Helen Kendrick Johnson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Helen Kendrick Johnson
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| Born |
Helen Louise Kendrick
January 4, 1844 |
| Died | January 3, 1917 (aged 72) |
| Occupation | Children's Author, Poet, Anti-suffragist activist and writer |
| Spouse(s) | Rossiter Johnson |
Helen Kendrick Johnson (born January 4, 1844 – died January 3, 1917) was an American writer and poet. She was also a well-known activist who was against the idea of women getting the right to vote.
Contents
Helen's Early Life
Helen Kendrick Johnson was born on January 4, 1844, in Hamilton, New York. Her father, Asahel Clark Kendrick, was a professor of Greek at the University of Rochester. Her mother, Anne Elizabeth Kendrick, passed away in 1851 when Helen was only seven years old.
After her mother's death, Helen lived with her aunt in Clinton, New York, for much of her childhood. In 1860, she moved to Savannah, Georgia, to stay with her father's brothers. However, she had to leave in 1861 because the American Civil War began.
In 1863, Helen enrolled at the Oread Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. She studied there until June 1864. After the Civil War ended, she returned to Savannah for a short time. She then spent her childhood living between an aunt's house in Utica, New York and her father's house in Rochester, New York. She stayed in Rochester until she got married.
Marriage and Writing Career
In 1869, Helen married Rossiter Johnson, who was a newspaper editor. After their marriage, she started writing many different things. She wrote books, stories for children, and articles about her travels.
Helen Kendrick Johnson's important papers and writings are kept safe at the New York Public Library.
Activism Against Women's Vote
Both Helen and her husband, Rossiter, were very active in the movement against women getting the right to vote. This movement was called the anti-suffrage movement.
Leading the Anti-Suffrage Movement
From 1894 to 1896, Helen was the editor of a newspaper called the American Woman’s Journal. In 1886, she started a group called the Meridian Club. Her husband, Rossiter, also wrote a pamphlet titled Why Women Do Not Want the Ballot. A pamphlet is a small booklet with information.
In 1897, Helen wrote a book called Woman and the Republic. Many people think this book was the best summary of why some people were against women voting. In her book, she argued that women did not need the right to vote to gain more legal or economic equality. She believed that women's main role was in the home, which she called the "domestic sphere." She felt this role was very important for the country to stay strong.
Helen was also openly critical of the writings of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, especially her work called The Woman's Bible. Helen linked Stanton's ideas to radicalism and socialism.
Speaking Out and Organizing
During her time as an anti-suffragist activist, Helen spoke to several government groups. These were called legislative committees, and she spoke to them in Albany and Washington. She also wrote many newspaper articles and pamphlets about her views.
In 1910, she started another group called the Guidon Club. This organization was also against women's suffrage. Its main goal was to study politics and government.
Books by Helen Kendrick Johnson
- Our Familiar Songs and Those Who Made Them; more than three hundred standard songs of the English-speaking race, arranged with piano accompaniment, and preceded by sketches of the writers and histories of the songs (1881)
- Woman and the republic; a survey of the woman-suffrage movement in the United States (Appleton, New York, 1897)
