International Council of Women
In the 1880s the American suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony contacted several women’s advocates in France and Great Britain (Margaret E. Parker, Priscilla Bright McLaren, Margaret Bright Lucas, Alice Lyle Scatcherd, Huber- tine Auclert, Mr.
and Mrs. Theodore Stanton, and Charlotte B. Wilbour) hoping to create an organization dedicated to the question of women’s suffrage. The goal of the organization was to promote unity and mutual understanding between women working for the common weal. On March 25, 1888, during a conference organized by the National Women’s Suffrage Association in Washington, D.C., the International Council of Women (ICW) was officially formed. Its intention was not merely to bring together women from across the globe, but also to provide coordination for national women’s movements. As such, the ICW was intended as a federation of national organizations. To this end, national councils—umbrella organizations for various women’s organizations in each coun- try—were established. The first three countries to found national councils were the United States (1893), Canada (1897), and Germany (1897). These three national councils were followed by many more in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Argentina established a national council and joined the ICW in 1901, and Austria followed suit two years later.In addition to the creation of both an international body and national organizations, the ICW organized international meetings every five years. The first international meeting was held in Chicago in 1893; the second was held in London, having been delayed a year, in 1899. The third international meeting took place in Berlin in 1904 and the fourth in Toronto in 1909. During this initial period of development, the presidents of the ICW were Millicent Garrett Fawcett (elected but inactive, 1888-1893), Lady Aberdeen (18931899), May Wright Sewall (1899-1904), and again Lady Aberdeen (1904-1909).
Main concerns tackled by the ICW included the promotion of world peace and international arbitration to resolve conflicts, women’s suffrage, moral concerns (including prostitution and the sexual double-standard between men and women), and women’s work and education. Reports from the international meetings in Berlin (1904) and Toronto (1909) attest to the importance of these meetings as avenues for political and social action as well as cross-cultural connections. German and Austrian visitors to the Toronto conference were struck not only by the beautiful landscape and open space as they traveled across the country but also by the warm welcome with which they were received. Marianne Hainisch, president of the Bund osterreichischer Frauenvereine (League of Austrian Women’s Associations) and preeminent women’s rights advocate, remarked that a main purpose of such international meetings was to form personal connections. Marie Stritt, president of the Bund deutscher Frauenvereine, elaborated on this point and noted that her visit to Canada not only strengthened her sense of solidarity to other women, but also demonstrated the triumph of the women’s movement. In 2005, the ICW continues to do work around the world with over eighty member countries.Sarah Wobick
See also Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine
References and Further Reading
Aberdeen, Countess of, ed. Our Lady of the
Sunshine and Her International Visitors: A Series of Impressions Written by Representatives of the Various Delegations Attending the Quinquennial Meeting of the International Council of Women in Canada, June 1909. London: Constable, 1909.
Gordon, M. Ogilvie. “The Formation and Growth of the International Council of Women” In International Council of Women: Report of Transactions of the Fourth Quinquennial Meeting Held at Toronto, Canada, June, 1909. Ed. Countess of Aberdeen. London: Constable, 1910.
Sewall, May Wright, ed. Genesis of the International Council of Women and the Story of its Growth, 1888—1893. Indianapolis, 1914.