Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Anna Victoria Kirk, 1884-1965
By Erin Gilbert, Student, University of California, San Diego
Anna Victoria Cunningham was born around 1884 in Canada, the daughter of William Bamford Cunningham. She was the second oldest child, the oldest daughter, and immigrated to the United States the same year of her birth. According to the 1910 U.S. Census, she married Ernest Kirk, a farm owner born in New Jersey in 1873, around 1905 when she was approximately 22 years of age. The two of them had three children: Sidney E. Kirk born 1906, Harvey J. Kirk born 1908, and Dorothy Kirk born 1910. She resided in Petersburg, North Dakota, in 1910 with her husband, two sons, daughter, and four hired workers. Around 1935, she moved to Huntsville, Minnesota, and lived with her husband, youngest son, daughter-in-law, daughter, and granddaughter. Her husband died around 1952, leaving Anna a widow for approximately 13 years.
The first evidence of Anna's suffrage activity appeared in The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican on May 3, 1912. She is listed as the suffrage, legislation, and literature department superintendent for The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.), one of the first women's organizations devoted to social reform that linked secular reform and religion. According to The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, in 1913, she gave a short talk on the state of affairs regarding suffrage in America and England at the annual business meeting of the Votes for Women League of Grand Forks. Though not strictly a part of her suffrage activity, she attended and wrote a paper for the annual meeting of the Grand Forks District Association of Congregational Churches according to the Grand Forks Daily Herald and Evening Times. References to her suffrage activity in the W.C.T.U. continued to surface until 1916, when she was listed as an alternate for a national meeting in Indianapolis. Anna was also a part of the Niagara Shawnee Agricultural Club, presumably with her husband who was farm owner, and in 1920, the Grand Forks Herald listed her as the secretary for the organization.
There is little record of her activities after her move to Minnesota, and in 1965, Anna passed away in Polk County, Minnesota.
Sources:
"Crary Entertains District Meeting" Grand Forks daily herald and the evening times (Grand Forks, N.D.), 11 June 1914. p. 3. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
Find A Grave.com, digital images, gravestone for Anna Victoria Kirk (1883-1965), Crookston, Minnesota.
Find A Grave.com, digital images, gravestone for Ernest Kirk (1872-1952) Crookston, Minnesota.
Find A Grave.com, digital images, gravestone for William Bamford Cunningham (1848-1903), Velva, North Dakota.
"Mrs. Baughman to Attend National Meeting" Bismarck daily tribune (Bismark, Dakota {N.D.])), 26 October, 1916. p. 5 Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
"Society News" Grand Forks daily herald (Grand Forks, N.D.), 29 April 1916. p. 3. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
"Straw Vote in 5th District" Grand Forks herald (Grand Forks, N.D.), 10 March 1920. p. 8. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
"Suffrage Notes" The Fargo forum and daily republican (Fargo, N.D.), 7 May 1913. p. 4. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
"The Annual District W.C.T.U. Convention is now in Session" The evening times (Grand Forks, N.D.), 2 May 1912. p. 5. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
U.S. Federal Census, Huntsville, Polk, Minnesota, 1940, household of Ernest Kirk. Accessed online via HeritageQuest.
U.S. Federal Census, Petersburg, Nelson, North Dakota, 1910-1930, household of Ernest Kirk. Accessed online via HeritageQuest.
"W.C.T.U. Convention at Gilby" The evening times (Grand Forks, N.D.), 14 June 1913. p. 7. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
"W.C.T.U. Convention" The Fargo forum and daily republican (Fargo, N.D.), 3 May 1912. p. 7. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.