Clay, Laura (1849-1941)

Image

Item Relations

Member of (1)
Mentioned in (3)
Comments (0)

Woman's Peace Party (WPP)

Rosa J. McClintock to Jane Addams, April 24, 1911

Jane Addams to Caroline Bartlett Crane, November 8, 1911

S. Adele Shaw to Jane Addams, December 16, 1920

Comments

Birth Date

1849-02-09

Death Date

1941-06-29

Birthplace

Richmond, KT

Biographical Text

Laura Clay was the daughter of the famed abolitionist, Cassius M. Clay, and relative of Henry Clay. She studied at both the University of Michigan and Kentucky State College. Clay began her career in 1888 by organizing the Kentucky Equal Rights Association to which, until 1912, she acted as President. While holding this position, she passed various feminist legislation, which included the broadening of a woman's property rights and allowed women joint child custody with their husbands. During this time, she also began traveling and speaking on behalf of the suffrage movement. Clay is credited with establishing Kentucky's first Juvenile Court. In 1920, Clay made history at the Democratic National Convention when she became the first woman to receive a vote for a Presidential nomination, though it was Andrew Jackson who eventually appeared on the ticket. In 1923, she tried and failed, to win a seat on Kentucky's State Senate. Despite her commitment to the suffragist movement, she opposed the 19th Amendment. In 1928, she continued her public speaking career by delivering speeches for Democratic Presidential candidate Alfred E. Smith.

Clay died in 1941.

Map

Edited By

DeLisi, Julianne

Biebrich, Caitlin

Rights

Public domain

Gender

Female

First appears

1911

Bibliography and Links

Miss Laura Clay, Suffragette, Dies, The Courier Journal June 30, 1941, p. 11

SNAC

Wikipedia

Citation

“Clay, Laura (1849-1941),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed July 27, 2024, http://mail.digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/4626.