The Woman's Endeavor

(March is Women's History Month.)

A gift from Charles E. Frohman, the newspaper entitled The Woman’s Endeavor was published on Saturday, March 21, 1908, selling for ten cents. The proceeds from the sale of The Woman’s Endeavor were designated to be used for the equipping and maintaining of a Women’s Rest Room and its associated activities.
Featured in the newspaper were articles about pioneers of Sandusky, the Underground Railroad, and histories of several area organizations, including the first Children’s Home, the Erie County Humane Society, and the first ladies literary society. Poems and jokes, as well as articles about fashion, cooking, and household hints, were also included.

Several local business owners purchased advertisements in The Woman’s Endeavor. Besides the many male doctors, dentists, and other businessmen who purchased ads, there were two advertisements placed by women business owners. Jessie Meenan ran a millinery shop in the Sloane block of Washington Row, and Marie Bruckner had a corset shop at 204 Columbus Avenue.

Three members of the editorial staff of The Woman’s Endeavor, Mrs. J. F. Hertlein, Mrs. J. T. Mack, and Mrs. T. M. Sloane, went on to serve on the first female jury in Erie County in 1920. Two female physicians were associated with this newspaper: Dr. Emily Blakeslee had an advertisement, and Dr. Carrie Chase Davis wrote a feature article in this publication.

Many women of Sandusky were active in the Women’s Suffrage movement. In 1903, a state suffrage convention was held in Sandusky. Marie C. Brehm, born in Sandusky in 1859, was a suffragette, and also the first legally qualified female candidate to run for the vice-presidency of the United States. She ran on the Prohibition ticket in 1924, with Herman P. Faris.