The Early Women's Movement in North Caddo Parish

 Ladies, next time you go to the polls to vote, know that the fight for that right and others did not just take place in far away places. Over 100 years ago, local women were also involved in pressing for equality

In August 1915, Mooringsport was one of several area sites holding a rally in support of voting rights for women.

Shreveport Times 24-Aug-1915, Page 1


In 1922 the article below noted the establishment of a National Woman's Party chapter in Vivian, with intentions stated to form similar groups in Oil City and Mooringsport.

Lavinia Hartwell Egan and Mary (identified as Mrs. J. D.) Wilkinson of Shreveport were state-wide leaders for the party whose initial emphasis was universal suffrage, realized by ratification of the 19th  Amendment in 1920. Afterward, the two continued to traverse the state, organizing and pressing for additional rights for women. The national party continued as a political organization until 1997.

From Le Meschacébé (Lucy, LA) 15-Apr-1922, Page 2

For information about area women's support of organized labor, see Woman's International Union Label League