. The case caught the attention of the local and national press; women from across SC wrote to The State newspaper denouncing Tillman. The court ruled in favor of Lucy, and what it did was open the eyes of many other women, like Eulalie Salley. Salley, from Aiken, SC became heavily involved in the women’s suffrage movement as a result of the Tillman scandal.

Standards

• 8-5 The student will understand the impact of Reconstruction, industrialization, and Progressivism on society and politics in South Carolina in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
  • During the periods of Reconstruction, industrial expansion, and the Progressive movement, South Carolina searched for ways to revitalize its economy while maintaining its traditional society. To understand South Carolina’s experience as represen...
    • 8-5.8 Compare the Progressive movement in South Carolina with the national Progressive movement, including the impact on temperance; women’s suffrage; labor laws; and educational, agricultural, health, and governmental reform.
• USHC-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the industrial development and the consequences of that development on society and politics during the second half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries.
  • Political democracy depends upon the active participation of individuals working through political and economic-interest groups to protect their welfare. To understand how groups in the past have protected their rights, the student will utilize the kn...
    • USHC-4.6 Compare the accomplishments and limitations of the women’s suffrage movement and the Progressive Movement in affecting social and political reforms in America, including the roles of the media and of reformers such as Carrie Chapman Catt...
• USHC.3.CE Assess the causes and effects of significant turning points in the Populist and Progressive era from 1877–1924.
• 8.3.CC Analyze debates and efforts to recognize the natural rights of marginalized groups during the period of expansion and sectionalism.
• 4.5.E Analyze multiple perspectives of the economic, political, and social effects of Reconstruction on different populations in the South and in other regions of the U.S.
• This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into how Reconstruction resulted in the foundation for the struggle for civil rights. This indicator was also developed to foster inquiry into Reconstruction Era policies such as Constitutional amendments, black codes, and Jim Crow Laws.