Biographical Sketch of Mrs. M. M. Bodenbender

By Caroline Alder, undergraduate student, Tulane University

The name Mrs. M.M. Bodenbender appears in History of Woman Suffrage: 1900-1920, a book consisting principally of state suffrage reports.. Mrs. Bodenbender is listed among the charter members of the Louisiana Woman Suffrage Party, and is described as being from Covington, Louisiana.

The Louisiana Woman Suffrage Party was founded in 1913 by Sake Meehan and Lydia Holmes. The original charter is neither referenced nor able to be located on the internet. Based on the technological capabilities of the era, it was likely handwritten and, thus, susceptible to human error. Extensive research led to no further mentions of Mrs. Bodenbender in any capacity. This leads one to believe that there was a misprint on the charter or that it was misread by Stanton, Anthony, Gage, and Harper.

Despite the important work she likely did, Mrs. Bodenbender seems to be a suffragist lost in history. There is no record of anyone with a similar name (Bedenbender, Boden, Badenbender, etc.) who was of the correct age during the correct time period and residing in Covington or any other part of Louisiana. However, it is highly unlikely that this person simply didn't exist. Locating the original charter for the Louisiana Woman Suffrage Party would allow researchers to scrutinize the name and determine the true identity of Mrs. Bodenbender.

Sources Cited:

Stanton, Elizabeth C., Susan B. Anthony, Matilda J. Gage, and Ida H. Harper. History of Woman Suffrage: 1900-1920. Vol. VI. New York: National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1922. Accessed February 19, 2017.

Tyler, Pamela "Woman Suffrage." In knowlouisiana.org Encyclopedia of Louisiana, edited by David Johnson. Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, 2010–. Article published March 8, 2016. http://www.knowlouisiana.org/entry/woman-suffrage.