Research: Voting at the Blacksmith Shop
One of the requirements of the internship was a focused, long-term research project about women’s suffrage in Harford County. The curator plans to design an exhibit revolving around a voting booth that is part of the museum’s collection. It was acquired along with Foard’s Blacksmith Shop, which was donated and moved to Steppingstone from Level, MD in 1983. Prior to 1960, the shop’s backroom had been used as a polling location, where members of the community voted during elections. This specific poll booth was used by Mrs. Anna May Bradfield to vote in the 1920 Presidential election, the first presidential election in which women could vote, making Mrs. Bradfield the first woman to vote in a presidential election in Level, MD. The research I conducted is the first phase in the process of designing the exhibit. I was tasked with gleaning existing information from the research pertaining to the Blacksmith shop to identify a series of questions that would serve as the initial points of research. I was then to follow these lines of inquiry and compile the data into a prospectus for the exhibit.
The initial questions were:
My research began on the internet, where I searched through digital archives and databases to find information about Mrs. Bradfield. When the results proved scant, I broadened my scope to include women’s suffrage in Harford County and suffrage in Maryland.
Over the course of my research, I visited several archival libraries and historical societies to view records and newspapers:
The initial questions were:
- Did a women’s suffrage movement exist in Harford County?
- What did it look like?
- Who were the key figures? Was Mrs. Bradfield a key figure?
- Was Mrs. Bradfield the first woman to vote in Harford County?
- Why was Mrs. Bradfield chosen to vote first? Was she chosen?
- Who was Mrs. Bradfield?
My research began on the internet, where I searched through digital archives and databases to find information about Mrs. Bradfield. When the results proved scant, I broadened my scope to include women’s suffrage in Harford County and suffrage in Maryland.
Over the course of my research, I visited several archival libraries and historical societies to view records and newspapers:
- University of Maryland – Special Collections at Hornbake Library
- Harford County Historical Society
- Maryland State Archives
- Cecil County Historical Society