Vote for Belleville Illinois

Black text on a white background with black plastic hammar fob and a picture of a capital building on a brass chain with the text WASHINGTON, D.C. NEXT TIME (union bug) WHITEHEAD & HOAG CO. NEWARK, N.J. on the back

Belleville, a city in Illinois with a name meaning “beautiful city” from the French phrase belle ville, was on the frontline of the turn-of-the-century suffrage movement. Women’s suffrage movements began as early as the 1860s but did not see progress until 1891, when the state of Illinois granted women the right to vote for school officers.

This 1913 button, stating “Vote Belleville Illinois,” is most likely from the Illinois women’s suffrage movement and functioned as a call for women to go out and vote for their rights. Mobilizing and voting worked; that same year, women were given the right to vote for President and local officers via the ratification of the Illinois constitution. This was a major feat; when Governer Edward Dunne signed the suffrage bill into law, Illinois became the first state east of the Mississippi River to grant women the right to vote for President and local officers.

Women, however, were still unable to vote for state and federal legislators. Full women’s suffrage in Illinois was realized with the ratification of the 19th amendment to the US Constitution in 1920.