Basic Information
Minnie Fisher Cunningham was born on March 19, 1882, to Horatio and Sallie Fisher. She was the seventh of eight children and the youngest daughter. She was raised on a plantation in New Waverly, Walker County Texas. Minnie Fisher Cunningham developed values that diverged significantly from her family. She wanted equal rights for all people, although she was unable to maintain her stance throughout her political career. She became a prominent activist in ensuring the 19thamendment’s success—giving women the right to vote.
Background Information
Before the Civil War, Minnie Fisher Cunningham’s family was very wealthy and one of the largest slaveholders with seventy-two enslaved people. The cotton and slave industry had made her family wealthy and made them one of the largest landowners in the area. After the Civil War, that all changed. Without the income from the exploitation of enslaved people, they lost their land and wealth and the family had to leave their plantation and move into their father’s family’s plantation. In 1902, she married Beverly Jean Cunningham. Minnie Cunningham did not have any kids, so to occupy her time Minnie Cunningham became involved in several civic clubs—The Wednesday Club, The Women’s Health Protective Association, and Galveston Equal Suffrage Association (Eudy,1976, p.52).
Contributions to the First Wave
The most important of these clubs was the Galveston Equal Suffrage Association of which she became a founding member. The GESA was part of a new beginning of the suffrage movement that was taking place in the Deep South after the Civil War. In 1910 Minnie Cunningham was elected President of the Galveston organization, which consisted of white women who shared a similar profile: “. . . they were urban, likely to be married, middle- and upper-middle-class, and active members of other voluntary associations” (McArthur & Smith, 2003, p. 30). One person who recognized her determination and enthusiasm was Annette Finnigan, who at the time was the President of the Texas Equal Suffrage Association but because of health reasons decided to step down and recommended in 1915 that Minnie Cunningham become President. Minnie Cunningham served in this position for four years. In this position, she became friends with Carrie Chapman Catt—President of the National American Suffrage Association (Eudy, 1976 p.52). Together, they worked toward their common goals: “Unlike other groups which sought the vote for women, the organizations directed by Mrs. Catt and Mrs. Cunningham rejected bizarre and unorthodox methods of gaining attention for the cause of suffrage. They chose to work within the bounds of established political practices to win their goals of state and national suffrage” (Eudy, 1976 p.52). Minnie Fisher Cunningham, while waiting for the governor to be impeached, spent her time influencing the military. She led her organization, TESA, to military training camps for the purpose of teaching them morality and dissuading them from gambling, prostitution, and alcohol (Eudy, p.53). In 1918, Governor Hobby decided to call a “special session” to vote on a women’s suffrage bill. This new development was influenced by Cunningham’s persuasion skills. She negotiated an exchange—if he passed a bill giving women the right to vote, she would ensure a large percentage of women would vote for him. The bill passed and women gained the right to vote in Texas. Cunningham received a letter from a state senator, R.M. Dudley, “‘We probably would have elected Hobby anyway, but we know the women clenched it and nailed it down’, Governor Hobby’s total was more than twice as large as Ferguson’s” (McArthur, 1995, p. 329).
Minnie Fisher Cunningham had many other accomplishments inside and out of Texas. She was executive secretary and organizer of the National League of Women Voters. She was appointed the organization’s vice-chair of the get-out-and-vote committee. She managed the Women’s National Democratic Club from 1923-1927. She ran for senator in Texas and lost but was the first women to run for a Senate seat. She joined the Agricultural Extension Service at Texas A&M College. She served in the women’s division of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration in Washington DC in 1939. These and many other accomplishments made Cunningham well known.
“Perhaps we can prove to them that they need us even if they do not want us”
~ Minnie Fisher Cunningham (McArthur, 1995, p. 321)
Analysis and Conclusion
Minnie Fisher Cunningham was, not only a pioneer but the driving force in the Women’s Suffrage movement in Texas. She refused to allow white men to sway her from the plan. Was it perfect? No. She gave into some of her values—like all women should have the right to vote, not just middle- and upper-class white women. If it wasn’t for her and efforts to persuade the government to allow women to vote in Texas, it might not have been possible for the United States to finally get the states it needed on August 26, 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment was officially added to the Constitution. Minnie Fisher Cunningham played the politicians at their own game, she was politically savvy and knew how to influence. One day while fighting this battle she told her friend and fellow suffrage legend, Carrie Chapman Catt, “Perhaps we can prove to them that they need us even if they do not want us” (McArthur, 1995, p.321). That is exactly what she did.
References
Eudy, John C. (1976). “The Vote and Lone Star Women: Minnie Fisher Cunningham and the Texas Equal Suffrage Association,” East Texas Historical Journal: Vol. 14: Iss. 2, Article 10.
Harris & Ewing, photographer. Mrs. Minnie Fisher Cunningham, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing slightly left / Harris & Ewing. , None. [Between 1910 and 1930] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/97516783/.
McArthur, J. N. (1995). Minnie Fisher Cunningham Back Door Lobby in Texas: Political Maneuvering in a one-Party State. In M. S. Wheeler, One Woman, One Vote(pp. 315-330). Troutdale: NewSage Press.
McArthur & Smith. (2003). Minnie Fisher Cunningham A Suffragist’s Life in Politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.