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Carrie Chapman Catt became involved in women's suffrage in the late 1880s, and she was instrumental to the passage of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. During her two terms as president of the National American Women Suffrage Association, she was able to acquire support from the House and the Senate for the organization and many states' backing of the 19th amendment. Catt also helped found the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in 1902. She was widely recognized for her activism during her lifetime, and long after her death in 1947.

In 1917, Catt founded "The Woman Citizen" by merging three suffrage periodicals after receiving a substantial financial bequest from Miriam Leslie. This periodical was primarily focused on the eradication of legal and social discrimination against women. After completing her master's thesis in English at Columbia University, Stella Virginia Roderick was the editor of "The Woman Citizen" during the 1920s. Before serving as the editor of this periodical, Roderick was the managing editor of "Everybody's Magazine;" she is also known for her biography of Nettie Fowler McCormick.