The Works of Rose O'Neill
Women's Rights (Suffrage)
Rose O’Neill never hesitated to become involved with different
politics or women’s issues and eagerly used her artistic talent to
illustrate programs, posters, or political cartoons to express her
support of worthy causes. She was frequently in attendance at
suffrage parades and often found that her artistic fame came in
handy in drawing attention to the unfair treatment of women and
minorities. She supported many worthwhile causes such as the Red
Cross and the National Tuberculosis Society.
“The Kewpie Korner Kewpiegram” by Rose O’Neill appeared in
newspapers across the United States from 1917 through 1918. These
small cartoons with poems promoted woman suffrage and other
controversial subject matter.
There are many documented news articles that confirm the active role
that O’Neill played in the campaign for women’s equality. A Los
Angeles Tribune article stated “the most celebrated of America’s
black and white artists, Rose O’Neill, creator of “The Kewpies” is
an ardent suffragist and an active member of the Press and Publicity
Council of New York City. To aid in their campaign for ‘Votes for
Women Nov. 2’, she has just designed and donated to them the
striking poster here reproduced”. This poster was used in 1915 and
then later in the 1917 voting campaign and was titled “Together for
Home and Family Vote Yes for the Woman Suffrage Amendment Nov. 2”.
Suffrage posters are rare and very few are known to exist today.
Posters and flyers that were tacked and posted on telephone poles
and on the sides of buildings were frequently torn down and
destroyed by those individuals that were opposed to women having the
right to vote. Fortunately, postcards and newspaper articles
displaying O’Neill’s suffrage art are more plentiful and are proudly
included in the historical preserved documents of museums and
collectors.
Rose O’Neill, never one to follow any popular trend of the day, felt
that one should dress comfortably and often wore her long flowing
floor length robes that she referred to as an “aura” or a “mantle”.
The garment was made from a single length of material like a poncho,
and was loosely cinched at the waist with a braided belt. The Ozark
natives referred to her robe as a “flyin’ squirrel dress” due to the
very wide oriental style sleeves.
April 25, 1915, the New York Press newspaper article “Rose O’Neill
in Campaign to Introduce Her Novel Art Garb” quoted O’Neill, “It is
quite time that a decisive stroke was struck for the freedom of
women, not only as regards to the suffrage question, and, of course,
I am very keen on that, but on other matters. The first step is to
free women from the yoke of modern fashions and modern dress. How
can they hope to compete with men when they are boxed up tight in
the clothes that are worn today?”
Rose O’Neill lived her life a liberated woman. She didn’t have to
work at it. It came to her instinctively due to the confidence she
had in her own abilities. She did, however, work at liberating
others so they might choose how best to live their lives.
This advertisement appeared in Good Housekeeping
magazine in the year 1930, nearly 40 years after Rose began her
career as a woman illustrator. Rose O’Neill was truly a woman ahead
of her time!
Women's Rights Gallery
(Click thumbnail for full view.)
