Many outstanding educators devote their energy to social causes. One of these was Lucia Ellen Camp, a teacher who worked tirelessly for the passage of women’s suffrage during the 19th century.

Lucia was born on Oct. 7, 1851, in Stowe, Vermont. Her father, Asa Camp, was a merchant. He also served his community as a senator for Lamoille County, a director of the Waterbury Bank, the State Inspector of Finance, and a member of the Stowe City Council. Tragically, when Lucia was only eight years old, her mother died of smallpox. Later her father remarried to Harriet Camp. Lucia already had one brother, and her father’s second marriage produced four younger siblings for Lucia, all of whom relocated to Minnesota with Asa and Harriet when the couple moved there in 1872. But Lucia Camp chose to remain in Vermont.

As a child, Lucia was an excellent student who earned high grades and numerous academic awards. In 1869, at the age of 18, she inaugurated her career as a schoolteacher. In addition, she was an active member of the community in Stowe, organizing and participating in fundraisers and other events, all the while continuing to teach. By 1874, Lucia accepted a position at the Green Mountain Seminary in Waterbury Center. Before long she was appointed the school’s Assistant Principal. At the age of 24, she became the Superintendent of Schools in Stowe.

Lucia became a bride on Oct. 17, 1876, when she married Fred Blanchard, the owner of a hardware store. The couple moved to Montpelier and started their family. They had three daughters. Lucia became active in her new community, and by 1900 she was serving on the School Board Committee for Buildings and Repairs.

In 1915, Lucia Blanchard was selected the President of the Vermont Equal Suffrage Association (VESA). She stepped down the following year to become their treasurer, holding that position until the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in 1920. During these years, Lucia worked tirelessly for the Women’s Suffrage Movement, writing to legislators and encouraging others to do the same. She also organized the annual VESA State Convention in Burlington in 1919.

Lucia Camp Blanchard lived in Montpelier until she passed away on Feb. 21, 1933. She was 81 years old. She is interred at Green Mountain Cemetery in Montpelier, Vermont. To learn more about this Chalkboard Champion, click on this link to NAWSA.

New York teacher Katherine Devereux Blake was also an influential suffragist. Photo credit: Public Domain

Teachers are often among the first to throw their boundless energy into campaigns that benefit society as a whole. One of these was Katherine Devereux Blake, a teacher who became an influential suffragist.

Katherine was born in Manhattan, New York, on July 10, 1858. Her mother was well-known pioneer suffragist, newspaper correspondent, and novelist Lillie Devereux Blake.

Katherine earned her college degree in 1876 from what later became Hunter College. Following her graduation, she inaugurated her career as a public school teacher in New York City. By 1894 she accepted a position as the principal of the Girls Department of Public School 6. This school was renamed the Lillie Devereux School in 1916. Katherine served PS 6 as its principal for 34 years, until her retirement in 1927.

Throughout her career as an educator, Katherine Blake used her influence to champion causes that benefited both teachers and students. She promoted improvements in classroom lighting and sanitation, the reform of school textbooks, and night school for women. In addition, she actively worked for the National Education Association (NEA). She served on a number of committees that promoted teacher benefits, good relationships between public schools and the NEA, and the election of women to the New York Board of Education. Katherine was one of nineteen teachers selected to accompany Dr. John Dewey on his official visit to Russia in 1928.

Not only was Katherine Blake an outstanding educator, but she was also an influential journalist, suffragist, and peace activist. During her summer vacations from 1911-1919, she campaigned for women’s suffrage in California, New York, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In New York, she was the leader of nearly 15,000 teachers who worked for women’s suffrage. In the 1915 parade sponsored by the Woman Suffrage Association, Katherine marched at the front of a group of nearly 500 teachers.

Katherine Blake was also an active and outspoken peace activist. She was a member of the Ford Peace Expedition in 1915-1916, and she also served as the New York Chair of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She was the chief spokesperson for the Disarmament Caravan, which toured 9,000 miles in 1931 to carry a disarmament petition to President Herbert Hoover and to the International Disarmament Conference in Geneva. The petition was comprised of nearly seven million signatures. Katherine traveled to Geneva repeatedly to attend the League of Nations Assembly as a newspaper correspondent. In 1938 she traveled abroad to study refugee problems.

This remarkable woman and Chalkboard Champion passed away on February 2, 1950, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was 91 years old. She is interred in Union Cemetery in Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut.

To read more about Katherine Devereux Blake, see this biographical sketch about NAWSA Suffragists.