Almira Hollander Pitman

Almira Hollander Pitman (1854 – December 17, 1939) was an American suffragist and women's rights activist. Pitman was largely active in New England and Massachusetts suffrage organizations. She was also instrumental in working for women's suffrage in Hawaii. Pitman was also known for her writing.

Almira Hollander Pitman, The Evening Herald, 1918
Almira and Benjamin Pitman with a group during their visit to Hawaii in 1917

Biography

Almira "Mira" Hollander was born in Massachusetts in 1854 and grew up in Brookline.[1][2] She married Benjamin F. K. Pitman, who was the son of Benjamin Pitman, in 1875.[2][1] Born in the Kingdom of Hawaii, Benjamin F. K. Pitman was of Native Hawaiian noble descent and the son of Kinoʻoleoliliha, a high chiefess of Hilo.[1][3]

Almira Pitman became involved with women's suffrage in 1884 when she joined the New England Woman Suffrage Association (NEWSA).[2] She went on to become the recording secretary of the Brookline Suffrage Association and in 1913, chair of the Ways and Means Committee of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association (MWSA).[2] Pitman was in charge of the Bay State Suffrage Festivals 1913, 1915, and 1919, helping to raise money for suffrage organizations.[2]

Pitman and her husband visited Hawaii for six weeks starting on January 29, 1917.[1] The couple was received warmly by her husband's Hawaiian extended family and he was honored as a descendant of Hawaiian chiefs.[4][5][6] Pitman, who was already known to suffragists in Hawaii as an activist, was invited to speak around the islands.[1] Pitman spoke to nearly all of the members of the territorial legislature about women's suffrage.[3] She also promised suffragists that she would advocate for Hawaii's right to determine women's suffrage.[3]

In 1917, a bill was presented by Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole to the United States Congress to allow Hawaii to legislate on suffrage.[3] Pitman, Anna Howard Shaw and Maud Wood Park all testified in front of the House Committee on Woman Suffrage about the bill on April 29, 1918.[7] When the bill passed in June, Pitman was given credit for helping its passage.[8][9]

After the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, Pitman remained an activist for women's rights.[2] She was also active in political groups, being a member of the Women's Republican Club of Massachusetts.[2]

She and Benjamin F. K. Pitman had two sons. The elder son Benjamin attended Harvard College,[10] and their younger son Theodore Pitman became a sculptor, dedicating a monument to his ancestors in 1928.[11] Another Theodore, their great-grandson, donated a manuscript of notes from 1836 to 1861 to the Bishop Museum in 2007.[12]

Pitman died on December 17, 1939 in Brookline.[13]

Writing
  • "The Turnip and the Rose". Woman's Journal: 56. April 3, 1909 – via Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
  • "In Freedom's Land". Woman's Journal: 34. February 3, 1912 – via Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
  • After Fifty Years: An Appreciation, and a Record of a Unique Incident. Norwood, Massachusetts: The Plimpton Press. 1931. OCLC 3703871.

References
  1. Napoleon, Nanette Naioma. "Almira Pitman, Suffragist, Speaks in Hawai'i". Hawai'i Women's Suffrage Centennial Commemoration. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  2. Sharma, Arushi. "Biographical Sketch of Almira Pitman". Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920 – via Alexander Street.
  3. Yasutake 2017, p. 128.
  4. "Ancient Hawaiian Lineage in Bostonian Coming Today". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. XXIV (7737). Honolulu: Oahu Publications, Inc. January 30, 1917. p. 10. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  5. "Cousins Department". The Friend. LXXV (8). Honolulu. August 1, 1917. p. 181. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  6. "Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Pitman "At Home"". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. XXIV (7753). Honolulu: Oahu Publications, Inc. February 17, 1917. p. 9. Archived from the original on November 27, 2015. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  7. Yasutake 2017, p. 129.
  8. "Mrs. Pitman Gets Credit for Bill". The Honolulu Advertiser. July 29, 1918. p. 7. Retrieved December 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Yasutake 2017, p. 130.
  10. Harvard College, Raymond Sanger Wilkins (1937). Harvard College: Class of 1912. The Cosmos Press, Inc. p. 596.
  11. "Notes". Papers of the Hawaiian Historical Society. Hawaii Historical Society (16): 7. 1929. hdl:10524/978.
  12. "Rare Manuscript Donated to Bishop Museum Archives". press release from Bishop Museum. July 31, 2007. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2009.
  13. "Pitman". The Boston Globe. December 18, 1939. p. 11. Retrieved December 11, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.

Sources
  • Yasutake, Rumi (2017). "Re-Franchising Women of Hawai'i, 1912-1920". In Choy, Catherine Ceniza; Tzu-Chun Wu, Judy (eds.). Gendering the Trans-Pacific World. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. ISBN 9789004336100.
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