Harrison welcomes Alice Sanger as first female staffer
President Benjamin Harrison welcomes Alice Sanger as the first female White House staffer on this day in 1890.During an otherwise uneventful presidency remarkable only for allowing Congress a free-for-all in spending public funds Alice Sangers appointment may have been an olive branch to the growing womens suffrage movement that had gathered momentum during Harrisons presidency.In 1890 two of the most influential organizations involved in the womens suffrage movement the American Woman Suffrage Association and the National Woman Suffrage Association combined forces and became the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).NAWSA represented a coalition of womens suffrage activists social reformers and temperance advocates.
Their demands included stronger female property rights employment and educational opportunities for women improved divorce and child custody laws and reproductive freedom.Whether or not Sanger actively supported womens suffrage has been lost in the historical record however Harrisons appointment of Sanger indicated a cautious step toward strengthening female representation in government.
