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Commonwealth Museum   Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin
Commonwealth Museum Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin

Suffragist of the Month: June 25, 1919 Massachusetts Ratifies the 19th Amendment


June 25, 1919 Massachusetts Ratifies the 19th Amendment:   Download the PDF


On June 4, 1919 Congress approved the 19th Amendment and forwarded it to the states for ratification.

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“A very cultivated woman” who could speak on “almost any subject except herself.”

–Boston Globe description of Maria Louise Baldwin, August 1897

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Maria Louise Baldwin. - Moorland-Springarn Collection
Maria Louise Baldwin.
- Moorland-Springarn Collection

Educational Pioneer
 Born in Cambridge, Maria Louise Baldwin faced prejudice as an aspiring teacher. A school committee member advised her to go south “where she was more needed.” After teaching in Maryland she returned to teach at the Agassiz School. In a forty year career she became principal, the only black women in that role in New England. She was appointed master when the school’s facilities and programs were upgraded. An innovator, she improved mathematics education, established parentteacher groups, and introduced the position of school nurse.

Image of women voting for school committee in Boston, Harper’s Weekly December 15, 1888. - Alamy
Image of women voting for school committee in Boston, Harper’s Weekly December 15, 1888.
- Alamy

Educational Pioneer
Born in Cambridge, Maria Louise Baldwin faced prejudice as an aspiring teacher. A school committee member advised her to go south “where she was more needed.” After teaching in Maryland she returned to teach at the Agassiz School. In a forty year career she became principal, the only black women in that role in New England. She was appointed master when the school’s facilities and programs were upgraded. An innovator, she improved mathematics education, established parentteacher groups, and introduced the position of school nurse.

A First Step
In 1879 the Massachusetts legislature voted to allow women’s suffrage in school committee elections. Baldwin noted that school suffrage “so meager a share of voting power” had improved the lot of Boston area teachers and argued that expanded woman’s suffrage would improve society.

Maria Louise Baldwin’s Cambridge home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It remains a private residence. - Library of Congress
Maria Louise Baldwin’s Cambridge home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It remains a private residence.
- Library of Congress

A Lifetime of Reform
Often described as a “clubwoman,” she was active in the community and a member of many service organizations. With Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin she established the Woman’s Era Club with black and white women members. Among many causes the club advocated recognition of African American achievement, an anti-lynching campaign, and woman’s suffrage. Baldwin spoke at the 25th annual banquet of the New England and Massachusetts Woman’s Suffrage Association at Faneuil Hall on May 22, 1900

ee cummings. The avant-garde poet, whose punctuation gets attention even from children, was a student of Maria Louise Baldwin. Like Cummings, most of her students were white and many were children of Harvard University faculty. He wrote that he learned from her “that the truest power is gentleness.”

ee cummings. The avant-garde poet, whose punctuation gets attention even from children, was a student of Maria Louise Baldwin. Like Cummings, most of her students were white and many were children of Harvard University faculty. He wrote that he learned from her “that the truest power is gentleness.”

W.E.B. Du Bois. Baldwin conducted weekly readings in her home for black students at Harvard including future sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois. Later he wrote, “Her poise commanded greater and greater respect. Her courage—her splendid, quiet courage astonished us, and so she came to larger life and accomplishment.” - Library of Congress

W.E.B. Du Bois. Baldwin conducted weekly readings in her home for black students at Harvard including future sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois. Later he wrote, “Her poise commanded greater and greater respect. Her courage—her splendid, quiet courage astonished us, and so she came to larger life and accomplishment.”  
- Library of Congress

A second page transmitted the wording of the 19th Amendment. -Massachusetts Archive

In 2002 the Cambridge School Committee voted unanimously to rename the Agassiz School the Maria L. Baldwin School.
- Photography: Wayne Soverns. Image via HMFH Architects, Inc.

Much in demand as a speaker, Baldwin lectured on education, historical topics, and the work of African American authors. She died suddenly at the Copley Plaza Hotel on January 9, 1922 shortly after making a presentation.