Biographical Database of Militant Suffragists, 1913-1920
Biography of Emily DuBois Butterworth, 1859-1937
__________________
By Rachel Kesner, undergraduate student, SUNY Oneonta
Emily DuBois Haws was born into an old Huguenot family in New York in 1859, the daughter of Henry Dubois and Emily Estling Dubois.
DuBois was an active member of the suffrage movement. She won a first prize for "the best parade hat" from the Women's Political Union in 1913. She also served as the treasurer of the Co-operative Service League for Woman Suffrage in New York City. She was arrested in November of 1917 for picketing the White House, and sentenced to thirty days in Occoquan. There she participated in the "Night of Terror." Due to her poor health, she was released early.
DuBois was also involved in civic work in addition to suffrage work. She was a member of the Woman's Municipal League, which was an organization involved in improving the city of New York as well as providing charity for the poor and less fortunate. She helped arrange a tea reception event for the League. She also directed a play in Philadelphia, in October of 1918, as part of an All-American program.
She married an Englishman, Henry Butterworth. They lived in Manhattan with her companion, Cora Weeks, who was also a member in the suffrage movement. According to the 1920 census the three of them lived together in Manhattan on West 56th Street. Henry was recorded as an accountant. In the 1930 census, Emily Butterworth, 67 and married, is listed as residing with Cora Weeks in the Bronx. Cora was the owner of their shared home, valued at $24,000. In 1940 Cora was still living in the Bronx, but Emily Butterworth was no longer residing with her. Her death record indicates she passed way in the Bronx, already widowed, in October 1937.
Sources:
Federal Manuscript Censuses, 1920-1940 for Henry and Emily Butterworth and Cora Week(s), accessed online via Ancestry Library Edition.
Death record for Emily Du Bois Butterworth, Bronx, NY, 16 October 1937, Find-a-Grave.
"Prize for Suffrage Hats," New York Times, April 28, 1913, 20: "Municipal League Tea, New York Times, November 9, 1908, 7; https://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2014/11/24/today-in-herstory-the-silent-sentinels-go-back-to-court-this-time-to-seek-justice/; "Patriotism Keynote of Philadelphia Club," Musical Courier, October 3, 1918; Club Women of New York, Volume 6, Parts 1910-1911: Charles Holme, Guy Eglinton, Peyton Boswell, William Bernard McCormick, Henry James Whigham, The International Studio, Volume 30, New York, 1907; http://www.suffragistmemorial.org/descendants/;