Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Lucinda Buck Scott, 1882-1954
By Adam Holmes, student researcher, University of Montana, Missoula
Suffragist, educator, librarian, clubwoman
Lucinda Scott was born on March 1, 1882, in Choteau, Montana, to Daniel W. Buck, from New York, and Susan Buck, a German immigrant. She graduated from the Montana State Normal College in 1904. After graduating, she taught in the school system in Lewis and Clark County, where she was elected superintendent of schools in 1906. She married James W. Scott on New Years Eve, 1908. From this point forward she went by either Mrs. J. W. Scott or Lucinda B. Scott. She had three children: James W. Scott, born ca.1914, William H. Scott, born ca.1916, and Daniel B. Scott, born ca.1921.
The Scotts raised their growing family in Beaverhead County, where Lucinda Scott became involved in local clubs, including the Sacagawea Club and the Needle Club. (She later won an international sewing competition in Denver in 1915.) Scott also was an active member of her local Baptist Church.
By 1914, when Montana was in the final stage of its successful campaign for woman suffrage, Scott had become the head of the Beaverhead County Suffrage Association. Local newspapers described her as a "charming speaker" when describing a county suffrage meeting in which she gave an opening speech for state suffrage leader Jeannette Rankin. Scott's speech at this meeting and her position as head of Beaverhead County Suffrage Association probably account for her listing in The History of Woman Suffrage as “especially active in the campaign.”
After women won the vote in Montana, Scott continued to engage in community activism and political reform. According to her death certificate, Scott worked as a librarian for a time; she may have been relying on this experience when she gave a speech to the Good Government Club on the functioning of public libraries in 1923. She also returned her attention to clubwork. By 1932 she had become a state organizer for an international women's educational organization, the P. E. O., or Philanthropic Educational Organization.
Scott passed away on June 14, 1954, in Helena, Montana.
Sources:
“Alumni and Ex-Student Notes,” The Monmal (Dillon, Mont.), 01 December 1906, p. 27, Montana Newspapers, http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/TheMonmal/1906-12-01/ed-1/seq-27/#date1=01%2F01%2F1883&index=0&date2=12%2F31%2F2015&words=Buck+Lucinda&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=&andtext=%22Lucinda+Buck%22&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
“Another Prize for Montana,” Dillon Tribune (Dillon, Mont.), 15 Oct. 1915, p. 5, Montana Newspapers, http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053040/1915-10-15/ed-1/seq-5/
"Catalogue 1910-1921." University of Montana Western Catalogues and Bulletins. 2013. Montana Memory Project, http://mtmemory.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16013coll74/id/30471/rec/5.
“Club News,” Dillon Tribune (Dillon, Mont.), 12 April 1912, p. 9, Montana Newspapers, http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053040/1912-04-12/ed-1/seq-9/
Harper, Ida Husted, ed., History of Woman Suffrage, Vol. 6 (New York: J. J. Little & Ives Co., 1922), p. 365, Google Books, https://books.google.com/books?id=X09RAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=woman+suffrage+vol+6&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR6-iI9a_ZAhUQ9WMKHbsMAKIQ6AEIRjAG#v=onepage&q=woman%20suffrage%20vol%206&f=false
Montana, County Marriage Records, 1865-1993 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com.
Montana County Births and Deaths, Montana's State Historical Society; Helena, Montana; FHL Roll: 25-10. Ancestry.com.
“Montana State Normal College Graduates, 1904,” Dillon Tribune, June 24, 1904, p. 1, Montana Newspapers, http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053040/1904-06-24/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1896&index=2&date2=1908&words=Buck+Lucinda&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=&andtext=%22Lucinda+Buck%22&dateFilterType=year&page=1
“Program of Good Government Club, 1923-1924,” The Tribune (Dillon, Montana), 14 September 1923, p. 7, Montana Newspapers, http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053040/1923-09-14/ed-1/seq-7/#date1=01%2F01%2F1883&index=2&date2=12%2F31%2F2015&words=J+Library+Mrs+Scott+W&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=library+%22Mrs.+J.+W.+Scott%22&phrasetext=&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
“Mrs. Rankin Heard By Crowd,” Dillon Examiner (Dillon, Mont.), 06 May 1914, p 1, Montana Newspapers, http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053034/1914-05-06/ed-1/seq-1/
“Social and Personal,” The Hardin Tribune-Herald (Hardin, Mont.), 02 Dec. 1932, p. 10, Montana Newspapers, http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn86075229/1932-12-02/ed-1/seq-10/
U.S Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Helena Ward 5, Lewis and Clark, Montana; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0175. Ancestry.com.
U.S Federal Census, Year: 1910; Census Place: Butte Ward 8, Silver Bow, Montana; Roll: T624_836; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 0121; FHL microfilm: 1374849, Ancestry.com.
U.S Federal Census, Year: 1920; Census Place: Helena Ward 3, Lewis and Clark, Montana; Roll: T625_972; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 98. Ancestry.com.
U.S Federal Census, Year: 1930; Census Place: Helena, Lewis and Clark, Montana; Roll: 1258; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0009; FHL microfilm: 2340993. Ancestry.com.
U.S Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Helena, Lewis and Clark, Montana; Roll: m-t0627-02222; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 25-9. Ancestry.com.
“Woman's Suffrage Campaign Started,” The Dillon Tribune (Dillon, Mont.), 08 May 1914, p. 1, Montana Newspapers, http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053040/1914-05-08/ed-1/seq-1/
Photo Credit:
“Montana State Normal College Graduates, 1904,” Dillon Tribune, June 24, 1904, p. 1, Montana Newspapers, http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053040/1904-06-24/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1896&index=2&date2=1908&words=Buck+Lucinda&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=&andtext=%22Lucinda+Buck%22&dateFilterType=year&page=1