The Franks and Suffrage

The fight for woman suffrage has a long history in the United States. From Abigail Adams urging her husband, future president John Adams, to “remember the ladies” in 1776 to the ratification of the 19th Amendment, women and men fought to make the ideas in the Declaration of Independence, that among other things, “all men (and women) are created equal” become a reality. Ogdensburg was visited by famous suffragists Susan B. Anthony, Dr. Anna Howard Shaw and Carrie Chapman Catt, but its greatest reformers were a petite, wife and mother and her politician husband.

Marion Sanger Frank, daughter of Adolph and Sara Levy Sanger was raised in New York City in a Jewish family that was active in social welfare and politics. At a young age, her family encouraged her to fight for those less fortunate than herself. Her father, Adolph Sanger, was a prominent attorney and politician in New York City, who served as an alderman and commissioner of education. Both parents died by the time Marion was 18 years old. After marrying Julius Frank, a businessman and local politician, she moved to Ogdensburg, where she led the local suffrage movement and served on the Board of Supervisors for the St. Lawrence State Hospital. Julius, who served as Ogdensburg’s mayor (1914-18), encouraged and supported Marion’s fight for woman suffrage.

However, lack of suffrage wasn’t the only problem women had. In the 19th and early 20th centuries Americans held a number of stereotypes about women as seen in pamphlets, poetry, literature, sermons and medical texts. The so-called “Cult of Domesticity” or “Cult of True Womanhood” persisted throughout this time period. Women were considered to be mentally and physically inferior to men. Both sexes had their own “spheres” with women being expected to take care of the home, bear and rear children. Since women’s brains were smaller, they were considered intellectually inferior to men. Women who tried to break the stereotype were ostracized, even those who sought to get an education.

Schooling ended for most girls at the age of 14, however things began to change in 1821 with the opening of the Troy Female Seminary in New York State, which enabled girls to further their education. Then in 1833 Oberlin College admitted women for the first time, followed by Mount Holyoke and Vassar Colleges. As women became more educated they began to work in fields that primarily were the domain of men and they became involved in reform movements, such as the abolition of slavery and women’s rights.

One reform movement that interested enlightened women was the abolition of slavery. Sarah Grimké and Susan B. Anthony were both well known abolitionists and spoke extensively in favor of emancipation of slaves. However, male abolitionists silenced them during meetings and both decided that not only should slavery be abolished, but women needed rights as well. So many female abolitionists began to fight for women's suffrage. It took 72 years for women to get the right to vote.

Gaining the right to vote wasn’t foremost on Marion’s mind when she first married. But after the death of her first child she was encouraged to step outside of the traditional domestic sphere. With her husband’s full support she founded and served as president of the Ogdensburg Political Equality Club in 1915. It promoted women’s right to vote in Northern New York. Through this group and her work as an editor of a newspaper column called “News & Views of Equal Suffrage,” she sought to convince St. Lawrence County about the need for woman suffrage. Marion argued that giving women the vote would, among other benefits, prevent war, because women could “recognize the horrors of war.” She also appealed to the nation’s founding documents, arguing that women, as citizens under the U.S. Constitution, were entitled to vote and that taxation without representation was unjust. Marion traveled to other St. Lawrence County towns, such as Lisbon, Morristown and Potsdam, where she spoke and helped organize other Political Equality Clubs (and also spoke throughout the state). Her influence extended beyond St. Lawrence County. In 1917, she was selected as a delegate to the state suffrage convention in New York City, spoke weekly over New York City radio and was a consummate fundraiser. Marion did all of this with the approval and help of her husband, Julius.

Mayor Julius Frank joined his father’s business, Nathan Frank & Son in 1890. Frank’s was a large department store located on Ford St. that was begun in 1865 by Nathan Frank (Julius’ father). Later Julius Frank served as mayor 1914-1918 and was credited with correcting the city’s financial problems. He was very active in the community and was a member of the Masons, National Guard, Chamber of Commerce, president of the Fair and Horse Show, secretary of the Ogdensburg Fair, president of the Ogdensburg Businessman’s Association, Odd Fellows, a Maccabee, member of the Independent Order of Forresters, charter member of the Knights of Pythias, officer of the NYS Council of Retail Merchants and President (29 years) and founder of the Anshe Zophen Synagogue. Mayor Frank had many famous friends who visited Ogdensburg such as, President Herbert Hoover, President Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and Rabbi Stephen Wise, an American Jewish leader. President Roosevelt appointed Mayor Frank to a post on the Federal Judiciary Committee.

As mayor and husband, Julius Frank supported Marion's activism. In 1915, he spoke at the St. Lawrence County suffrage convention in Ogdensburg. Later that year, he marched in the New York City Suffrage Parade as a member of the Men’s League for Woman Suffrage. Marion was one of 10 women on a float representing woman suffrage around the world. As mayor of Ogdensburg, Julius advocated for and voted in favor of a woman suffrage resolution at the 1917 New York State Conference of Mayors in Buffalo. Later that year, when Carrie Chapman Catt spoke at the Ogdensburg Opera House, Mayor Frank took the stage to describe himself as “an ardent advocate of woman suffrage” before turning the meeting over to his wife, who spoke about the progress made over the past three years. Susan B. Anthony is famous for saying, “Failure is impossible,” and Marion and Julius Frank believed this.

Ogdensburg was a hotspot of women’s rights activities with Marion and Julius Frank organizing suffrage meetings at the Opera House, which was on the current site of city hall today. Invited speakers included such national leaders as Dr. Anna Howard Shaw and Carrie Chapman Catt. Both Marion and Julius Frank also spoke at this location. Conveniently, the Political Equality Club offices were directly across the street at the Strand Theater. Their tireless efforts brought the issue of woman suffrage to the forefront in Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County and New York State.

Women gained the right to vote in New York in 1917, but across the nation women could not vote until passage of the 19th amendment in 1920. Even after this success Marion and Julius never stopped working to help those less fortunate.