VOTES FOR WOMEN
- Program
- Subject
- Location
- Lat/Long
- Grant Recipient
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National Votes for Women Trail
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People
- 723 N 8th St, Fort Smith, AR 72901, USA
- 35.392293, -94.417592
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National Collaborative for Women's History Sites
VOTES FOR WOMEN
Inscription
VOTES FOR WOMENMAME STEWART JOSENBERGER
BLACK SUFFRAGIST AND
COMMUNITY LEADER. HELPED
CREATE ARKANSAS ASSOCIATION
OF COLORED WOMEN IN 1905.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2022
Mame Stewart Josenberger (ca. 1872-1964) was a Black suffragist and community leader in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She was born in New York state and attended Fisk University in Tennessee. After graduating, she worked as an educator and lived in Fort Smith from circa 1890 to her death in 1964. Her former Fort Smith home, while no longer standing, was located four blocks from the National Votes for Women Trail historic marker placed in her honor in Harley Wilson Park.
In 1905, Josenberger helped to create the Arkansas Association of Colored Women, which formed to improve the living conditions of African Americans in the state. She served as state president and national committee member of the National Association of Colored Women and was also a leader in the local Fort Smith Phyllis Wheatley Club. Through her club work, Josenberger advocated for women’s suffrage as a means to improve the lives of African American women at both the state and national level.
