Iowa All Over: Carrie Chapman Catt Home in Charles City

CHARLES CITY — At the age of 13, Carrie Lane Chapman Catt asked her mother why she wasn't dressed to go to town to vote in the 1872 presidential election when her father was ready for the trip.

In response to the question, Catt heard laughter.

Voting, as she was told, was 'too important of a civic duty to leave to women.' Years later, the exchange would serve as a turning point in Catt's life.

Born on Jan. 9, 1859, in Ripon, Wis., Catt became an integral player in the women's suffrage movement. In 1866, Catt and her family moved to Charles City, in Floyd County, where she would spend 11 years of her life on the family home.

Construction on the house was completed that year.

Today, the Carrie Chapman Catt Girlhood Home welcomes visitors and offers a look back at the formative years of a pioneer for women's rights. The rural Iowa home is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Inside the home, display panels tell the story of Catt's life. Catt attended schools in Charles City and graduated from Charles City High School.

'She rode her horse every single day into town to go to high school,' said Katherine Bailey, an intern in her second summer working at the home.

In 1877, Catt enrolled at Iowa State College in Ames, while she worked as a dish washer for nine cents an hour to put herself through school. In 1880, she graduated as valedictorian and as the only woman in her class, according to the Girlhood Home's records.

'She was rambunctious,' Bailey said. 'She would chase boys around the playground with snakes and would bring in rattlesnake eggs from outside and they'd hatch. She was a very fascinated child.'

Her mother, Maria Clinton, instilled a love of reading in her daughter, Bailey said. In front of the picturesque home is a large oak tree where Catt would sit under to read.

In 1892, she organized a National American Woman Suffrage Association meeting in Des Moines, and in 1900 became president of the association and held the position until 1904 and from 1915 to 1938.

In 1920, after the 19th Amendment was ratified, helped Catt form the League of Women Voters.

She lectured around the world and held offices in the women's rights movement for 51 years.

She made the cover of Time magazine in 1926 and was named Woman of the Year by the American Women's Association in 1940. She died seven years later.

The National Nineteenth Amendment Society purchased the home in 1991 and began the 15-year restoration process, Bailey said.

Every single brick was taken off the building, cleaned and put back, Bailey explained. The museum opened to visitors in 2005.

'She never stopped. She was a lifelong activist and she did not let any challenges stop her,' said Bailey, who will vote in her first presidential election next year. 'If she was afraid, she didn't show it.'

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Home. On Aug. 26 at a farmers market in Charles City's Central Park, Bailey and other members of the Home will help register people to vote.

If you go

What: Carrie Chapman Catt Girlhood Home

Where: 2379 Timber Ave., Charles City

Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m., Sunday from late May to early September. Also open by appointment.

Admission: Free

Contact information: Call (641) 228-3336 or go to www.catt.org.