Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Lou Redd Roach, 1866-1937
By Brenda Harper, volunteer researcher for 2020 Vision Committee, Clarksville, TN
Chair of the Clarksville Equal Suffrage League in 1917; Attended 1920 Woman Voters' Convention in Nashville; Ratification Committee and Charter Member of Clarksville-Montgomery County League of Women Voters
Lou Redd Roach was born in Trigg County, KY on June 6, 1866 to Mary Thompson and Stapleton Redd. She spent most of her girlhood in Hopkinsville, KY where she attended South Kentucky College. She married Robert Cook Roach on February 8, 1887 and had five daughters. They moved to Clarksville by 1888 where she resided until her death on August 18, 1937.
In 1917 Lou Roach was the chair of the Clarksville Equal Suffrage League. In 1920 she was one of the Clarksville women who attended the May 18th Woman Voters' Convention in Nashville. Billed as the last Tennessee suffrage convention, its intent was to continue to advocate for and prepare women to participate as responsible voters.
She was active in the Clarksville League of Women Voters, was a member of the Ratification Committee and helped to plan the July 26th reception held for Gov. Roberts at the Women's Club to show support and urge him on toward the ratification of the federal amendment.
Sources:
U.S. Federal Census Records http://ancestry.com accessed July 30, 2017
Year: 1870; Census Place: Cadiz, Trigg, Kentucky; Roll: M593_501; Page: 23B; Image: 240540; Family History Library Film: 552000
Dodd, Jordan, comp. Kentucky, Compiled Marriages, 1851-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2001. Accessed July 30, 2017
Ancestry.com. Tennessee, Delayed Birth Records, 1869-1909 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Accessed July 30, 2017
"Women's Suffrage" by Eleanor Williams, Montgomery County (TN) Historian http://www.mchsociety.org/Sub-Pages/Hist-Suffrage.html Accessed July 27, 2017
"Over 500 Women from Over State," Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, May 17, 1920
"Women Form Voters League," Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, July 23, 1920
"Governor Roberts Defends Record in Speech Here: Ladies Give Reception," Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, July 26, 1920
Tennessee State Library and Archives; Nashville, Tennessee; Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1959; Roll #: 8 Accessed July 27, 2017
"Death Summons Mrs. R. C. Roach" Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, August 18, 1937