state. From 1920 to 1925, she was president of the New Jersey Women’s Republican Club, which
at one time had 100,000 members. In 1923, Feickert successfully pushed for the Night Work Bill,
which made it illegal for women to work from 10pm-6am in many kinds of jobs. Even as vicechairman,
Feickert was critical of New Jersey’s Republican leaders. In a May 1926 New York Times
article, she stated, “They have got to learn that they must live up to their pre-election promises,
that they cannot win without the woman voters of the state.” With its strong prohibitionist stance
and focus on women’s issues, the New Jersey Women’s Republican Club was gradually supplanted
by mainstream party organizations. In 1925, Edward Feickert sued for divorce, claiming that his
wife’s “nonstop political activities” caused him “extreme suffering” and “neglected” the care of his
home. Although her husband was a suffragist, he would have preferred that his wife left politics in
1920. Six weeks after the divorce, Edward married his secretary. In 1928, Lillian Feickert ran for
U.S. Senate on an anti-alcohol platform, but did not win. She stepped away from politics in the
early 1930s when prohibition was repealed.
unconstitutionally deprived of the right to vote by the state legislature in 1807. Mary
Passaic Township, claimed that since she paid taxes, she be registered as a voter there.
Elections in Passaic. In April 1912, the court found against Carpenter, stating that women
had no right to vote under the 1776 New Jersey constitution: women’s voting had been
Mary Philbrook
Special Collections and University Archives,
Rutgers University Libraries
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