Madeline McDowell Breckinridge facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Madeline McDowell Breckinridge
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Madeline McDowell Breckinridge, circa 1900
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Madeline McDowell
May 20, 1872 |
| Died | November 25, 1920 (aged 48) Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Suffragette, social reformer |
| Relatives | Henry Clay (great-grandfather) Henry Clay Jr. (grandfather) |
Madeline (Madge) McDowell Breckinridge (May 20, 1872 – November 25, 1920) was an important American leader. She fought for women's suffrage in Kentucky. This means she worked hard to get women the right to vote. She married Desha Breckinridge, who was the editor of a newspaper called the Lexington Herald. His newspaper also supported women's rights. Madeline lived long enough to see women in Kentucky vote for the first time in the 1920 presidential election.
She also pushed for new laws to make sure children went to school. She worked to end child labor. Madeline started many groups to help people. One important group was the Kentucky Association for the Prevention and Treatment of Tuberculosis. She had this illness herself. She also helped create better schools for kids and adults. She worked to build parks and places for fun. She also started programs to teach useful skills. People remember Madeline Breckinridge as a very influential woman in Kentucky.
Contents
Who Was Madeline Breckinridge?
Her Early Life and Family
Madeline was born in Woodlake, Kentucky. She grew up at Ashland. This was a large farm started by her great-grandfather, Henry Clay. He was a famous statesman in the 1800s. Her mother was Anne Clay McDowell. Her father was Major Henry Clay McDowell. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Her parents bought the Ashland estate in 1882.
Madeline was one of seven children. She had four brothers and two sisters. Her distant cousin, Laura Clay, also worked for equal rights. Laura started the Kentucky Equal Rights Association in 1888. Madeline later became the president of this group.
Education and Health Challenges
Madeline went to school in Lexington, Kentucky. She also studied at Miss Porter's School in Connecticut. Later, she attended State College, which is now the University of Kentucky. During her college years, she became very sick. She had a bone disease called tuberculosis. Because of this, part of one of her legs had to be removed. She then used a wooden leg. Before her illness, she was very athletic. After, she spent more time studying. She wrote book reviews for the Lexington Herald newspaper. She also studied German ideas and books with her friends.
On November 17, 1898, Madeline McDowell married Desha Breckinridge. He was the editor of the Lexington Herald. Desha's sister was Sophonisba Breckinridge. She was a lawyer and a pioneer in social work. Sophonisba later wrote a book about Madeline's life.
Madeline and Desha used the newspaper to support many causes. They wrote about helping poor people. They also wrote about child welfare and women's rights. These were important issues during the Progressive Era. Madeline was very busy with her community work. She had some health problems around 1904.
Working for Her Community
Madeline was very active in her community. From 1899 to 1900, she helped organize a social center in Proctor, Kentucky. In 1900, she helped start the Lexington Civic League. This group created public kindergartens and parks. It also made places for children to play. That same year, she helped start Associated Charities. This group helped people in need.
Helping Children and Families
Madeline worked to pass laws about child labor. She also pushed for laws that made children go to school. She helped create a system for young people in trouble with the law. This law passed in 1906. She also worked to teach practical skills in schools. These included cooking and carpentry. The board of education started funding these programs in 1907.
Through the Lexington Civic League, she started a social center. It was like Chicago's Hull House. It was called the Lincoln School. Robert Todd Lincoln gave $30,000 to help build it. The school opened in 1912. It had classrooms for children during the day. It also had night classes for adults. It had swimming pools, a gym, and a laundry. There was also a carpenter shop and a place to can food. It had a community hall for meetings. The school helped poor people in Lexington. This included many Irish immigrants, some of whom could not read or write.
Fighting Tuberculosis
Madeline began working to help people with tuberculosis in 1905. She first helped create a free clinic in Lexington. She led these efforts within the Associated Charities and Civic League. In 1912, she started the Kentucky Association for the Prevention and Treatment of Tuberculosis. She also helped set up the Blue Grass Sanitarium in Lexington. She worked with the Fayette County Tuberculosis Association for this. She served on the state commission until 1916.
Women's Rights in Schools
Madeline led the law-making committee for the Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs. She did this in 1908, 1910, and 1912. In this role, she worked hard to give Kentucky women the right to vote in school board elections. This happened even before the 19th Amendment gave women full voting rights.
Leading the Fight for Equal Rights
Madeline and other women felt frustrated. They did not have enough power to change laws. So, Madeline started working for women's right to vote. She believed this would give women a stronger voice.
Speaking Up for Women
From 1912 to 1915, and again from 1919 to 1920, Madeline was president of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association. By the mid-1910s, this group had members in almost all of Kentucky's counties. In 1914, Madeline and her cousin Laura Clay spoke to the Kentucky Legislature. They wanted to introduce a law for women's suffrage. Madeline said that women in cities were helping fight "political corruption." She said women had helped make better laws. She asked the lawmakers to be brave and let people vote on the amendment. This attempt did not pass. But they were the first women to speak to a joint meeting of the Kentucky Legislature.
Madeline argued that Kentucky had many people who could not read. She said this rate was lower in states where women could vote in school elections. She also said that men were not voting enough in school elections. This meant many school leaders were chosen by officials, not by voters. Because of her efforts, women gained the right to vote in school elections in 1912.
The Right to Vote
Between 1913 and 1915, Madeline was vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She traveled and spoke about women's right to vote in many states. She was also a member of the Fayette Equal Rights Association. This group worked to get state and federal laws for women's voting rights. She was a "leading political figure" and part of the Woman's Democratic Club of Kentucky.
Historians Lowell H. Harrison and James C. Klotter wrote about her. They said she was the most important woman in the state. She used new ways to gain support, like suffrage marches. She was also a great speaker. Even though she was often weak from illness, she spoke with a strong voice. She told audiences to look at Kentucky, led by men. She pointed out its poor schools, violence, and corrupt politics. Then she asked if the question should be if men were fit to vote, not women.
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was approved in Kentucky on January 6, 1920. This amendment gave women across the country the right to vote. Madeline campaigned for the Democratic party. She voted in the November 1920 United States presidential election. After this, she worked to change the Kentucky Equal Rights Association into the state League of Women Voters. Madeline also strongly supported the League of Nations.
Her Lasting Legacy
Madeline Breckinridge had been sick for a long time with tuberculosis. She passed away on Thanksgiving Day, 1920, at age 48. She was busy that day preparing donations for people in need. Her writings and papers are kept at the University of Kentucky Libraries.
Madeline Breckinridge was named one of the Kentucky Women Remembered in 1996. People saw her as one of Kentucky's most active suffragists. She strongly supported the Nineteenth Amendment. She and her husband, Desha Breckinridge, used their newspaper to argue for women's rights. Their ideas showed Kentucky's progressive spirit at that time. Her portrait is now permanently displayed in the state capitol. It is part of the "Kentucky Women Remembered" exhibit.
After her death, a special marker was placed at Ashland. This is the estate of Henry Clay in Lexington, Kentucky. The marker remembers Madeline's work for women's suffrage. It says she was born in 1872 and grew up at Ashland. It notes she promoted tuberculosis treatment. It also says she helped improve education for poor children. And it highlights her work to gain voting rights for women. The marker was put there on October 20, 1992.
