Constance Genevieve (Howland) Chalkley
Born: Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, August 12, 1875. Married: Thomas H. Chalkley, Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, June 26, 1900. Died: Patchogue, Suffolk County, New York, on July 28, 1965.
Constance Genevieve Howland was born to the Reverend Clark Goodhue and Marcia (Brown) Howland in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan, in August 1875. The Howland family moved to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1881, with their two daughters, Marcella and Constance. There the Reverend Howland helped reestablish the community’s Unitarian church. Marcella attended the University of Kansas. Wisconsin suffragist the Reverend Olympia Brown was Marcella’s sister and paid visits to the Howlands in Lawrence. Marcella died unexpectedly from a virus in 1894. Genevieve was inspired to follow in her aunt’s footsteps.
Genevieve married Thomas H. Chalkley, Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas, June 26, 1900. He had two children from a previous marriage; they had two children together. She joined the Lawrence Equal Suffrage Association in 1904 to raise funds for women's public restrooms in downtown Lawrence. She was elected first vice president of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association (KESA) in 1909. She was responsible for organizing counties in KESA’s second district during the 1911-1912 campaign to pass a state woman’s suffrage amendment. That measure passed on November 5, 1912, bringing full suffrage to women in Kansas.
As KESA members looked ahead toward their next goal, they elected Genevieve as state president. One outcome of the association was a transition to the Good Citizenship League. Genevieve turned her attention to the 19th Amendment, campaigning tirelessly toward passage of the measure sent by U.S. Congress for state legislators to ratify. After months of debate, the amendment was approved by a two-thirds majority and adopted in 1920.
Genevieve served as president of the Douglas County League of Women Voters from 1921-1922. Her other community involvement included the Federation of Women's Clubs, the Kansas Council of Women, and the Woman's Kansas Day Club. She joined the Kansas Colonial Dames, the Kansas Society of Mayflower Descendants, and the Betty Washington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Lawrence.
She eventually moved to New York around 1946 where one of her daughters lived. Genevieve Chalkley died in Patchogue, Suffolk County, New York, at the age of 89 on July 28, 1965. She is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence beside Thomas H. Chalkley (1858-1916).
Entry: Constance Genevieve (Howland) Chalkley
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: December 2024
Date Modified: December 2024
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
