Semester
Fall
Date of Graduation
2009
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MA
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
History
Committee Chair
Kenneth Fones-Wolf.
Committee Co-Chair
Elizabeth Fones-Wolf
Committee Member
Barbara Howe
Abstract
This thesis is a biography of West Virginia native Lenna Lowe Yost and her role in two important reform causes---temperance and woman suffrage. It explores Yost's life and political accomplishments in both regional and national venues, progressing from her childhood, through her early activism, and culminating with the passage of the national woman suffrage amendment. During the Progressive Era, as Yost reached the apex of her career as an indispensable state leader, she had to navigate between divisions in the suffrage movement as well as local conflicts between prohibitionists and suffragists. In these movements Lenna Yost proved herself to be a skilled organizer and influential reformer, whose fight for the betterment of women's and children's lives opened the door for women nationally to become politically active. This study strives to place Yost's work in West Virginia in a national context, similar to the efforts of women in more progressive states of the era.
Recommended Citation
Thurston, Karina G., "Lenna Lowe Yost, temperance, and the ratification of the woman suffrage amendment by West Virginia" (2009). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 695.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/695