Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Leila Vanderbilt Stott, 1880-1969
By Egan Sachs-Hecht, undergraduate student, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Leila Stott was born to William H. Stott and Leila W. Stott on November 25, 1880 in New York City. Stott was an active suffragist and educator in New York State, who was also connected to the settlement house and labor movements. Stott herself never married.
Stott was particularly active during the later years of the suffrage movement, chairing the Woman Suffrage Party's third district of Albany in 1916. In this role, she helped raise $8,000 for the movement. On September 23, 1916 Stott gathered suffrage workers on the schoolhouse lawn in Ravena, New York to speak of the gains of suffrage and how women had played a role in the nation's life through war and peace. Later that day, the group rallied at the Park Hotel in Albany where Stott spoke about the general plans for suffrage movements. She addressed the crowds about the “greatest gains of suffrage and of woman's part in a nation's life, in war and in peace” and shared information about future meetings and rallies.
Stott's leadership in the suffrage movement continued into 1917, when she was involved in a suffrage meeting held at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Voorheeville, New York on August 10, 1917. The suffragists discussed the various forms of women's war work as a continuation of the movement's previous plans and as a way to increase the power of the movement. In October of 1917, Stott and other New York suffragists journeyed to Washington to hear a special address from President Wilson, who showed his support and passion towards women's suffrage. However, the suffragists who were present sought to push the President to work harder and to push Congress to actually grant women the right to vote.
Leila Stott was recognized on the National Roll of Honor of the National League of Women Voters in Washington D.C. as a substantial suffragist throughout the movement. Along with 72 other women, Leila Stott's name was inscribed on a bronze tablet that was placed in the national headquarters of the National League of Women Voters. Following this recognition, with the support of the League of Women Voters, Stott unsuccessfully ran as a Democratic candidate for New York State Assembly in 1938. Later in life Stott became an educator and administrator at the City and Country School in New York from 1917 to 1945. Stott died on April 4, 1969 in Hudson, New York.
Leila Vanderbilt Stott. Photo accessible through Ancestry.com at https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/70957868/person/46509271731/media/34b02c8e-167f-4df2-9692-a44ce1cd49b1?_phsrc=hOf71&_phstart=successSource
Bibliography:
Mallon, Winifred. “Honors 71 Workers in Suffrage Cause.” New York Times. 2 May 1930, 11.
M'Laughlin, Kathleen. “Democratic Women Delegates at Rochester Trace their Rise in Service to Party.” New York Times. 30 September 1938, 17.
“Pledge $300,000 for Suffrage.” New York Times. 23 November 1916, 8.
“President Puts Suffrage to Fore.” New York Times. 26 October 1917, 1.
“Suffrage Activities.” Altamont Enterprise. 17 August 1917, 2. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn84031266/1917-08-17/ed-1/seq-2/.
“Suffrage Activities.” Altamont Enterprise. 16 March 1917, 7. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn84031266/1917-03-16/ed-1/seq-7/.
“Suffrage Activities.” Altamont Enterprise. 23 March 1917, 7. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn84031266/1917-03-23/ed-1/seq-7/.
“Suffrage Gathering at Ravena.” The News Herald. 22 September 1916, 5. http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn84031163/1916-09-22/ed-1/seq-5/.
“Women Will Unveil Honor Roll Tablets.” New York Times. 26 March 1931, 5.
8 June 2011. Genealogical Abstract. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/26867133/person/5020409501/media/79ad7063-6eeb-42c1-be9f-83a7b4dcb68f?_phsrc=hOf62&_phstart=successSource. [14 March 2018].
Link to photograph of Leila Stott 1906: https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/70957868/person/46509271731/media/34b02c8e-167f-4df2-9692-a44ce1cd49b1?_phsrc=hOf71&_phstart=successSource.
Political Graveyard: New York State Assembly, 1930s, http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/NY/ofc/asmbly1930s.html.