The suffrage movement used many tactics and strategies to win the vote for women. Horse-drawn wagons attracted attention at a time when automobiles were coming onto the scene. Of the photographs collected and preserved about the national and state campaigns, horse-drawn wagons were a special feature of the large parades and demonstrations. They attracted large crowds, were used as speakers’ platforms, for transportation and to make the point that votes for women had to be, above all, visible.

The suffrage campaign wagon used by Edna Buckman Kearns was exhibited at the New York State Museum in March and April of 2010. While many horse-drawn wagons were used for suffrage campaigning, most didn’t survive intact so we can actually see them today. They tell us a great deal about organizing support for woman’s suffrage in local communities around the nation.