Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890–1920
Biography of Harriet Lang Hubbs, 1879-1960
By Andrew Michaels, undergraduate, Rosemont College
Harriet Lang Hubbs was born on September 24, 1879, to John F. Lang and Catherine B. Lang in Schenectady, New York. She married William Weld Hubbs. They had no children. Harriet Lang Hubbs and her husband lived in Philadelphia until she died on November 12, 1960, of a carcinoma.
Harriet Lang Hubbs was a delegate for the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association and a member of the executive committee for the Women's Medical College. She was also the executive secretary of the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters until she resigned on April 11, 1927. As executive secretary, one of Hubbs's interests was women's education, especially after women gained the right to vote. She said, "Citizenship, schools and cases are to be established throughout the state to make every woman an intelligent voter familiar with the processes of government and voting."
Hubbs also reported on topics involving women in politics for the Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger. She gave advice to new women voters and encouraged women to register despite antagonism and interference from men. "Men have been exceedingly unsympathetic toward the new women voters," she wrote, and even though the secretary of state certified the suffrage amendment, there was still a "concerted effort to prevent women from voting in large numbers." She pointed out the hypocrisy of men claiming that women were uninterested in voting while simultaneously making it more difficult for them to register. In one of her articles, she advocated seating women on party committees because they could help the party at the polls. Hubbs's writing helped to make the public more aware of the struggles regarding women's suffrage and what women could do to overcome their struggles.
Sources:
Information about Hubbs can be found in newspapers including the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger.
"City Registration Record is Broken as 180,000 Enroll." The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3 October 1920, p. 2. Newspapers.com, Accessed 5 February 2017.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/170835188/?terms=%22harriet%2BHubbs%22%2Bsuffrage
"Died." The Philadelphia Inquirer, 14 November 1960, p. 34. Newspapers.com, Accessed 5 February 2917.
http://www.newspapers.com/image/178320820/?terms=%22Harriet%2Blang%2Bhubbs%22%2Bleague.
"Pointers on the Registration of New Voters." The Evening Public Ledger, 2 September 1920, p. 4. Newspapers.com, Accessed 22 March 2017.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/162313993/?terms=%22Hubbs%22.
"Secretary Quits." The Evening News, 11 April 1927, p. 13. Newspapers.com." Newspapers.com, Accessed 5 March 05 2017.
https://www.newspapers.com/image/63321690/?terms=harriet%2BHubbs%2Bsuffrage.
"Will Save Women from Politicians." The Evening Public Ledger, 28 August 1920, p. 1. Newspapers.com, Accessed 5 February 2017,
https://www.newspapers.com/image/162313793/?terms=harriet%2Bhubbs%2Bsuffrage.
"Women Appeal to Women in The Public Ledger." The Evening Public Ledger, 19 December 1922, p. 25. Newspapers.com, Accessed 22 March 2017,
https://www.newspapers.com/image/146840062/?terms=%22Hubbs%22.