Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture and society and has been observed annually in the month of March in the United States since 1987. Women’s History Month 2024 will take place from Friday, March 1 to Sunday,
March 31, 2024.
This month, we remember:
Lake Ronkonkoma Equal Rights Suffrage Club 1912
The Club was organized in September 1912 by Miss Harriet May Mills of New York City. The first speaker was Miss Cora Morlan.
Our own Lillian Devere with the help of Rosalie Gardiner Jones, had The Suffrage Club up and running in no time. The early meetings were engaged at Mr. Fisk’s Ice Cream Parlor on Pond Road & Church Street. The meetings would determine and plan the next events.
Euchre and Dance events were held at the Fire Hall, and were successful including refreshments, music, and dancing. Rosalie Gardiner Jones and other ardent leaders would meet at the Devere home and picnic followed by a swim in Lake Ronkonkoma. They took their part in the Riverhead rallies and in local parades and events, bringing support to their cause with great style. Locally, they had booths at Athletic Meets on Declaration Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day bringing the total to about eighteen dollars’ worth of Suffrage flags and novelties. On July 4, 1912, the Club joined the Parade with Miss Rosalie Gardiner Jones hiking along a decorated automobile with Suffrage flags. Expected to meet here in Lake Ronkonkoma, Mrs. Kearns and Miss Welch of New York riding in the decorated wagon pulled by a horse. Unfortunately, the horse would not make the trip, which allowed them to campaign at Long Beach.
The Equal Franchise Society, in 1914, sent eighteen books that circulated in our area and started the quest for our own library. Lillian Devere mobilized local women into a suffrage group to win the vote and made huge strides that helped the entire community.
Perhaps the highest honor the Club held was leading the Torchlight Parade which began at Fifty-Eighth Street and Fifth Avenue, Manhattan in 1912.
If you care for additional information regarding Suffrage in Lake Ronkonkoma or have information on a Suffrage member, please contact us at The Lake Ronkonkoma Heritage Association 328 Hawkins Avenue, Lake Ronkonkoma, 631-467-3152
