Изабелла Кейс Ла Фолетт: Активистка и борец за права женщин

American activist (1859–1931)

Isabelle Case La Follette (April 21, 1859 – August 18, 1931) was a women's suffrage, peace, and civil rights activist in Wisconsin, United States. She worked with the Woman's Peace Party during World War I. At the time of her death in 1931, The New York Times called her "probably the least known yet most influential of all American women who have had to do with public affairs in this country." She was the wife and helpmate of Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette—a prominent Progressive Republican politician both in Wisconsin and on the national scene—and as co editor with her husband of La Follette's Weekly Magazine. One of her students in Baraboo was John Ringling, of whom she later wrote " when John read a long account interrupted with giggles from the school of the side shows he and other boys had been giving every night, I lectured him and drew the moral that if John would put his mind on his lessons as he did on side shows, he might yet become a scholar. Fortunately the scolding had no effect."

In 1875, Belle Case left home for the University of Wisconsin Madison, with the financial support of her farming parents. She excelled as a student, never missing a class or arriving late while at the university. Even early in life, Belle did not shy away from protesting what she perceived as injustices, particularly those targeted at women. In regard to one of her speeches, local paper Madison Democrat wrote, " she portrayed the vanity of many of us in trying to make an empty display and neglecting it for true stability and depth of sentiment." In another speech, "Children's Playthings," Belle conflated the convention of young girls playing with dolls with future expectations for womanhood, claiming these domestic "dreams" of girlhood would only lead to "impossible future happiness" and "dissatisfied, nervous, complaining [women]." Case and La Follette were married on December 31, 1881, in a ceremony performed by a Unitarian minister. By mutual agreement, the word "obey" was omitted from their marriage vows. While Bob respected Belle's independence, intelligence, and beliefs, he still hoped for a domestic life, writing in his journal, "Oh hasten [the] time when I can see her the center of a home." Belle remained an activist throughout her life, but did note that "the supreme experience in life is motherhood," and enjoyed taking care of their children. Belle and Robert La Follette were the parents of four children (two daughters and two sons). Their first child, Flora Dodge La Follette, always called "Fola," was born on September 10, 1882. Fola married the playwright George Middleton on October 29, 1911. Robert Jr., born in 1895, represented Wisconsin in the U. S. Senate from 1925 to 1947; Philip, born in 1897, served three terms as governor of Wisconsin; and Mary, born in 1899. Robert Jr. and Philip began the Wisconsin Progressive Party, which briefly held a dominant role in Wisconsin politics.

Belle's first job upon graduating was as an assistant principal at Spring Green High School. During this time she didn't spend much time with her then fiancé, Bob, often to his chagrin. But Bob was equally busy serving as the new Dane County district attorney; so much so that he had to "remind" himself to attend their marriage ceremony. She never practiced law formally, but would assist her husband Bob in numerous cases and later political queries. Belle's role was anything but passive, even behind the scenes. In the 1890s, she penned a brief that broke new legal ground and won a case before the state's Supreme Court. Bob would later remark in his autobiography that she was his "wisest and best counselor",This is not partial judgement, the Progressive leaders of Wisconsin who welcomed her to our conferences would bear witness. Her grasp of the great problems, sociological and economic, is surpassed by any of the strong men who have been associated with me in my work.

La Follette was active in the women's suffrage movement at the state and national levels. Beginning in 1909, to express her views on women's suffrage and other topics of the day, she wrote and edited a weekly "Home and Education" column for La Follette's Weekly Magazine, a magazine started by her husband and later became The Progressive. In 1911 and 1912 she wrote a syndicated column for the North American Press Syndicate. La Follette's interest in women's suffrage led to her membership in the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1910, and joined its national board in 1911. However, when a referendum on women's suffrage in Wisconsin was to be decided in a general election in November 1912, she resigned from the NAWSA to devote her efforts to secure its passage. Suffragists made appearances at more than 70 county fairs in 1912, including La Follette, who visited seven of them in ten days. Despite their efforts, the referendum was defeated by a vote of 227,024 to 135,546. La Follette also opposed the ongoing oppression of African Americans. In 1914 she addressed the colored Young Men's Christian Association, raising an argument that segregation of colored people on street cars, public conveyances, and government departments was wrong. La Follette added that there would be no constitution of peace until the question is "settled right". In 1915 La Follette helped found the Woman's Peace Party, which later became the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. After World War I, she was active in the Women's Committee for World Disarmament, and helped found the National Council for the Prevention of War in 1921. La Follette and other women influenced governments to convene the Naval Arms Limitation Conference in 1922. After her husband's death on June 18, 1925, his seat in the U. S. Senate was offered to her, but she turned down the opportunity to become the first woman Senator, perhaps because it would have upset the very balance between her public and private lives that she is esteemed for.

She died on August 18, 1931, aged 72, in Washington D. C., as the result of a punctured intestine and peritonitis following a routine medical exam. She was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison.