Grace Julian Clarke (September 1865 – June 18, 1938) was a clubwoman, women's suffrage activist, newspaper journalist, and author from Indiana. As the daughter of George Washington Julian and the granddaughter of Joshua Reed Giddings, both of whom were abolitionists and members of the U.S. Congress, Clarke's family exposed her to social reform issues at an early age. She is credited with reviving the women's suffrage movement in Indiana, where she was especially active in the national campaign for women's suffrage in the early twentieth century. She is best known for founding and leading the Indiana State Federation of Women's Clubs, the Legislative Council, and the Women's Franchise League of Indiana (an affiliate of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and the predecessor to the League of Women Voters of Indiana). Clarke was the author of three books related to her father's life, and was a columnist for the Indianapolis Star from 1911 to 1929.
Early life and education
Grace Giddings Julian was born on September 11, 1865, in Centerville, Wayne County, Indiana. She was the first of two children and the only daughter of George Washington Julian and his second wife, Laura Giddings Julian. Grace also had three older half-brothers. Her father, whose family came to Irvington, Indiana from North Carolina, was an abolitionist, a U.S. congressman, and a social reformer who introduced the first federal suffrage amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1868. Grace retained close ties to her father throughout her life. He died in 1899. Grace's mother was the daughter of Joshua Reed Giddings, an abolitionist and a U.S. congressman from Ohio.
Grace grew up in Washington, D.C., where her father served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives until 1871. The family moved to Irvington, a suburban community east of downtown Indianapolis, in 1873. Grace resided in Irvington for the remainder of her life. She attended Mount Zion School and Butler University's preparatory school, which was located in Irvington at that time. Grace continued her education at Butler University, earning an undergraduate degree in 1884 and a master's degree in 1885. Grace was a member of a Unitarian congregation in Indianapolis.
Marriage and family
Grace married Charles B. Clarke, an attorney, on September 11, 1887. Clarke, a Democrat, was a former U.S. deputy surveyor in the New Mexico Territory. He served in the Indiana Senate in 1913 and 1915. The couple had no children.
Career
Women’s suffrage advocate
Grace was an advocate in the women's suffrage movement, especially women's club activities, and active in several women's organizations in Indiana. She was most involved in founding and leading the Indiana State Federation of Women's Clubs, the Women's Franchise League, and the Legislative Council. In 1892 Clarke formed the Irvington Women's Club, a local literary group, and served as its president. She was the president of the Indianapolis Woman's Club and the Catharine Merrill Club, and also a member of the Society of Indiana Pioneers and the Women's Press Club of Indiana.
Clarke was especially active in reviving the suffrage movement in Indiana, especially in gaining support among the state's women's clubs. In 1909 she organized the Seventh District of the Indiana Federation of Women's Clubs, and served as president of the Indiana Federation from 1909 to 1911. She was a director and national press chair of the General Federation of Women's Club from 1912 to 1916. One of her major contributions to the women's movement occurred in 1909, when she helped form a Women's School Commission organization that helped elect the first woman to the Indianapolis school board. Renamed the Woman's School League, Clarke served as its president and continued efforts to achieve suffrage for Indianapolis women. The organization, which had sixty branch and 3,000 members in Indiana, became the Women's Franchise League of Indiana in 1911. It led the suffrage movement within the state. The Indiana group became an affiliate of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.