On November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony cast a ballot in Rochester, New York, challenging laws that denied women the right to vote. She was arrested and later convicted, but her act became a milestone in the struggle for women's suffrage.
The anniversary got us wondering what the Sandwich Historical Society's collection might tell us about women's rights here in Sandwich. We came across a February 1987 article in the local newspaper Sandwich Happenings with an intriguing subtitle: “Sandwich's First Woman's Libber.”
The article told the story of Eda Roos (1885–1991), who grew up on Spring Hill and followed her own path at a time when opportunities for women were changing. After graduating from Sandwich High School in 1903, she turned down the suggestion that she become a teacher. Instead, she attended business school in Boston and became a court stenographer on Beacon Hill, transcribing proceedings in major legal cases.
Eda also purchased her own Maxwell automobile (produced 1904-1925). Interestingly, Maxwell was an early marketer of cars to women, sponsoring Alice Huyler Ramsey's historic cross-country drive in 1909—the first completed by a woman.
Eda never married, remained close to her family, and was an enthusiastic sports fan with a remarkable memory for Sandwich history. Her niece Jean recalled many of her stories in the 1987 article.
Eda was 35 when the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, prohibiting the denial of voting rights on the basis of sex. She lived until 1991, witnessing more than a century of change.
We don't know what Eda thought about women's suffrage or whether she described herself as a “woman's libber.” But her story reminds us that the history of women's changing roles in American society can be found in the choices and experiences of women in communities like Sandwich.
Photo: Eda Roos holding her niece Jean in an automobile outside the family home on Spring Hill Road, Sandwich. Reproduced from “Eda Roos: The Belle of Spring Hill,” Sandwich Happenings, February 1987.
