Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Alice Vignos, 1872-1940
By Wayne Wong, undergraduate, Michigan State University
Alice Vignos (1872-1940) was a woman's suffrage activist from Springfield, Ohio. She worked hard as an advocate of equality and voting rights for women.
Early life and Background
Alice was born in Stark county, Ohio. Alice Vignos had one sister, Blanche, who was also a women's right advocate. They resided and remained active in Stark county their whole lives. Alice and Blanche were the great-aunts of Robert Vignos of Jackson Township. Robert's life Jane, served as the recorder and commissioner for Jackson Township.
Women's Voting Rights March, 1913
In 1913, the Vignos sisters received a call from the National American Woman Suffrage Association activist, Alice Paul, to attend a march that was going to be held in Washington D.C.. The goal of the march was to raise public attention and awareness for women's voting rights so Congress would advance a federal woman suffrage amendment. The Vignos sisters were the only representatives from Stark county.
On March 3, 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration as the 28th president of the United States; the Vignos sisters alongside 5,000 other women marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to have their demands heard. During their march, they reviewed pushback from a huge, hostile crowd of men, who were crowding the streets in order to block the women from marching forward. Many marchers received verbal and physical attacks. The police present were reluctant to intervene.
First lady Nellie Taft was supposed to watch the march from the reviewing stands in order to show her support for the marchers' cause. However, according to Alice, when she saw the women activists were being assaulted; she was so mad that she left the scene. The women later wrote to their congressmen, demanding an investigation of the police that allowed their assaults to happen. Alice was quoted saying "several of the Boy Scouts, some who were not more than 12 years old, did more effective work in keeping the crowd back than the police."
1918
Alice Vignos was working in the enrollment committee for Senator Holding's district. Alice and other women in that district made plans to defeat Senator Holding
League of Women Voters of the Canton Area, 1920
In 1920, the Canton Suffrage Association changed their name to League of Women Voters of the Canton Area. Blanche Vignos became its first secretary and Alice served as its third president from 1924-1928.
Equal Suffrage League of Erie County, 1921
In January 1921, Ms. Harrison Biller was elected to be the new treasurer of the Equal Suffrage League of Eerie County. Alice Vignos was sent by the State Suffrage Association to assist Ms. Biller in collecting 2,000 signatures that favored women suffrage and voting rights.
Sources
Bambakidis, E., (1998). A Special Collection of Historical Materials at the Dayton & Montgomery County Public Library, Dayton, Ohio
Ruether, R.R. & Keller, R.S. (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Religion In North America
https://www.cantonrep.com/article/20130303/News/303039904
The Firelands Historical Society (1921). The Firelands Pioneer, A Magazine of History Biography and Genealogy
National-American Woman Suffrage Association: Forty-Third Annual Report