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On Loan from Chris Foard and Marianne Foard

A Call for “Privileges”
“To the Honorable Congress of the US, signed Ten Thousand Federal Maids”
Gazette of the United States
January 26, 1791
Ink on Paper
Gazette of the United States
January 26, 1791
Ink on Paper
This newspaper marks perhaps the earliest known call for women’s suffrage in America. “Ten Thousand Federal Maids” ask for “a few small privileges,” including “the right of election to all public offices.” Were these women asking for a right to vote, a right to hold office, or both?