Charlotte Strachan Baldridge

(1850–1931) Along with the Geneva and Ontario County Political Equality Clubs, Charlotte was active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Connections between the temperance and suffrage movements were common and the liquor industry feared women’s votes would hurt their business.

For Charlotte and many of her peers who were already active within the community supporting issues like education, health care, and the arts, the right to vote was part of civic engagement.

Charlotte was President of the Ontario County Political Equity Club. She advocated for tax-paying women to exercise the right of franchise in certain cases, which is documented in a letter to her on official stationery by Governor B. B. Odell.