DCHA to Unveil Womens Suffrage Marker in Delhi

DELHI — On September 27 at 11:15 am, the Delaware County Historical Association will unveil an historic marker adjacent to the Delaware National Bank on Delhi’s Main Street. The ceremony, which will include Delhi Town Deputy Supervisor, Christina Viafore, will take place during Delhi’s annual Harvest Festival on Courthouse Square. The marker recognizes the importance of this location in the local effort to allow women the legal right to vote in the early years of the last century.

The Delhi Equal Suffrage Club was founded in 1912 to advocate for women's suffrage in New York State. The club was active from 1912 through 1915, though it remained in existence to the end of the decade. The prime mover behind the club was Jennie Curtis Cannon, wife of Henry White Cannon, President of the Chase Bank for many years. Mrs. Cannon provided the building for the club, which had formerly been Graham's Hardware Store, in 1915. 

That year, a ballot measure appeared in New York to get the vote for women. The club worked very hard to get the vote, but in the November election, the ballot measure failed. All was not lost, however, because only two years later, in 1917, the ballot measure again appeared on the ballot in New York and easily passed.

Funding for the historic marker was provided to the Delaware County Historical Association by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. The foundation has funded over 2,600 historical markers across the United States. Grants for markers are open to 501(c)(3) organizations, nonprofit academic institutions and local, state and federal government entities.