This page was created by Christine Liebson. The last update was by Julia Teran.
Suffragist Alumnae, Faculty, and Faculty Wives
Annice Florence Jeffreys Myers Annice Florence Jeffreys Myers
Annice Myers graduated from the School of Medicine in 1883. After graduation, Dr. Myers practiced medicine for about 16 years during which time she moved to Salem, Oregon. She married Jefferson Myers around 1900 or 1901. In addition to her work as a physician, Dr. Myers was involved in the suffrage movement serving at the local and national level: vice president at large of the State Equal Suffrage Association and auditor of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association. She was Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements for the 37th Annual Convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Portland in 1905 at the time of the Lewis and Clark Exposition. (Dr. Myers and her husband, who was President of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition Commission, had traveled to the last convention in Washington, D.C. to invite the Association to bring its next meeting to Oregon.) Dr. Myers also served on the Association’s Committee on Congressional Legislation. She was deeply involved in assisting working women improve their conditions. She helped them gain opportunities for better jobs to become independent. She helped many become nurses “and she opened the way for many to other useful fields.” Dr. Myers died in 1911 in Portland, Oregon.
Emma Maud Perkins Emma Maud Perkins
Emma Maud Perkins, Woods Professor Latin, joined the faculty of Western Reserve University's College for Women (later Flora Stone Mather College) in 1892, only four years after its establishment. She taught Latin for thirty-seven years. Upon graduating from Vassar College in 1879 as valedictorian, Miss Perkins moved to Cleveland where she taught at Central High School. She was a prolific speaker, a gardener, and a supporter of women’s suffrage. Professor Perkins was the advisor to the campus Equal Suffrage League. For decades she was responsible for explaining the College’s traditions to new students at the beginning of each academic year. Miss Perkins also served a term on the Cleveland Board of Education and was president of the College Club. She also served as president of the American Association of University Women. She died in 1937, leaving $10,000 to fund a scholarship at Flora Stone Mather College in memory of her mother, Sarah M. Perkins, another women's suffrage worker.
Florence Ellinwood Allen Florence Ellinwood Allen
Florence Ellinwood Allen was the first woman appointed Assistant County Prosecutor of Cuyahoga County (1919) and the first woman elected to the Court of Common Pleas in the County (1920), winning by the largest margin of victory at that time. She was the first woman elected to the Supreme Court of Ohio (1922) as well as any state Supreme Court. She was also the first woman appointed to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, serving the Sixth Circuit 1934 until her retirement in 1959. She was named the chief judge in 1958. Miss Allen graduated with a B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, from the College for Women of Western Reserve University (WRU) in 1904. She entered the WRU Graduate School in September 1907 and received the Master of Arts degree in June 1908. She sought admission to the Law School but was denied because she was a woman. She attended law school for a year at the University of Chicago and earned the L.L.B. degree from New York University in 1913. She was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1914 and entered private practice. While in New York, Florence Allen became involved with the suffrage movement, becoming secretary for the College Equal Suffrage Association. Upon passage of the 19th Amendment she ran for office. In her autobiography, To Do Justly (published by the Western Reserve University Press), she wrote, “I was the beneficiary of the entire women’s movement.” After passage of the 19th Amendment the Cleveland League of Women Voters was formed in 1920. The League of Women Voters chapter at the College for Women was organized in October 1921 by Florence Allen. She received the honorary degree Doctor of Laws from WRU in 1926. Florence Allen retired in 1959 and died in 1966.
Edna Brush Perkins
Edna Brush Perkins, daughter of inventor Charles F. Brush, married Roger G. Perkins, professor of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine at the School of Medicine, in November 1905. Born in 1880, Ms. Perkins attended Hathaway Brown School and Miss Hersey's School in Boston. She attended one year at the College for Women. She organized and lectured for woman's suffrage and chaired the Woman's Suffrage Party of Greater Cleveland. At a rally 11/1/1917 on the WRU campus as written in the student yearbook, "Mrs. Roger Perkins tells us how to chase senators." In addition to her suffrage work, she was a founder of the Women's City Club, and served on the board of the Brush Foundation, Maternal Health Association, Cleveland Play House, and Welfare Federation of Cleveland. Ms. Perkins was a published author of 2 books and an artist whose works appeared in the Cleveland Museum of Art May Show. She died in 1930.
