Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Gertrude (Mrs. George) Mosshart, 1883-?
By Ryan Linthicum, Smithsonian Institution
Gertrude Crockett was born in 1883 in Edgerton, Kansas to parents Stephen Marshall Crockett and Matilda Caroline Hurst. Her father was recorded as a grocer in the 1900 census of Monmouth, Kansas. She married George Alexander Mosshart, who died in Washington, D.C. in 1918. Gertrude remarried Charles Morent on September 2, 1921. Mrs. Mosshart was of medium height, slender build, dark brown hair, and blue eyes. She was also a member of the Daughters of the Revolution.
While living in Washington D.C., Mrs. Mosshart began working with the suffrage movement as a vice Chair of publicity for the Washington Woman Suffrage Council (WWSC) under Mrs. Jessie Hardy Stubbs, and Mrs. Glenna Smith Tinnin in January 1914. By March of that year she was involved in a nationwide suffrage membership campaign which recruited 50,000 women. By April she was elected as an officer of the WWSC among 10 other prominent women of the District.
By April 1915 she had been promoted to the president of the Washington Woman Suffrage Council. There she helped plan a protest against Rule 45, which required married women to resign from teaching positions. The following year she was promoted to press and publicity chairman. At the same time, her husband, George Mosshart, served as director of NAWSA's Publicity Section in the capital. As a high-ranking member of the Council she assisted in many events including a 1916 New Year's Open House, which hosted many influential guests. Her work also included organizing dinner parties and anniversaries for prominent suffragists such as Susan B. Anthony and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw.
Sources:
"Activities of the Leaders in the Fight for the Ballot. Progress the Cause Is Making Here and Elsewhere." March 1, 1914. Washington Post. Page 15.
"Agitation Against Rule 45." Washington Post, April 1, 1915.
"City News in Brief." Washington Post. November 16, 1915. Page 11.
"DC Women United for Vote." Washington Post. November 29, 1916. Page 2.
"G.A.R. Honors Lincoln: Commander Monfort Tells of Maryland." Washington Post, February 12, 1916.
"Local News Stories." Washington Post. February 15, 1916. Page 14.
"New Suffrage Host: Women Organize Council Here to Aid National Association." Washington Post. April 12, 1914. Page 16.
"Obituary 2 -- Deaths Reported." Washington Post. October 17, 1918. Page 14.
"Open House by Suffragists." Washington Post. December 31, 1916. Page 10.
"President and Miss Wilson Take Long Motor Trip; McAdoo Out in his Racer; Society." Washington Post, February 15, 1915. Page 7
"Suffragettes and Their Opponents Seen Through Dust of Ballot Fight." Washington Post. January 11, 1914. Page E12.
"Social Happenings of the Week: Brilliant Doings in the Smart World and Plans of the Leaders. Spectacular Dress Ball-Dinners and Receptions Society." Washington Post. March 15, 1914. Page E6.
"Suffrage Leaders Extolled." Washington Post. February 21, 1915, Page R10.
"Suffragists Form Groups." Washington Post. May 2, 1915. Page. ES14.
"Suffragists Confer Today." Washington Post. December 2, 1916. Page. 2.
"Society: Midsummer Weeks make Social History. Mrs. Wilson Only Lady in President's Party on Tour." Washington Post. August 31, 1919. Page ES8.
The Hand Book of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and Proceedings of the Forty-ninth Annual Convention, Held at Washington, D.C., December 12-15, Inclusive, 1917. Published by the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Page 18.