Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890- 1920
Biography of Ettie Blum, 1857-1927
By Randel Adao, Undergraduate Student
San Jose State University, San Jose, California
Henrietta "Ettie" Hochheimer Blum was born to Simon and Hannah Hochheimer in Pennsylvania in 1857. Her father was a merchant at the time that they moved to California in the 1860s. Sometime in 1870, the family went back to Pennsylvania and lived in Birmingham, Alleghany. Ettie later returned to California where she married Lehman Blum in San Francisco in June 1878. Their first daughter, Carrie, died in 1881 before turning one-year-old. That same year, the Blums had another daughter that they named Mabel. The Blums moved to Pendleton, Oregon where Lehman Blum became an influential merchant, traveling back and forth between Oregon and California. On April 24, 1900, Lehman Blum, died in San Francisco from cardiac arrest. Ettie moved permanently to San Francisco sometime after Lehman's death
Ettie Blum became involved in the suffrage league through the Votes For Women Club in San Francisco and the Oakland Equal Suffrage League. In 1912, she served as Vice President of the Equal Suffrage Association. Blum advocated for women's suffrage through her writings in the newspapers and speeches at open-air meetings. In 1911, for example, she wrote an article in the San Francisco Call about men who were opposed to the suffrage movement. She addressed this issue by arguing that all citizens would be able to benefit from women gaining the vote because a government elected by the whole population would be more likely to be able to help all of its citizens. She also gave speeches at large suffrage gatherings. For example, she gave a speech in 1911 about woman suffrage alongside colleagues who debated against the representatives of the anti-suffrage movement. Open-air meetings helped them win the vote in California.
In 1915, she became involved with the Woman's Peace Party, an organization that was created as a response to the war in Europe. On July 21, 1915, she was elected as treasurer of the Northern California Branch of the Woman's Peace Party. In this organization, she and her fellow members gave speeches advocating for peace and against the war in Europe.
Blum spent the remainder of her life in San Francisco until her death on June 11, 1927.
Sources:
Blum, Ettie. "Woman Answers Men Who Oppose Change in Ancient Methods." San Francisco Call (San Francisco, California). September 02, 1911, 13.
"Doings of the Women's Club." San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California). August 12, 1915, 3.
"Mrs. Valentine Open's Home to Help Suffrage." The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, California). October 02, 1911, 7.
"Woman Rescued From Death in Snows." Petaluma Daily Morning Courier (Petaluma, California). February 8, 1916, 4.