Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Harriet (Mrs. Charles) Rathman, 1871-1954
By Beth Twomey, librarian, North Dakota State University
Harriet Elizabeth Bigelow was born in Iowa on September 20, 1871. Her parents were Benjamin and Martha Bigelow, and she had two siblings, David Eugene, and Rachel. Mrs. Rathman married her first husband, William C. Butler, in Jamestown, North Dakota on June 24, 1902. He died March 10, 1903 in Fargo. She married Charles F. Rathman on October 11, 1905 in Jamestown. They had a single son, Edwin.
Mrs. Rathman was the first vice-president for the Jamestown, North Dakota woman's suffrage club when it formed in October 1913. She was the Recording Secretary for the North Dakota Federation of Women's Clubs (about 1914-1917) and served as the Second Congressional District Chairman for the North Dakota Votes for Women League (about 1915 - 1918).
She additionally served on a sub-committee that worked to spread the cause of the League to the legislature to promote the presentation of a suffrage bill in 1914. In 1917 she was put in charge of programming for the 1918 annual meeting in Fargo North Dakota. In that role, she prepared a book of program suggestions for suffrage organizations in North Dakota along with the reminder that suffrage groups must demonstrate that women will vote and that they can vote intelligently. Topics suggested for study by local Votes for Women leagues included a wide array of civic issues including education, hygiene, safety, labor laws, and public welfare.
Mrs. Rathman often gave talks about suffrage to women's clubs such as the Mother's Club of Winfield Township. She was also secretary of the Jamestown League of Civic Improvement, treasurer for the Flower Mission in Jamestown, and was a member of the Women's Club of Jamestown. Mrs. Rathman and her husband were frequent travelers around the United States as reported by local newspapers. One of their most significant trips went through the south and to San Francisco, California to see the Panama-Pacific exposition in 1915. She later gave a talk at the Jamestown Woman's Club about the history of the exposition and a description of its grounds and exhibits.
Harriet Rathman died April 3, 1954 in Los Angeles, California.
SOURCES:
Bismarck daily tribune. (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]), 25 June 1912. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042242/1912-06-25/ed-1/seq-7/
Bismarck daily tribune. (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]), 16 June 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042242/1914-06-16/ed-1/seq-5/
Bismarck daily tribune. (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]), 27 May 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042242/1915-05-27/ed-1/seq-1/
Bismarck daily tribune. (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]), 02 Dec. 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042242/1915-12-02/ed-1/seq-2/
Courier News. (Jamestown, N.D.), 01 May 1919. Those Pioneers.
Grand Forks herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.), 09 Nov. 1916. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042414/1916-11-09/ed-1/seq-3/
Grand Forks herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.), 26 Sept. 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042414/1917-09-26/ed-1/seq-5/
Jamestown weekly alert.(Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]), 02 Oct. 1913. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042405/1913-10-02/ed-1/seq-1/
Jamestown weekly alert. (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]), 11 Feb. 1915. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042405/1915-02-11/ed-1/seq-5/
Jamestown weekly alert.(Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]), 20 Sept. 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042405/1917-09-20/ed-1/seq-10/
Ida Husted Harper et. al., eds. (1922). History of Woman Suffrage: 1900-1920. Fowler and Wells. Pg. 504 [LINK]
Stutsman County Marriage Index, 1884-1975: Wife Index.(1997). Pg. 16.
Winslow, H.M. (eds.). (1916). Official Register and Directory of Women's Clubs in America Vol. 18. Massachusetts. Pg. 163
Year: 1900; Census Place: St Paul Ward 9, Ramsey, Minnesota; Page: 3; Enumeration District: 0139; FHL microfilm: 1240786
Year: 1910; Census Place: Jamestown Ward 3, Stutsman, North Dakota; Roll: T624_1147; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0224; FHL microfilm: 1375160